Aditya-L1 spacecraft takes selfie, images of Sun and moon from space

Aditya-L1 spacecraft, India's first mission to the sun, has captured a selfie with the Earth and the moon from space on its way to its destination, Lagrange Point 1.

The spacecraft, which is on a mission to study the sun, is currently on its way to the Sun-Earth L1 point, a unique location in space where the gravitational forces of the sun and the Earth are in equilibrium.

Aditya-L1 was launched on September 2 from the Sriharikota launch pad in Andhra Pradesh.

Aditya-L1, India's first solar observatory mission, has completed two Earth-bound manoeuvres as it moves ahead on its path to reach its destination, which is nearly 1.5 million km away.

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The spacecraft has seven payloads to observe various aspects of the sun, including its photosphere, chromosphere, and corona. It will measure the variation in magnetic field strength at the halo orbit around L1.

The ISRO's solar mission will focus on understanding solar eruptive events and their impact on space weather. The spacecraft will be placed in a halo orbit around the Lagrange Point 1 (L1), approximately 1.5 million km from the Earth, in the direction of the sun.

The visible emission line coronagraph (VELC), the primary payload of Aditya L1, will send 1,440 images per day to the ground station for analysis upon reaching the intended orbit.