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ISRO will perform the final manoeuvre on Saturday to inject Aditya-L1 spacecraft — the first space-based Indian observatory to study the Sun — into its final destination orbit, some 1.5 million kilometres from the Earth. According to ISRO officials, the spacecraft will be placed in a halo orbit around Lagrange point 1 (L1) of the Sun-Earth system, about 1.5 million km from the Earth. The L1 point is about one per cent of the total distance between the Earth and the Sun.

A satellite in a halo orbit around the L1 point has the major advantage of continuously viewing the Sun without any occultations/eclipses, they said, adding, this will provide a greater advantage in observing solar activities and its effect on space weather in real time.

“This manoeuvre (at around 4pm on Saturday) will bind the Aditya-L1 to a halo orbit around L1. If we don’t do this, there is a possibility that it will continue its journey, maybe towards the Sun,” an ISRO official told PTI on Friday.

The Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV-C57) launched the Aditya-L1 spacecraft from the second launch pad of Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SDSC), Sriharikota, on September 2 last year.

After a flight duration of 63 minutes and 20 seconds, it was successfully injected into an elliptical orbit of 235×19500 km around the Earth.

The spacecraft underwent a series of manoeuvres thereafter and headed Sun-Earth Lagrange Point 1(L1), having escaped the Earth’s sphere of influence.

The spacecraft carries seven payloads to observe the photosphere, chromosphere and the outermost layers of the Sun (the corona) using electromagnetic and particle and magnetic field detectors.

“Using the special vantage point L1, four payloads directly view the Sun and the remaining three payloads carry out in-situ studies of particles and fields at the Lagrange point L1, thus providing important scientific studies of the propagatory effect of solar dynamics in the interplanetary medium,” according to the space agency.

The suits of Aditya L1 payloads are expected to provide the “most crucial information” to understand the problem of coronal heating, coronal mass ejection, pre-flare and flare activities and their characteristics, dynamics of space weather, and propagation of particles and fields, officials said.

The major science objectives of the Aditya-L1 mission are:

  • Study of the Solar upper atmospheric (chromosphere and corona) dynamics.
  • Study of chromosphere and coronal heating, physics of the partially ionized plasma, initiation of the coronal mass ejections, and flares.
  • Observe the in-situ particle and plasma environment, providing data for the study of particle dynamics from the Sun.
  • Physics of the solar corona and its heating mechanism.
  • Diagnostics of the coronal and coronal loops plasma: Temperature, velocity and density.
  • Development, dynamics and origin of coronal mass ejections (CMEs).
  • Identify the sequence of processes that occur at multiple layers (chromosphere, base and extended corona) which eventually leads to solar eruptive events.
  • Magnetic field topology and magnetic field measurements in the solar corona.
  • Drivers for space weather (origin, composition and dynamics of solar wind).
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New Inelastic Dark Matter Model Could Bypass Current Limits of Particle Detection

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August 2, 2025

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New Inelastic Dark Matter Model Could Bypass Current Limits of Particle Detection

A group of physicists at the University of São Paulo’s Institute of Physics has proposed a model of the behaviour of dark matter (DM) in the presence of dark energy (DE) that is compatible with current astronomical observations. A model of inelastic DM can be realised from light-weight particles, which are collectively interacting through the massive vector mediator, and the model is an alternative explanation for DM relics in the universe. Importantly, this framework may have the potential to circumvent the experimental hurdles for the detection of DM that have thus far kept it in the dark. The findings are published in the Journal of High Energy Physics, and its authors believe it has the potential to “revolutionise” how particle physics analyses are conducted in the future.

Light Mediator ZQ Offers New Clues to Elusive Dark Matter and Its Cosmic Origins

As per the users’ report, they have developed the following new model: a heavy, stable DM from a light, unstable one. This can be expressed as a heavy stable DM due to a heavy unstable one, which may give rise to the “thermal freeze-out” in the universe. It doesn’t just interact with visible matter but with dark matter as well, and that’s how you get the new observational windows.

To explain why the dark matter has not been observed until now, the model further involves a decay of the unstable dark matter χ2 to some species not disturbing the CBR, and thus also not presenting a visible/observable decay signal. The picture is consistent with current astrophysical and experimental constraints, avoiding simpler `vanilla’ DM scenarios.

ZQ-induced vector mediators are light portals connecting the two sectors and may mediate the direct interactions between the dark sector and the SM particles. The black line indicates the region in the parameter space where dark matter can be hiding unobserved — this is to be addressed in future experiments.

The study suggests the search for dark matter should pivot from the “discovery frontier”, in which exquisitely sensitive instruments scan for signals, to the “intensity frontier”, which seeks ever-finer measurements to tease out anomalies. Future experiments will seek to dig more deeply into these unexplained corners of particle physics with a new online tool.

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Massive 200-Light-Year Cloud May Be Channeling Matter to the Milky Way’s Core

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August 2, 2025

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Massive 200-Light-Year Cloud May Be Channeling Matter to the Milky Way's Core

Astronomers have found a vast, never-before-noticed reservoir of stellar material, hundreds of light-years across, lurking in a cold, dark, starless swath of our galaxy. It’s dubbed the Midpoint Cloud and was identified using the Green Bank Telescope; it appears to channel dense clouds of material into the heart of our galaxy. It harbours active regions filled with dense dust lanes and star formation possibilities. These lanes could be bringing twisted matter into the galaxy’s central bar, shaping how stars form in this extreme environment and offering a rare snapshot of the first stages of a galaxy’s evolution.

Newly Found Midpoint Cloud May Be Key to Star Formation in the Milky Way’s Core

As per the study, researchers at the National Radio Astronomy Observatory and Green Bank Observatory confirmed the size and shape of the GMC based on mass, density, and movement. The gassy chaos in the cloud mirrors the caustic turmoil at the galactic centre, yielding measurements from a faint object that says something about an energetic event 200 light-years distant. That could be a link from the field-like tranquillity of our own Milky Way’s disk to the mayhem of its core.

Perhaps analogously to gas channels, a thick dust lane in the Midpoint cloud could supply the central stellar bar fragment with fresh gas, again supporting an interpretation that star formation is inhibited in this region by the strong gravitational potential. But regions like the Midpoint could collect such thick gas, spurring the birth of new stars.

The team classified Knot E as a compact gas clump whose material has been eroded by both star radiation and a maser, or microwave emission, within a cloud. A shell-like feature suggests earlier supernova explosions, like those the deaths of massive stars in the region might have initiated.

The Midpoint cloud Larry Morgan, of the Green Bank Observatory, discovered is a valuable clue in our knowledge of how galaxies evolve and form stars near their centers. The finding could give scientists a way to learn how matter flows inward across the cosmos, one hidden cloud at a time.

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Supergiant Star Wd1-9 Investigated: Know Everything about New Findings and Insights from Supergiant

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August 2, 2025

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Supergiant Star Wd1-9 Investigated: Know Everything about New Findings and Insights from Supergiant

In the latest edition of the scientific investigations, it has come to light that the Chandra X-Ray Observatory of NASA has been employed by an international team of astronomers to investigate a supergiant star called Wd1-9. It has certainly performed a detailed investigation, which was accompanied by in-depth analysis and offered essential insights. Considering the supergiant B Stars, these are quite rare in the Milky Way. As these stars grow, they undergo continuous changes. These stars also exhibit strong Balmore emission lines, forbidden lines, and infrared excess.

Wd1-9: What is this Supergiant B Star?

Wd1-9 is a supergiant B (e) star in Westerlund 1. It is located at a distance of 13,800 light years from Earth. This star is the brightest radio source present within the cluster. Likewise, the recent findings presented in the paper published on July 23rd, 2025, suggest that this star displays a rich emission-line spectrum. Significantly, no photospheric features were detected.

Although Wd1-9 has been studied multiple times at different wavelengths, its true nature is still unknown due to it being covered by a cloud of dust. As the previous research suggests, this star may be a cool hypergiant or an interacting binary system. Now, to overcome these suspicions, Konstantina Anastasopolou led a team of the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics (CfA), Cambridge, employed Chandra to dig deeper.

What did the Astronomers Find?

As per the observations offered by Chandra, it was witnessed that Wd1-9 exhibits long-term X-ray variability. The team further identified an orbital period that comprised a 14-day periodic signal. According to the astronomers, this is the first period determination for the Wd1-9.

Significantly, the astronomers found that strong emission lines were detected that surfaced from elements like silicon, sulfur, and argon. Similarly, the iron emission line at 6.7 keV was identified for the first time ever. These identifications have become a part of the new findings.

To Conclude

According to the astronomers, the above-specified findings directly relate to binarity. The spectrum of Wd1-9 resembles the Wolf-Rayet (WR) binaries in Westerlund 1. Also, when the astronomers examined the X-Ray color-color diagrams, they identified that Wd1-9 showcased variations in thermal temperatures. After analysing the findings and putting all the examinations together, the scientists concluded that Wd1-9 is a part of the binary system.

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