Chennai, Dec 8 (Agency) The Solar Ultraviolet Imaging Telescope (SUIT) instrument on board the Aditya-L1 spacecraft–India’s first sun exploratory mission– has successfully captured the first full disk images of the Sun. The first full disk images were captured in the 200-400 nm wavelength range. The SUIT captured images of the Sun’s photosphere and chromosphere in this wavelength range using various scientific filters, ISRO said on Friday. It said on November 20, 2023, the SUIT payload was powered on. Following a successful pre-commissioning phase, the telescope captured its first light science images on December 6, 2023. These unprecedented images, taken using eleven different filters, include the first-ever full-disk representations of the Sun in wavelengths ranging from 200 to 400 nm, excluding Ca II h. The full disk images of the Sun in the Ca II h wavelength has been studied from other observatories.
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. ISRO said 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. The development of SUIT involved a collaborative effort under the leadership of the Inter-University Centre for Astronomy and Astrophysics (IUCAA), Pune. This collaboration included ISRO, the Manipal Academy of Higher Education (MAHE), the Centre for Excellence in Space Science Indian (CESSI) at IISER-Kolkata, the Indian Institute of Astrophysics Bengaluru, the Udaipur Solar Observatory (USO-PRL) and Tezpur University Assam.
The 11 filters (emission lines) were NB1 (214 wavelength-nm) and NB2 (276 wavelength) and their features included Photosphere, Sunspot, Plages and limb darkening, NB3 (Mg IIk) (279 Wavelength) and NB4 (Mg 11h) (280 Wavelength) and their features included Chromosphere, Sunspots, Plages, Quiet Sun, filaments, NB5 (283 wavelength) and NB6 (300 wavelength) and and their features were Photosphere, Sunspot, Plages and Limb darkening, NB7 (388 wavelength)–the features included Photosphere, Sunspot, limb darkening, NB8 (Ca 11h) (396.8 wavelength)–the features included Chromosphere, Sunspots, Plages, Quiet Sun, BB1 (200-242 wavelength) and BB2 (242-300 wavelength)–features included Photosphere, limb darkening, Plages, Sunspots and BB3 (320-360 wavelength)–features included Photosphere, limb darkening, Sunspots.