{"id":19125,"date":"2024-11-27T02:46:06","date_gmt":"2024-11-27T02:46:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/gpt.m2mbeta.com\/?p=19125"},"modified":"2024-11-27T02:46:06","modified_gmt":"2024-11-27T02:46:06","slug":"why-indias-latest-sun-mission-finding-is-crucial-for-the-world","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gpt.m2mbeta.com\/?p=19125","title":{"rendered":"Why India's latest Sun mission finding is crucial for the world"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\"GettyGetty Images<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

The Sun is the largest object in our solar system and essential to our survival<\/figcaption><\/p>\n<\/figure>\n
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Scientists in India have reported the \u201cfirst significant result\u201d from Aditya-L1, the country\u2019s first solar observation mission in space. <\/p>\n

On 16 July, the most important of the seven scientific instruments Aditya-L1 was carrying \u2013 Visible Emission Line Coronagraph, or Velc \u2013 captured data that helped scientists estimate the precise time a coronal mass ejection (CME) began.<\/p>\n

Studying CMEs \u2013 massive fireballs that blow out of the Sun\u2019s outermost corona layer \u2013 is one of the most important scientific objectives of India\u2019s maiden solar mission.<\/p>\n

\u201cMade up of energy particles, a CME could weigh up to a trillion kilograms and can attain a speed of up to 3,000km [1,864 miles] per second while travelling. It can head out in any direction, including towards the Earth,\u201d says Prof R Ramesh of the Indian Institute of Astrophysics that designed Velc.<\/p>\n

\u201cNow imagine this huge fireball hurtling towards Earth. At its top speed, it would take just about 15 hours to cover the 150 million km Earth-Sun distance.\u201d<\/p>\n

The coronal ejection that Velc captured on 16 July had started at 13:08 GMT. Prof Ramesh, Velc\u2019s Principal Investigator who has published a paper on this CME in the prestigious Astrophysical Journal Letters, said it originated on the side of the Earth.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut within half an hour of its journey, it got deflected and went in a different direction, going behind the Sun. As it was too far away, it did not impact Earth\u2019s weather.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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The Sun’s corona is only visible during a total solar eclipse from Earth <\/figcaption><\/p>\n<\/figure>\n
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But solar storms, solar flares and coronal mass ejections routinely impact Earth’s weather. They also impact the space weather where nearly 7,800 satellites, including more than 50 from India<\/a>, are stationed.<\/p>\n

According to Space.com<\/a>, they rarely pose a direct threat to human life, but they can cause mayhem on Earth by interfering with the Earth\u2019s magnetic field.<\/p>\n

Their most benign impact is causing beautiful auroras in places close to the North and South Pole. A stronger coronal mass ejection can cause auroras to show up in skies further away such as in London or France \u2013 as it did in May and October<\/a>.<\/p>\n

But the impact is much more serious in space where the charged particles of a coronal mass ejection can make all the electronics on a satellite malfunction. They can knock down power grids and affect weather and communication satellites.<\/p>\n

\u201cToday our lives fully depend on communication satellites and CMEs can trip the internet, phone lines and radio communication,\u201d Prof Ramesh says. \u201cThat can lead to absolute chaos.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\"GettyGetty Images<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

A coronal mass ejection can be several times larger than Earth<\/figcaption><\/p>\n<\/figure>\n
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The most powerful solar storm in recorded history occurred in 1859. Called the Carrington Event<\/a>, it triggered intense auroral light shows and knocked out telegraph lines across the globe. <\/p>\n

Scientists at Nasa<\/a> say an equally strong storm was headed at Earth in 2012 and we had \u201ca close shave just as perilous\u201d. They say a powerful coronal mass ejection tore through Earth\u2019s orbit on 23 July but that we were \u201cincredibly fortunate\u201d that instead of hitting our planet, <\/b>the storm cloud hit Nasa\u2019s solar observatory STEREO-A in space.<\/p>\n

In 1989, a coronal mass ejection was knocked out part of Quebec’s power grid for nine hours<\/a>, leaving six million people without power.<\/p>\n

And on 4 November 2015, solar activity disrupted<\/a> air traffic control at Sweden and some other European airports, leading to travel chaos for hours. <\/p>\n

Scientists say that if we are able to see what happens on the Sun and spot a solar storm or a coronal mass ejection in real time and watch its trajectory, it can work as a forewarning to switch off power grids and satellites and keep them out of harm\u2019s way.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\"GettyGetty Images<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

The aurora borealis lit up the night sky over the United Kingdom in October<\/figcaption><\/p>\n<\/figure>\n
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US space agency Nasa, the European Space Agency (ESA), Japan and China have been watching the Sun through their space-based solar missions for decades. With Aditya-L1 – named after the Hindu god of Sun – Indian space agency Isro joined that select group<\/a> earlier this year. <\/p>\n

From its vantage point in space, Aditya-L1 is able to watch the Sun constantly, even during eclipses and occultations, and carry out scientific studies.<\/p>\n

Prof Ramesh says when we look at the Sun from the Earth, we see an orange ball of fire which is the photosphere – the Sun’s surface or the brightest part of the star.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s only during a total eclipse, when the Moon passes between Earth and the Sun and covers the photosphere that we are able to see the solar corona, the Sun\u2019s outermost layer.<\/p>\n

India\u2019s coronagraph, Prof Ramesh says, has a slight advantage over the coronagraph in Nasa-ESA’s joint Solar and Heliospheric Observatory.<\/p>\n

“Ours is of a size that it’s able to mimic the role of the Moon and artificially hide the Sun\u2019s photosphere, providing Aditya-L1 an uninterrupted view of the corona 24 hours a day 365 days a year.\u201d<\/p>\n

The coronagraph on Nasa-ESA’s mission, he says, is bigger which means it hides not only the photosphere but also parts of corona – so it cannot see the genesis of a CME if it originates in the hidden region.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut with Velc, we can precisely estimate the time a coronal mass ejection begins and in which direction it\u2019s headed.\u201d<\/p>\n

India also has three ground based observatories – in Kodaikanal, Gauribidanur in the south and Udaipur in the northwest – to look at the Sun. So if we add up their findings with that of Aditya-L1, we can greatly improve our understanding of the Sun, he adds.<\/p>\n

Follow BBC News India on <\/i>Instagram<\/i><\/a>, <\/i>YouTube<\/i><\/a>, <\/i>Twitter<\/i><\/a> and <\/i>Facebook<\/i><\/a>.<\/i><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Source: <\/em> www.bbc.com\u2026<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Getty Images The Sun is the largest object in our solar system and essential to our survival Scientists in India have reported the \u201cfirst significant result\u201d from Aditya-L1, the country\u2019s first solar observation mission in space. On 16 July, the most important of the seven scientific instruments Aditya-L1 was carrying \u2013 Visible Emission Line Coronagraph, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-19125","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gpt.m2mbeta.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19125","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/gpt.m2mbeta.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/gpt.m2mbeta.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gpt.m2mbeta.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gpt.m2mbeta.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=19125"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/gpt.m2mbeta.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19125\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gpt.m2mbeta.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=19125"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gpt.m2mbeta.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=19125"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gpt.m2mbeta.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=19125"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}