![]() The ISRO says that this is also the first time when such abundances of these elements are derived in the quiet solar corona. These elements are categorised as elements with low first ionization potential, meaning these are easier and require less energy to ionize. These elements were found to be three to four times more abundant in the solar corona than the photosphere. The scientists also found certain elements like magnesium, aluminium and silicon in the active regions of the corona located above the sunspots. The team has characterised the newly detected 100 microflares under “sub-A class” microflares. The solar flares are classified under the A, B, C, M, and X classes, where each category is ten times more intense than the previous. The flares are measured to be extremely small compared to standard solar flares and therefore are classified well below the standard scale. This is the first time when a hundred microflares were spotted during a calm phase of the Sun, indicating their abundance in the Sun’s coronal region. The team has hypothesised that these microflares could be present across the solar corona, thus fueling such intense heating. Representative Image: Solar flares captured by NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory. Now, using the data from Chandrayaan-2, Indian scientists have moved an inch closer to finding an answer! The team detected several hundreds of microflares, which could shed some light on the coronal mass heating. Being one of the most vexing astrophysics problems, it questions the fundamental belief that the temperature must fall as one moves away from the source of heat.ĭespite decades of research and different theories, no conclusive explanation has been derived for this paradox. This is popularly referred to as the coronal heating problem. The most peculiar phenomenon is the difference of temperatures between the corona and photosphere-the visible surface of the Sun, which is situated 1,000 miles below the corona and is a mere 5,500☌ hot. This outer part of the Sun comprises plasma or hot ionised gas with temperatures shooting up to more than a million degrees Celsius. The solar corona usually remains unexposed due to the bright glare of the Sun’s surface and is, therefore, difficult to capture for analysis. In fact, the PRL scientists were also responsible for designing the solar instrument along with the ISRO. Using the information observations from Chandrayaan-2, Indian scientists have unravelled the long-standing mystery behind the super-hot corona-the outermost part of the Sun’s atmosphere.Ī team of scientists from the Physical Research Laboratory (PRL), Ahmedabad, performed the study. Now, one of the mission’s science instruments, Solar X-Ray Monitor, which was chiefly designed to study the mysteries of our host star, has beamed back some crucial data about the majestic Sun. For example, within the first few months of its operation in 2019, the orbiter provided the Moon's sharpest image ever taken, detected the element Argon-40, provided illuminated images of the Moon, performed 3D mapping of the Moon’s surface, and detected charged particles and their intensity variations from the solar wind. The Chandrayaan-2 mission is believed to be 95-98% successful due to precise mission management that has ensured a long life for the orbiter. But the Orbiter-which forms a significant chunk of the mission-carried eight scientific instruments on board and continues to successfully collect and relay crucial insights about the Moon to date. Unfortunately, the Lander crashed on the Moon’s surface while attempting to make a soft landing. Until then, a detailed infrared image of the corona taken during the 2017 solar eclipse could shed more light on the magnetic field.In July 2019, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) launched Chandrayaan-2, and nearly a month later, on August 20, 2019, the historic lunar mission spacecraft entered the lunar orbit. NASA’s Parker Solar Probe, launched in 2018, will measure the magnetic field from within 6 million kilometers of the sun’s surface ( SN: 7/21/18, p. Plasma tendrils erupting from near the sun’s surface might transfer energy to the corona in conjunction with magnetic field realignments ( SN: 12/7/19, p. Theories suggest the sun’s magnetic field somehow shifts solar energy to the corona, more than 2,000 kilometers above the sun’s surface. We still don’t know how the corona, the sun’s outer atmosphere, reaches such extreme temperatures. Some observers will seek to determine … the nature of the heating mechanism and the possible role of magnetic fields in keeping hot regions separated from cool ones. The temperature of the main body of the sun is about 6,000° Celsius, but the temperature in the corona goes up to millions of degrees. This year’s eclipse an important opportunity for observation…. An accommodating sun, Science News, Febru–
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