 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
| . |  |
. |
 by Staff Writers Beijing (XNA) Aug 20, 2018
Total solar eclipses formed by the moon shadowing the sun are spectacular opportunities for scientists to observe the sun's corona, but too short and rare to capture. So Chinese scientists have put forward a novel idea to view a total solar eclipse in space by using the earth to cover the sun, so they might have a longer and more accurate observation and study the source of solar storms. NASA's Parker Solar Probe, the fastest spacecraft in history, blasted off on Sunday, on a mission to study the sun at a closer range than any other spacecraft. The probe is expected to enter the sun's fiery corona after a journey of about seven years. Chinese scientists have proposed another approach: flying in the earth's shadow. The corona - the sun's rarefied gaseous envelope - is more than a million degrees centigrade and often generates solar storms that damage satellites, navigation and communication systems, said Luo Bingxian, a researcher at the National Space Center of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS). "The heating process of the corona is one of astronomy's biggest mysteries, but our understanding of it is still lacking due to our inability to observe it," Luo said. "It's very difficult to see the corona clearly from Earth, since its brightness is less than a millionth of that of the sun's disk," Luo said. The corona is normally visible only during a total solar eclipse, when it is seen as an irregularly shaped glow around the darkened disk of the moon. However, total solar eclipses are rare and usually last only minutes. Sometimes the best view is from the ocean or the weather conditions are poor, making them very difficult to observe. Although scientists have devised a special instrument, the coronograph, to observe the corona, it's easily affected by factors such as stray light, vignetting and atmospheric scattering. "Since we can see the moon between the sun and earth during a total solar eclipse, I thought we could put a telescope, the earth and sun in a straight line," said Luo. His team calculated the best place for the telescope was close to the second Lagrange point (L2) of the sun-earth system, about 1.4 million kilometers from the earth. There, the relative positions of the sun, earth and telescope would remain unchanged with the gravity of the sun, earth and a little propulsion, Luo said. Cooperating with scientists from the University of Science and Technology of China and the Innovation Academy of Microsatellites of the CAS, Luo took the idea to a contest of innovative future technologies in Shenzhen, south China's Guangdong Province, recently and it was selected as one of 30 winning projects. The contest encouraged young Chinese scientists to conceive groundbreaking technologies and trigger innovation. Source: Xinhua News
'Blood moon' dazzles skygazers in century's longest eclipse Paris (AFP) July 28, 2018 The longest "blood moon" eclipse this century dazzled skygazers across the globe Friday, coinciding with Mars' closest approach in 15 years in a thrilling celestial spectacle. As Earth's constant companion slowly sailed across the skies, crowds gathered around the world to catch a glimpse of the rare phenomenon. Beside Lake Magadi, 100 kilometres (60 miles) southwest of the Kenyan capital Nairobi, young members of the Maasai community watched the eclipse through a high-powered telescope provided ... read more
|
|||||||||||||
|
|
| The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2024 - Space Media Network. All websites are published in Australia and are solely subject to Australian law and governed by Fair Use principals for news reporting and research purposes. AFP, UPI and IANS news wire stories are copyright Agence France-Presse, United Press International and Indo-Asia News Service. ESA news reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. All articles labeled "by Staff Writers" include reports supplied to Space Media Network by industry news wires, PR agencies, corporate press officers and the like. Such articles are individually curated and edited by Space Media Network staff on the basis of the report's information value to our industry and professional readership. Advertising does not imply endorsement, agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by Space Media Network on any Web page published or hosted by Space Media Network. General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) Statement Our advertisers use various cookies and the like to deliver the best ad banner available at one time. All network advertising suppliers have GDPR policies (Legitimate Interest) that conform with EU regulations for data collection. By using our websites you consent to cookie based advertising. If you do not agree with this then you must stop using the websites from May 25, 2018. Privacy Statement. Additional information can be found here at About Us. |
del.icio.us
Digg
Reddit
Google
