As the entire world eagerly awaits the solar eclipse scheduled to take place on April 8, 2024, scientists are currently using advanced technology to predict the rare view of our Sun’s bright crown, reports say India Today On 5th April.
Except for a total solar eclipse, the outer atmosphere – the corona – is a phenomenon that remains invisible to the naked eye. These moments occur for a short period of time as the Sun reveals its crown.
With the help of NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) and the computational power of NASA’s Pleiades supercomputer, Predictive Science researchers are using them to make predictions on the appearance of the solar corona during the upcoming eclipse.
Also read: First Solar Eclipse of 2024: What to do and what not to do during the total solar eclipse on April 8. Will it be visible in India?
Under their model – updated in real time – they aim to provide the most accurate representation by incorporating constantly fresh data from SDOs.
The solar corona, in addition to being an astronomical wonder, also plays a role in shaping space weather as it affects everything from satellite communications to the power grid on Earth. If scientists can understand and predict the behavior of corona, they can help mitigate the effects of space weather on our technology-dependent society.
However, capturing the essence of the corona becomes challenging, due to the difficulty in measuring the magnetic fields that drive its activity, the report said.
Highlighting the challenge, Emily Mason, research scientist at Predictive Science, noted the absence of ways to accurately measure the magnetic field within the corona. The team has developed an automated process to overcome this, through which they will translate raw data from SDO into dynamic models showing how magnetic energy affects the corona over time.
According to the report, this year’s model marks a significant advancement where the focus is on dynamic representation of the Sun’s surface magnetic field. This will help keep pace with the Sun’s activity during periods of increased solar activity.
This new model quantifies areas of the Sun based on extreme ultraviolet activity in a way that was done manually in previous iterations.
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Published: 05 April 2024, 03:50 PM IST
