SOLAR
FLARES - SCI & TECH
News:
Aditya L1 Payload HEL1OS
Captures First Glimpse of Solar Flares
What's
in the news?
●
ISRO said that the High-Energy L1 Orbiting
X-ray Spectrometer (HEL1OS) instrument on India’s first solar space
observatory, Aditya-L1, has “recorded the impulsive phase of solar flares”.
Key
takeaways:
●
A solar flare is a sudden brightening of the solar atmosphere, and it produces enhanced emission in all wavelengths
across the electromagnetic spectrum – radio, optical, UV, soft X-rays, hard
X-rays and gamma-rays.
Solar
Flare:
●
A solar flare is an intense burst of
radiation coming from the release of magnetic energy associated with sunspots.
●
Flares are our solar system’s largest explosive events.
●
They are seen as bright areas in the sun,
and they can last from minutes to hours.
●
In a matter of just a few minutes, they
heat the material to many millions of degrees and produce a burst of radiation
across the electromagnetic spectrum, including from radio waves to x-rays and
gamma rays.
●
Although solar flares can be visible in
white light, they are often more readily noticed via their bright X-ray and
ultraviolet emissions.
Effect
of Solar Flare on Earth:
●
The intense radiation emitted during a
solar flare can affect satellite
communications, disrupt radio signals, and even pose a risk to astronauts in
space.
●
Additionally, the increased solar
radiation can lead to geomagnetic
storms, which may impact power grids and cause auroras (northern and
southern lights) at lower latitudes.