A video explaining the formation of gold among the other elements from cosmic events, of how scientists calculated that the sun contains nearly 2.5 trillion tons of gold, and claiming that India will extract gold from the sun by sending Aditya-L1 mission spacecraft is being shared on social media. Let’s verify the claim made in the post.
Claim: India is going to extract gold from the sun by sending Aditya-L1 mission spacecraft
Fact: The Sun contains gold and other elements due to cosmic events. However, the extreme conditions within the Sun make it impossible for us to access or extract any materials from it. Further, The Aditya-L1 mission mission’s purpose is to focus on studying the Sun and its impact on our space environment but not to study the sun in order to extract gold from it. Hence, the claim made in the post is MISLEADING.
On a relevant keyword search regarding the formation of gold through cosmic events, we found that two distant neutron stars collide to create destruction and space ripples. Such events also lead to the rapid formation of heavy elements, including gold. Scientists found that the Sun contains about 2.5 trillion tons of gold and other elements (here and here). However, the extreme conditions within the Sun, including high temperatures and pressures, make it impossible for us to access or extract any materials from it (here and here).
Further, the Aditya-L1 mission’s purpose is not to study the sun to extract gold from it as claimed in the video. It is ISRO’s mission (here and here) to focus on studying the Sun and its impact on our space environment. The mission aims to closely study the Sun’s chromosphere and corona by using seven specialized instruments from a position at the first Lagrange point (L1), situated about 1.5 million kilometers away from Earth.
To sum up, Aditya-L1 mission is not intended to investigate the Sun for the purpose of extracting Gold.
