Prelims – Current events of national and international importance.
Why in news?
Recent Study conducted by researchers from the Indian Institute of Astrophysics (IIA), reliably estimate Helium abundance in the Sun.
- Helium – It is the 2nd most abundant element in the Sun after Hydrogen.
- But the accurate measurement of helium abundance in the Sun's photosphere has been a longstanding challenge.
- Traditional estimates relied on indirect methods, such as:
- Extrapolation from hotter stars.
- Measurements from the solar corona and solar wind.
- Seismology studies of the Sun's interior.
- Reason - Helium does not produce observable spectral lines from the Sun's visible surface (photosphere).
New Methodology
- They analyzed high-resolution solar spectrum data from
- Neutral magnesium (Mg) atomic lines and magnesium hydride (MgH) molecular lines.
- Neutral carbon (C) atomic lines and hydrocarbon (CH and Cā) molecular lines.
- Relative consistency - The technique is based on the principle of elemental abundance consistency between atomic and molecular forms of the same element.
Key Findings
- The research confirmed a helium-to-hydrogen ratio of approximately 0.1.
- It also confirmed that for every 10 hydrogen atoms in the Sun, there is about 1 helium atom.
Significance
- This could be a major step in assessing the opacity of the Sun’s photosphere.
- Validates previously assumed helium abundance values with direct evidence.
- Estimating accurate models of solar structure and evolution, as helium content significantly influences a star's lifetime, energy production, and evolutionary path.
- Solar helium measurements help constrain theories about Big Bang nucleosynthesis and the early universe's elemental production.
Reference
PIB| New Method to Reliably Estimate Helium Abundance in the Sun
