Chandrayaan-2 Captures Solar Flares, Set To Help Detect Processes On Sun

The Indian Space Research Organisation in this latest update states that the Chandrayaan-2 orbiter detected a series of solar flares starting September 30 midnight. The new findings by ISRO is significant for the fact that it further tests an important piece of equipment attached with Chandrayaan-2 orbiter. ISRO also shared a graph measuring series of solar flares with varying intensity. The solar flares were measured by XSM. The findings are relevant as orbiter’s observations will help to understand the various processes on the Sun.

#ISRO
Solar flare measured by XSM instrument of #Chandrayaan2 and GOES-15 of US during 30th September to 1st October 2019.
Clearly XSM provides very detailed information which will help in understanding various processes on the Sun.
Details at https://t.co/OccLzYCfZp pic.twitter.com/SBb9ZztZlv

— ISRO (@isro) October 10, 2019

Moreover, there is another equipment on board Chandrayan-2 orbiter, which is the Chandrayaan 2 Large Area Soft X-Ray Spectrometer. This instrument can detect and read X ray emissions as well as identify elements that are present on the surface of the moon. It will be helpful to find out other elements on lunar surface. However, to detect the concentration of these elements, the Chandrayaan-2 orbiter requires more data about these solar X-rays.  

Recently, ISRO released the pictures of the Moon surface captured by the Orbiter High Resolution Camera (OHRC) mounted on the Chandrayaan-2 Orbiter. According to the ISRO, the pictures taken by the Orbiter from a height of 100 km from the moon surface are part of the Boguslawsky E Crater -- measuring about 14 km in diameter and 3 km depth -- and surroundings which lie in the Southern Polar region of the moon.

Also Read: Is There A Black Hole That Accounts For Orbits Observed In Distant Solar System?

Chandrayaan-2, India's second lunar mission, was launched on July 22, 2019 from Satish Dhawan Space Centre at Sriharikota on-board GSLV Mk-III. In Chandrayaan-2, a total of 13 payloads are distributed across the three modules where the Orbiter and Vikram Lander were stacked upon each other whereas the Pragyan Rover is housed inside the lander.