![]() NASA’s Parker Solar Probe dances close to the Sun during its approaches. Of course, there’s a slew of orbiting and space-based solar telescopes out there. Inouye facility in Hawai’i, which is doing science aimed at understanding the fundamental processes and activities in the Sun. Adding in a New Solar FacilityĬhina’s new mid-infrared-enabled solar observatory joins a worldwide collection of telescopes aimed at our star. Courtesy NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Science Visualization Studio. The Sun’s magnetic field in a narrated tour that spans from visible to ultraviolet light and includes magnetograms. Its long-term observations should provide insight into the transfer of matter and energy during violent eruptions such as flares. The science teams plan to use it to study the mechanism of the generation, accumulation, triggering, and energy release of magnetic energy. They hope it will achieve major breakthroughs in solar physics with their in-depth studies of the solar magnetic field. ![]() It will also furnish mid-infrared imaging and spectral observation data. The telescopes in Hawai’i and Chile and the mountains of China are good examples of facilities that take advantage of high-altitude conditions.Īccording to scientists from the Chinese Academy of Sciences, this new facility will provide a more accurate study of the Sun’s magnetic field. To obtain good infrared “seeing”, facilities need to be located near the summits of mountains in dry climates. The atmosphere absorbs other ranges of infrared light, and it also emits its own infrared. However, things get tougher when astronomers want to look at wavelengths beyond that window. Depending on conditions, light passes through our atmosphere without getting absorbed by the atmospheric gases and water vapor. Those are in the so-called “infrared atmospheric window” that admits infrared light roughly between 8 and 14 microns. Some wavelengths in that range are relatively easy to observe from the ground. The infrared range of the electromagnetic spectrum is quite useful for studies of the Sun. This is important when investigating the mechanism of mass and energy transfer during violent eruptions. The solution lies with domestically made detector chips being installed and tested.įeng also noted that the system is mainly used for monochromatic imaging observations in the infrared band between 8 and 10 microns. “Scientists solved the challenge of high ambient noises and degraded detector performance they have encountered in solar observations within this range of the infrared band,” Feng pointed out. According to senior engineer Feng Zhiwei, the team has met several key goals. They require perfect conditions for the equipment to gather the light needed. Doing astronomy observations of any kind in the mid-infrared range raises challenges.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |