Still a source of wonder for some, no great shakes for others, the recent total solar eclipse was a memorable spectacle
THE sun and the moon came together
yet again on October 24, 1995, after I
long years, in a dazzling display of cele
tial reunion. Earthlings watched -
awestruck and spellbound. But which
the sociocultural significance of th
event was well marked, scientists kel
their fingers crossed over any new sc
ence that might emerge out of this cele!
tial rendezvous.
Innumerable watchers, including 3
Japanese and 26 American scientist
arrayed themselves at different
points along the 40-krn wide path
of totality - region in which the
sun is completely masked by the
moon's shadow. "Essentially,"
explained Ramnath Cowsik of the
Bangalore-based Indian Institute
of Astrophysic and the man
behind the entire scientific
endeavour, 'the experiments con-
ducted during the eclipse had two
objectives. One - to demystify the
tew remaining mysteries of the
sun, and two - to seek a better
understanding of the complex
relationship between the sun and
dw earth."
The corona - the fiery halo
enveloping the sun but visible only durag total solar eclipse - was the cynosure of scientific eyes. That it is a million
4kgrees hotter than the sun itself has
bdfled scientists for long. One explananon is that magnetic fields intruding
veto the corona get warped releasing
pmerous amounts of heat. So, scientists
wwd to look for optical signatures of
mrtain elements like iron and calcium
*a signify very high temperatures. The
nce of these elements can then be
prese
elated to the magnetic fields theory.
Another solar oddity that attracted
tion was the dust rings, supposedly
nts of dead comets swept towards
'th by the sun. The rings,
predicted long ago, had remained
elusive so far.
This was also the first time that a
detailed study of atmospheric solar
'winds' was conducted. Solar winds are
magnetic fields that emanate from the
sun and cause the famous phenomenon
of Northern Lights. Sometimes they
come so close to the earth's surface that
they disrupt the power supply networks.
Redefining the sun's radius is a regular during a total solar eclipse. This
time scientists from NASA and the Pune
based Inter University Centre for
Astronomy and Astrophysics (IUCAA),
set themselves up near Agra to measure
the solar diameter and its long-term
variations. The results are already out:
the sun's new radius is 650 kin longer
than hitherto measured - 6,96,000 kin
disclosed N C Rana of IUCAA.
- At Diamond Harbour, Calcutta, sci-
entists from the Saha Institute of
Nuclear Physics set up experiments to
detect electrical charge and mass of cosmic rays. Other than being just protons
and neutrons, cosmic rays are heavier
particles which disintegrate while reachthe earth. A total solar eclipse is a
riginique opportunity to detect cosmic ray
articles because the sun is masked temorarily.
Delhi University and the National
'hysical Laboratory (NPL) scientists
ought gravity waves in the cosmic clut2r showered on the earth. Postulated
ut never identified, these supposedly
lay a major role in the circulation of
-iiddle and upper atmosphere.
Another NPL team studied changes
-1 radio waves intensity received from
11 India Radio and other sources at
Neem Ka Th4na and Diamond
Harbour. The observations, the
scientists say, will help plan India's
transmission networks better.
They also studied the variation in
the intensity of visible, infra-red
and near infra-red rays. According
to them, the purpose of the experment was to gauge the aerosol
content in the atmosphere which
has a cooling effect on the latter.
The star attraction during the
eclipse was an MIG aircraft chasing
the moon's shadow over the entire
line of totality in India, flying at an
altitude of 22 km. It photographed
the moving lunar shadow as well as the
corona. This exercise was carried out for
the first time in India.
The results of all these endeavours,
however, would only show up after
some months.
Despite academic efforts, many scientists were sceptical of any remarkable
finding coming out of this event
Remarked R K Kochhar of the iiA
"We've come a long way from the total
solar eclipse of May 29, 1919, when
Einstein's General Theory of Relativity
was experimentally proven. The total
solar eclipse is a horse that has been
flogged ad nauseam." If nothing, as
Cowsik remarked, the academic exercise
will surely yield at least 20 to 30 Ph.D
theses.
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