Assam University's Janmejoy Sarkar To Play Crucial Role In ISRO's First Solar Mission

On 23 August, 2023, India scripted history as its third unmanned Moon mission, Chandrayaan-3's lander module, made a successful soft landing. With this, India became the fourth country to achieve this feat and the first to reach the uncharted south pole of Earth's only natural satellite.

As the nation is still celebrating the success of this mission, Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is already on to its next - the Aditya L1 mission to the Sun, which is expected to be launched in September of this year.

Representational image

For this mission, Janmejoy Sarkar of Tezpur University in Assam has played a crucial role in developing one of the payloads to be sent aboard the Aditya-L1.

Aditya-L1 is India's first dedicated space solar observatory and will be among very few satellites of the world to be placed at the Sun-Earth Lagrange-1 (L1) point.

Always had interest in Solar Physics, says Janmejoy Sarkar

Like Chayan Dutta from Assam, a Tezpur University (TU) alumnus who had overseen the launch control operations of the Chandrayaan-3, Janmejoy Sarkar also belongs to the same university.

Janmejoy Sarkar/ LinkedIn

Currently pursuing his PhD in Physics at Tezpur University, Sarkar has been working on the Aditya L1 mission since 2021. He joined as a Senior Research Fellow from Inter-University Center for Astronomy and Astrophysics (IUCAA), Pune.

Sarkar has played a role in developing IUCAA's Solar Ultraviolet Imaging Telescope (SUIT) payload on Aditya-L1 as part of his Ph.D.

Solar Ultraviolet Imaging Telescope (SUIT)

His tasks involve optical and mechanical integration, instrument calibration, qualification, and testing.

"I always had interest in Solar Physics and Astronomical Instrumentation, and Tezpur University has encouraged me to pursue my dreams. I am happy to play a small role in this project of ISRO," says Sarkar, as quoted by East Mojo.

Currently, he is working at Space Astronomy Group (SAG), ISRO, on integrating and testing the SUIT payload to be put on board Aditya-L1.

One of the seven payloads on Aditya-L1

The telescope was produced under the guidance of A N Ramaprakash and Durgesh Tripathi at IUCAA in partnership with ISRO with assistance from other scientific organisations.

The Solar Ultraviolet Imaging Telescope (SUIT)

"The telescope is one of the seven payloads on Aditya-L1. It is unique because it will provide full disk images of the Sun in the 2000 to 4000 A wavelength range, which has never been obtained," Tripathi said, speaking to TOI.

Aditya-L1 to observe impact of solar activities on space weather

The Aditya-L1 spacecraft shall be placed in a halo orbit around the Lagrange point 1 (L1) of the Sun-Earth system, which is about 1.5 million km from the Earth.

A satellite placed in the halo orbit around the L1 point has the major advantage of continuously viewing the Sun without any occultation/eclipses. This will provide a greater advantage in observing solar activities and their effect on space weather in real-time.

The SUIT is a remote-sensing payload on the Aditya-L1 spacecraft.

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