China’s powerful sun-gazing telescope ready for launch
- ASO-S heads into space this autumn to observe the next solar maximum, a period of increased flares and sunspots predicted to peak in 2025
- The data will help scientists understand turbulent space weather that can knock out power grids on Earth
China’s new radio telescope will have dangerous solar eruptions in its gaze
From 720km (447 miles) above Earth, ASO-S will be the first telescope to simultaneously monitor the two most violent activities on our closest star – solar flares and coronal mass ejections – as well as its ever-changing magnetic field, according to the researcher.
Solar flares are intense light bursts, while coronal mass ejections involve the release of huge clouds of charged particles called plasma. Both are believed to be caused by the sun’s turbulent magnetic field.
The sun has become stormier since the current solar cycle began in December 2019. During a solar maximum, solar flares can happen multiple times per day, and some may be as powerful as a billion hydrogen bombs, according to Nasa.
The 888kg (1,958lbs) telescope will carry equipment to observe the sun’s magnetic field, solar flares and coronal mass ejections. The instruments are designed to work together to observe at high resolution, the researcher said.
In a paper published in Nature Astronomy in January, the mission’s leading scientists said data from ASO-S would be shared with the global scientific community.
China to start building giant telescope to monitor solar winds
The National Space Science Centre in Beijing has launched a campaign to solicit a Chinese name for the telescope.
Last October, China launched a small experimental satellite called the Chinese Hydrogen-Alpha Solar Explorer (CHASE) to study solar flares as a precursor to ASO-S.
Earlier this year, CHASE became the first telescope to obtain hydrogen-alpha spectral lines from space, which can reveal unique details about the structure, evolution and dynamic process of solar flares.