Chinese Scientists Study Solar Wind Using Giant Telescope

Chinese scientists have made advances in the process of observing interplanetary luminescence, thanks to the world's largest telescope. Observation of this luminescence can be used for meteorological study in space.

Radio signals from a distant source of intense radiation are scattered by the solar wind, and thus the random refraction pattern of rays is observed on earth. This phenomenon is known as interplanetary luminescence. Observations on Earth also help draw conclusions about the physical properties of the solar wind.

Researchers at the Astronomical Observatory of the Chinese Academy of Sciences analyzed the solar wind through observations of interplanetary luminescence. They did this with China's 500-metre spherical radio telescope (FAST).

Thanks to the very high sensitivity of FAST, information on the speed of the solar wind was obtained in just 20 seconds. That's a fraction of the time compared to what can be achieved with conventional radio telescopes, the research team reported on June 1.

Source: China International Radio