Kolkata:

ISRO chief S Somnath on Sunday said that the Aditya L1 solar mission of the premier space research agency is continuously sending data about the Sun.

Mr Somnath, who was speaking to reporters here, said several instruments of the spacecraft are working continuously to feed data on many aspects.

“We are looking into the sun in a continuous manner – UV magnetic charges observation, corona graph observation, X-ray observation and other things,” he said.

India’s first solar mission craft, the Aditya-L1 spacecraft was launched on September 2, 2023.

“As we are keeping this satellite for five years, the observation will be analysed as a long-term measure. It is not like your instant news that something has been reported about the sun today, something else will happen tomorrow, things will happen every day,” he explained.

All observations will happen now but the results will be known later, he said.

“Eclipse happens as the sun is blocked by the moon. It is not like that anything happens within the sun during an eclipse. But obviously, our mission is also collecting data about the sun before, during, and after an eclipse,” Mr Somnath said while answering a question on whether the mission will throw light on the solar eclipse.

Speaking about collaborations with other space agencies, he said ISRO is building a joint satellite NISAR (NASA-ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar). 

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Washington:

Just a single, unguarded glance at a solar eclipse can result in a lifetime of vision loss, eye health experts warn.

On Monday, tens of millions of spectators across Mexico, the United States and Canada will witness the Moon completely obscure the Sun’s light, a rare celestial spectacle that won’t be visible for most of North America again until 2044.

Medical literature is teeming with examples of people who suffered damage to their retinas — the layer of light-sensitive tissue at the back of the eye — and health professionals are offering advice on how to avoid becoming the next cautionary tale.

Aaron Zimmerman, a clinical professor of optometry at the Ohio State University, told AFP that the dangers of sungazing during eclipses were discussed by the ancient Greek philosopher Socrates, but it wasn’t until recently that science really caught up with how eye injury happened.

When it comes to eclipses, he explained, the main damage comes from “photochemical toxicity,” where short, high-energy wavelengths of light — blues, violets and non-visible ultraviolets — trigger chemical reactions that damage the rods and cones of the retina.

Cue visits to the emergency department by people with complaints of blurry vision, changes in color perception, and blind spots, with the outlook for recovery far from certain.

Human beings inherently look away from the Sun because of the discomfort it causes, but during eclipses “you can psychologically override” that instinct, explained Zimmerman.

A famous journal report about the 2017 US solar eclipse involved a woman in her twenties who presented to the New York Eye and Ear Infirmary after looking at the solar rim “several times for approximately 6 seconds without protective glasses” and then later with eclipse glasses.

Hours later, objects started to look fuzzy and out of shape, colors became distorted, and she developed a central black spot in her left eye.

An advanced imaging technique was able to show the damage at the cellular level which persisted on her follow up six weeks later.

‘Permanent blank spot’

Young adults might be more susceptible, the authors of the paper said, because of larger pupils, clearer eye structure, or “poorer recognition of the dangers” of viewing eclipses with improper eyewear.

“In some cases, it’s just partially damaged and it may resolve so that you don’t notice it anymore,” Neil Bressler, a professor of ophthalmology at Johns Hopkins University and editor-in-chief of JAMA Ophthalmology told AFP. If recovery happens, it’s normally within the first six months.

“But in other cases, it can leave a permanent blank spot… and we don’t have a treatment to reverse that. It’s like brain tissue, once you lose it, it won’t grow back,” added Bressler.

The best way to view the eclipse is with eclipse sunglasses, which block out 99.999 percent of light. Always go for genuine products. To test if your glasses are up to standard, “find the brightest light bulb in your home — and then look at that from up close and you should barely be able to see the light,” said Zimmerman.

If it’s too late to procure specialist eyewear, then there are indirect methods, such as punching a pinhole into a cardboard and letting the light shine onto another surface, or even using the humble kitchen colander to the same effect. NASA’s webcast is another option.

Those fortunate enough to be in the “path of totality,” under which the Moon will fully block out the Sun, can look up without glasses and admire the Sun’s outer atmosphere, or corona, glowing from behind the silhouette of the Moon.

But, said Bressler, the danger is not having protection before and after those precious moments, which can last anywhere from seconds to a few minutes, depending on your location.

“You must know when it begins and use protection before that, and you may be enamored by looking at all this, but you must have some alarm to tell you it’s about to end,” he warned.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

When a rare total solar eclipse sweeps across North America on April 8, scientists will be able to gather invaluable data on everything from the Sun’s atmosphere to strange animal behaviors — and even possible effects on humans.

It comes with the Sun near the peak of its 11-year solar cycle, setting the stage for a breathtaking display: The corona will glow spectacularly from the Moon’s silhouette along the path of totality, a corridor stretching from Mexico to Canada via the United States.

Total solar eclipses offer “incredible scientific opportunities,” NASA Deputy Administrator Pam Melroy told a press conference this week about the celestial event.

The US space agency is one of the institutions at the ready for the eclipse, with plans to launch so-called “sounding rockets” to study the effects on Earth’s upper atmosphere.

Here is a look at what researchers are hoping to learn from the upcoming eclipse:

Sun’s atmosphere

When the Moon passes directly in front of the Sun and blocks it, the elusive outermost edge of the Sun’s atmosphere, or corona, will be visible “in a very special way,” Melroy said Tuesday.

“Things are happening with the corona that we don’t fully understand,” she said.

The heat within the corona intensifies with distance from the Sun’s surface — a counterintuitive phenomenon that scientists struggle to fully comprehend or explain.

Solar flares, a sudden explosion of energy that releases radiation into space, take place in the corona as do solar prominences, enormous plasma formations that loop out from the Sun’s surface.

During an eclipse, the bottom most part of the corona — where a lot of this activity occurs — is more clearly visible than when using specialized instruments to block the central part of the Sun, offering a golden opportunity for study, said Shannon Schmoll, director of the Abrams Planetarium at Michigan State University.

Researchers are particularly thrilled about the Sun being near the peak of its 11-year cycle.

“The chance we’re going to see something amazing is very high,” Melroy said.

Earth’s atmosphere

The total eclipse also will afford scientists a chance to study changes in part of the Earth’s upper atmosphere known as the ionosphere, important because it affects radio waves used for communication and navigation.

“Disturbances in this layer can cause issues with GPS and communications,” said Kelly Korreck, the eclipse program manager at NASA headquarters.

The ionosphere, which is where Earth’s atmosphere meets space, is affected by the Sun, which electrically charges the particles there during the day.

NASA’s three sounding rockets will be launched before, during and just after the eclipse from Virginia to measure these changes.

The major decrease in sunlight provoked by the eclipse — more rapid and localized than a simple sunset — should allow researchers to learn more about how light affects the ionosphere so they can better predict potential problematic disruptions.

Animal behaviors

Startling animal behavior has been noted during eclipses: Giraffes have been seen galloping, while roosters and crickets can start crowing and chirping.

Beyond the drop in sunlight, temperatures and wind — conditions to which animals are sensitive — can also decrease significantly during an eclipse.

Andrew Farnsworth, a researcher in ornithology at Cornell University in New York state, studies how eclipses affect birds, using weather surveillance radar to detect birds in flight.

During the last total solar eclipse visible from the United States in August 2017, scientists observed a “decline in the number of animals flying around,” Farnsworth told reporters.

The 2017 eclipse disrupted the daily activities of insects and birds, but did not trigger usual animal nocturnal behaviors such as birds migrating or bats emerging, the expert said.

This time around, birds might be more apt to migrate during the eclipse, given that it’s in April, he said.

“These kinds of patterns — they’re important for understanding the ways animals perceive their worlds,” Farnsworth said.

Human wonder

“Eclipses have a special power. They move people to feel a kind of reverence for the beauty of our universe,” NASA Administrator Bill Nelson told reporters.

Researchers studied this feeling of awe in 2017, using data from nearly three million users of Twitter, now called X.

Those in the so-called “path of totality” tended to use the pronoun “we” (as opposed to “I”) and express concern about other people, according to Paul Piff, a professor of psychology at the University of California, Irvine.

“What we’re finding is that experiences that bring about awe… seem to attune people and connect us to one another, to connect us to entities that are larger than ourselves,” Piff said.

This year, he plans to study if the experience has any effect on political divisions in society.

Citizen scientists 

About 40 citizen science projects are planned around the eclipse, from using a phone app to register the temperature and cloud cover to recording ambient noise during the event.

“We encourage you to help NASA observe the sights and sounds around you,” Nelson said.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Hundreds of schools across the United States are set to close on April 8th due to a total solar eclipse. The eclipse will plunge several states into darkness as the moon covers the sun completely, according to Newsweek.

The path of totality will start in Mexico and move across parts of the United States, casting a complete shadow. This comes just a few months after the “ring of fire” eclipse in October 2023. Millions are expected to witness this astronomical event, with astronomy enthusiasts traveling to states in the path of totality, as per the news report.

However, safety concerns are emerging amid the excitement. Authorities warn that looking directly at the sun can cause permanent eye damage. There are also concerns about traffic disruptions and strain on local resources due to the large crowds expected.

The eclipse will be visible in Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Missouri, Illinois, Kentucky, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York, Vermont, New Hampshire, and Maine. Small parts of Tennessee and Michigan will also experience totality. The eclipse will then move to Canada before exiting North America on the Atlantic coast.

Many schools in affected states have already announced closures. Parents are advised to check with their schools and stay updated with local news reports.

Texas has been proactive, with several counties issuing disaster declarations and advising residents to stock up on supplies. Some school districts, which initially planned eclipse-related activities, have reversed course due to safety concerns. Students will be given special eclipse glasses to take home and use for independent activities.

Schools in Indiana are also closing or switching to e-learning on the day of the eclipse.