The Solar Ultraviolet Imaging Telescope (SUIT) on India’s Aditya-L1 spacecraft has made history by capturing the first complete images of the Sun in near ultraviolet light. This breakthrough, revealed on Friday, is a big deal for solar research.
These groundbreaking pictures, spanning from 200 to 400 nanometers, give us new and amazing views of the Sun’s visible “surface” (photosphere) and the clear layer just above it (chromosphere).
In addition to the stunning image collection, the space organisation shared a video of the telescope’s shutter opening and closing to take these pictures. Interestingly, the procedure is quite similar to how the cameras you might have at home work.
“Among the notable features revealed are sunspots, plage, and quiet Sun regions, as marked in the Mg II h image, providing scientists with pioneering insights into the intricate details of the Sun’s photosphere and chromosphere. SUIT observations will help scientists study the dynamic coupling of the magnetized solar atmosphere and assist them in placing tight constraints on the effects of solar radiation on Earth’s climate,” states ISRO, revealing the first look of the sun from Aditya L-1
They also said that the SUIT’s creation was a joint effort led by the Inter-University Centre for Astronomy and Astrophysics (IUCAA) in Pune. The collaboration featured key contributions from ISRO, Manipal Academy of Higher Education (MAHE), Centre for Excellence in Space Science Indian (CESSI) at IISER-Kolkata, Indian Institute of Astrophysics Bengaluru, Udaipur Solar Observatory (USO-PRL), and Tezpur University Assam.
About Solar Ultraviolet Imaging Telescope (SUIT)
SUIT came to life on November 20, 2023, and following a successful pre-commissioning phase, it snapped its inaugural science images on December 6, 2023.
Crafted by a team of 50 scientists, researchers, and students from Pune’s Inter-University Centre for Astronomy and Astrophysics (IUCAA), SUIT stands as one of seven payloads riding on Aditya-L1.
The mission has a lofty goal: unraveling fundamental mysteries about how energy moves from the Sun’s visible “surface” (photosphere) to its clear layer above (chromosphere) and beyond. It aims to uncover the triggers behind dynamic solar events and understand the initial movements of erupting prominences.