Ten rockets fired to study solar eclipse

The Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC) launched a total of 10 Rohini series indigenous sounding rockets from the Thumba Equatorial Rocket Launching Station here and the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota to investigate the effects of the longest annular solar eclipse of this millennium, which occurred on Friday, on the earth’s atmosphere.

On Thursday, the VSSC launched two sounding rockets each of the type RH 300 Mk II and RH 200, and on Friday, three sounding rockets of the type RH 300 Mk II and two sounding rockets of RH 200 from Thumba. The RH 300 Mk II rockets can shoot to a peak altitude of 116 km above the earth and the RH 200 to a peak altitude of 70 km.

The VSSC also launched a larger Rohini rocket of the RH 560 Mk II series from Sriharikota on Friday. These rockets are capable of reaching a peak altitude of 548 km.

The eclipse assumed annular condition at 1.14 p.m. over Thumba. The maximum obscuration of 91 per cent of the sun occurred at 11.15 p.m. The annular phase of the eclipse lasted about 11 minutes and eight seconds over Thumba.

The firing of the sounding rockets was scheduled so as to collect relevant data on atmospheric structure and dynamics at different altitudes from the earth before, during and after the eclipse.

“Many scientifically interesting phenomena occur in the diurnal equatorial atmosphere [during an eclipse]. Equatorial electrojet, equatorial ionisation anomaly, and equatorial temperature and wind anomaly are examples of such phenomena.

“When a solar eclipse occurs, there will be a sudden cut-off of solar radiation. This cut-off will affect the atmospheric structure and dynamics and there will be a large reduction in ionisation and temperature.

“Today’s eclipse offered a unique opportunity to scientists to investigate the effects of fast varying solar flux on the photochemistry and electrodynamics of the different atmospheric regions, especially the equatorial mesopause and ionosphere-thermosphere regions,” the VSSC said.

The results of the experiments would be correlated with ground-based eclipse observations.

The interpretation of the eclipse data together with the space data is expected to give new insights into earlier eclipse observations as well, the VSSC said.