New Delhi, May 21 (IANS). The scorching heat continues. The temperature in many parts of the country has reached 45 degrees Celsius. Do you know that the Sun is 15 crore kilometers away from the Earth? Despite this, the Sun not only provides energy to the Earth but also keeps it bright and warm. In astronomy, this distance has been given a special name – 1 Astronomical Unit (1 AU).
1 Astronomical unit is not just a distance measurement, but is the basis for measuring the entire solar system. Mars is at a distance of 1.5 AU, while Jupiter is 5.2 AU away. Astronomers can easily understand the distances of planets, stars and galaxies on the basis of this unit.
According to the Canadian Space Agency (CSA), 1 AU defines the average distance between the Sun and Earth, which is exactly 149.6 million kilometers. To understand this in simple words, if you travel continuously by car without stopping, then you will have to cover a distance equal to 3,750 revolutions around the Earth. Even light, the fastest thing in the universe, takes 8 minutes and 20 seconds to cover this distance. This is why as soon as we see the Sun, we immediately feel its heat and light, but in reality that light had left us 8 minutes and 20 seconds ago.
This distance is so great that if we drive straight towards the Sun today, it will take us about 177 years to reach. Despite being at such a distance, the Sun is the basis of life on Earth. It not only provides light and energy but also controls weather, water cycle and plant growth.
American space agency NASA’s Polarimeter to Unify the Corona and Heliosphere i.e. Punch Mission works to better understand the Sun and its effects. Under this mission, four small satellites, which are the size of suitcases, are currently orbiting the Earth. The main objective of the Punch mission is to study the Sun’s corona i.e. the outer atmosphere and the solar wind.
Scientists want to know where the solar wind starts and how it spreads throughout the solar system. This information is very important for future space missions and prediction of solar storms on Earth.
–IANS
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