IUCAA Brochure 2024

The Solar Physics group at IUCAA works on the overall understanding of the dynamic coupling of the magnetized solar atmosphere. During the high solar activity phase, there could be as many as 20 highly energetic eruptions which release plasma, highly energetic charged particles into interplanetary space. These phenomena are powered by magnetic fields which are generated within the Sun. They directly influence terrestrial life, space weather, space-reliant technologies and may cause electric power blackouts in countries at higher latitudes on Earth. Although these sudden bursts have proven to be highly difficult to predict, the group tries to understand the Sun’s dynamo mechanism, to be able to make an early prediction of coronal mass ejections and solar flares. Moreover, the atmosphere of the Sun presents several intriguing, The Sun, our star, is the source of all life-giving energy and also of the ever varying space-weather. However, it can also provide knowledge about very fundamental Physics in conditions not possible on the Earth. Humankind stands to gain a lot by the study of these. Solar Astrophysics mysterious phenomena eg. the strange existence of a million- degree temperature layer called the Corona, that lies above cooler, lower atmospheric layers, such as the photosphere and chromosphere. In the last few years, among others, the IUCAA group has proposed a unified scenario to explain the solar atmospheric heating and the origin of the solar wind; presented an alternative explanation for Doppler shifts Observations in the