India’s Aditya-L1 solar mission has achieved a significant milestone, releasing data that could help protect Earth’s infrastructure from future intense solar events.
Launched earlier this year by ISRO, the mission’s advanced instruments have already proven their worth by accurately detecting the onset of a coronal mass ejection (CME), a violent release of charged particles from the Sun. This breakthrough could pave the way for more precise early warnings about solar storms, which can interfere with power grids, satellites, and communication networks.
India's Aditya-L1 solar mission reveals findings that could protect Earth's infrastructure from future solar activity | MSN
Named after the Sun god in Hindu mythology, Aditya-L1 joins the ranks of prestigious solar missions run by global space agencies such as NASA and ESA. Positioned at a unique location, the spacecraft offers continuous, uninterrupted monitoring of the Sun, free from eclipses and Earthly interference.
Unraveling Solar Explosions: Understanding the Impact of CMEs
A CME is a formidable event — a massive eruption that can weigh as much as a trillion kilograms and travel through space at speeds of up to 3,000 km per second. Experts explain that these fiery “space cannonballs” can traverse the 150-million-kilometre distance from the Sun to Earth in as little as 15 hours.
Depending on its path, a CME can disrupt Earth's magnetic field, potentially causing widespread impacts on modern technology. Data collected by Aditya-L1 during a recent CME event has already demonstrated its ability to track such phenomena with unmatched accuracy.
Velc's Advantage: Eclipse-Like Dominance
At the core of this discovery is the Velc instrument, a coronagraph engineered to mimic the effects of a total solar eclipse. While the Sun typically appears as a bright orange disc to ground-based observers, Velc obscures its brightest layer, the photosphere, exposing the faint but crucial solar corona. This distinctive design enables Aditya-L1 to continuously observe the Sun’s outermost layer, detecting CMEs from their source — a feat that larger instruments on other missions sometimes overlook.
Scientists have emphasized Velc’s capacity to offer a clear and continuous view of the solar corona. This constant monitoring ensures that no CME goes unnoticed, providing critical early warning for Earth-bound infrastructure in the event of potential disruptions.
Expanding the View with Ground-Based Observatories
India is enhancing its solar research by establishing ground-based observatories in Kodaikanal, Gauribidanur, and Udaipur. In combination with Aditya-L1's space-based observations, these facilities form a robust framework for studying solar activity. The integration of ground and space data offers the potential for deeper insights into the Sun's behavior, helping to strengthen Earth's resilience against solar events.
With this initial success, Aditya-L1 has solidified its role as a key contributor to the global effort to monitor and understand our nearest star.
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