Deep Space Climate Observatory : Daily Current Affairs

GS-3: Science and Technology- developments and their applications and effects in everyday life.

Keywords: DSCOVR, EPIC, Sun flare, solar eclipse, NASA, ultraviolet, infrared

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The Earth Polychromatic Imaging Camera (EPIC) on the Deep Space Climate Observatory (DSCOVR) spacecraft captured the dark shadow of the Moon as it passed over Antarctica. NASA also shared images taken by Astronaut Kayla Barron from inside the International Space Station.

DSCOVR (Deep Space Climate Observatory) is an American space weather station that monitors changes in the solar wind, providing space weather alerts and forecasts for geomagnetic storms that could disrupt power grids, satellites, telecommunications, aviation, and GPS.
DSCOVR is a joint mission between NASA, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), and the United States Air Force (USAF).

DSCOVR orbits about a million miles from Earth in a unique location called Lagrange point 1, which basically allows it to hover between the Sun and our planet.

Lagrange points are positions in space where objects sent there tend to stay put. At Lagrange points, the gravitational pull of two large masses precisely equals the centripetal force required for a small object to move with them. These points in space can be used by spacecraft to reduce fuel consumption needed to remain in position.
There are five Lagrange points from L1 to L5 for every given combination of two large orbital bodies. The first three Lagrange points L1, L2 and L3 were discovered by Leonhard Euler and L4 and L5 were discovered by Joseph-Louis.
Of the five Lagrange points, three are unstable and two are stable. L1, L2 and L3 are unstable Lagrange points, and they lie along the line connecting the two large masses. L4 and L5 are stable Lagrange points and form they form the apex of two equilateral triangles that have large masses at their vertices.

The spacecraft “monitors changes in the solar wind and provides space weather forecasts and alerts for solar storms that could temporarily disrupt power grids and GPS.”
It can give warnings to forecasters 15 to 60 minutes before solar storms reach Earth.
The spacecraft’s EPIC camera takes a new picture of Earth every two hours.
The EPIC camera also captures images of solar eclipses and images of the Moon as it passes between DSCOVR and Earth.

The Earth Polychromatic Imaging Camera (EPIC) takes images of the sunlit side of Earth for various Earth science monitoring purposes in ten different channels from ultraviolet to near-infrared. Ozone and aerosol levels are monitored along with cloud dynamics, properties of the land, and vegetation.

The solar magnetic cycle that works in the deep interior of the Sun creates regions that rise to the surface and appear like dark spots. These are the sunspots.
Solar flares are highly energetic phenomena that happen inside the sunspots.
In a solar flare, the energy stored in the Sun’s magnetic structures is converted into light and heat energy.
This causes the emission of high energy x-ray radiation and highly accelerated charged particles to leave the Sun’s surface.