The Advanced Space-Based Solar Observatory (ASO-S) is China’s first solar observatory being sent on a mission to understand the sun’s rays.
It has become important to understand intense moods Sun better simply because it can shoot explosives towards The earth that could cause mass death and send humanity back to the Dark Ages. As we near the peak of the current solar cycle, Earth is experiencing increasingly intense solar storms. These solar storms are mainly the result of a solar eruption that throws large amounts of solar particles, also known as solar mass ejections, into space directed at the Earth. NASA and the European Space Agency (ESA) have sent their individual solar observatories into space – Solar Orbiter and Solar Dynamics Observatory – to study star depth. And now, joining them will be ‘s first solar observatory China called the Advanced Space-Based Solar Observatory (ASO-S). ASO-S will exclusively study solar flares and try to understand why these eruptions occur on the Sun.
The ASO-S spacecraft launched today, October 9, will observe the Sun for at least the next four to five years. China has previously sent satellites with individual instruments to record a specific aspect of the Sun, but this will be the country’s first observatory with multiple instruments. This technological wonder cost China a whopping $126 million. The time chosen coincides with the sun’s maximum, the peak of the solar cycle, with its mission timeframe. The sun’s maximum is expected to reach around 2023.
China’s first solar observatory reveals the secret of solar flares
There are three tools on ASO-S that have really caught the attention of scientists. The first is a magnetic machine that will study and observe the Sun’s magnetic field. The second is an X-ray camera that will note the high-energy radiation released by accelerated electrons during solar eruptions. And finally, the third is a coronagraph that will study the plasma produced by the sun’s rays and CME explosions.
These three tools together give ASO-S a unique capability. According to Sarah Gibson, a solar physicist, who said with Nature, this will allow the observatory to study the central corona, where these solar eruptions begin. This region has never been seen in the ultraviolet spectrum before and could give scientists an idea of the origin of the sun’s rays and the CME.
At the end of ASO-S’s initial mandate period, which can last four to six months, ASO-S data will be available to anyone who wants to access and collaborate with Chinese scientists. Gibson believes that working with ESA’s Solar Orbiter could help create comprehensive images of the Sun and its behavior as they provide different vantage points during Sun observations.
