Indian Scientists Capture Detailed Spectroscopic Images Of Sun Using MeerKAT
A group of scientists at the National Centre for Radio Astrophysics ¨C Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (NCRA-TIFR)?in Pune have captured detailed images of?the Sun?at?radio wavelengths. The?images?were captured?using the MeerKAT telescope?in South Africa,?which is?an exceptionally sensitive radio telescope, built to observe faint astronomical sources.
Study of sun is challenging
The images?were captured?by Dr. Devojyoti Kansabanik and Dr Surajit Mondal from NCRA-TIFR. The?findings of the study?were published in the Astrophysical Journal earlier this month.
¡°Sun?is a surprisingly challenging source to study, especially at radio wavelengths.?The radio?emissions arise from?the tenuous atmosphere of?Sun, a region known as the corona?and?visible?to the naked eye only during?total?eclipse.?It is the birthplace of the phenomena that impact Earth¡¯s environment,¡± Kansabanik?said.
First use of MeerKAT
According to the researchers, it was for the first time,?MeerKAT?was used to make spectroscopic images of the Sun.?
"We believe once solar observation with MeerKAT is fully commissioned, it will enable a host of novel studies, open the door to a large unexplored phase space with significant discovery potential," authors of the study said.
The images they captured were made using only 15 minutes of MeerKAT observations on Sept 26 and 27, 2020.
"The entire solar disk is visible once images over the full band are stacked together," the study said.
Will open new avenues to study sun
"The first solar spectroscopic images using MeerKAT presented here are of the highest quality at these frequencies available to date. The quality of these images is demonstrated both qualitatively and quantitatively by comparison with realistic simulations. While this is adequate for demonstrating the feasibility of MeerKAT for solar observations and evaluating the quality of the images it can deliver, the preferable approach for solar observing will be to keep the Sun in the main lobe of the primary beam and attenuate the signal using electronics to the required levels," it noted.
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