GRAPES-3 experiment

• The GRAPES-3 experiment at TIFR’s Cosmic Ray Laboratory in Ootacamund in Tamil Nadu is getting upgraded. The telescope made news last year when it detected the effect of a solar storm that hit the earth in June 2015.
• GRAPES-3 has an important role in understanding the propagation of storms from the L1 point to its impact on the Earth.
• The upgrade will play a major role in getting precise information about the propagation of storms in ‘the last million miles’ (from the L-1 point) of their journey from the Sun to the earth.

About solar storms:

• A solar storm is a term used for atmospheric effects felt on Earth from certain events that occur on the Sun.
• Solar storms occur when the Sun emits huge bursts of energy in the form of solar flares and coronal mass ejections. These phenomena send a stream of electrical charges and magnetic fields toward the Earth at a speed of about three million miles per hour.
• When a solar storm strikes the Earth, it often produces a dazzling “northern lights" display in parts of the atmosphere that can be seen in areas close to the Arctic Circle. Solar storms can also disrupt satellites and various forms of electronic communications.
• Solar storms start with a huge explosion on the Sun. These explosions — called solar flares — can be about as powerful as billions of nuclear bombs!
• Solar flares usually go hand-in-hand with the release of huge streams of charged plasma that travel at millions of miles per hour. These streams are called coronal mass ejections, or CMEs. When CMEs hit the Earth, they can cause geomagnetic storms that disrupt satellites and electrical power grids.

About GRAPES 3:

• The GRAPES-3 experiment (or Gamma Ray Astronomy PeV EnergieS phase-3) located at Ooty in India started as a collaboration of the Indian Tata Institute of Fundamental Research and the Japanese Osaka City University, and now also includes the Japanese Nagoya Women’s University.

Objectives of the GRAPES-3 Experiment

• To study the origin, acceleration and propagation of >1014 eV cosmic rays in the galaxy and beyond.
• To study the Existence of “Knee” in the energy spectrum of cosmic rays.
• To study Production and/or acceleration of highest energy (~1020 eV) cosmic rays in the universe.
• To study Astronomy of multi-TeV ?-rays from neutron stars and other compact object.
• To study Sun the closest astrophysical object, accelerator of energetic particles and its effects on the Earth.

By: Vishal