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Indian study ties the Sun's bright radio poles to magnetic fields

By CAShorts DeskPublished Source: PIB (Ministry of Science & Technology), 12 October 2026

Indian study ties the Sun's bright radio poles to magnetic fields
Illustration (AI-generated)

Researchers from ARIES Nainital, the Udaipur Solar Observatory of the Physical Research Laboratory, IIT Delhi and IIT Roorkee have explained why the Sun's poles glow brighter at microwave frequencies. Using nearly three decades of 17 GHz radio data, they found the glow tracks polar magnetic-field strength and coronal hole size, while coronal bright points and jets light up local patches.

Syllabus: Prelims · Science & Technology; GS3 · Science & Technology; GS3 · Indian Achievements in S&T

Why this matters for UPSC

GS3 science and technology: Prelims can ask what coronal holes, the solar wind and the solar cycle are, and which department runs ARIES, the Physical Research Laboratory and Aditya-L1's payloads.

Why it matters

Gusts of fast solar wind from coronal holes, like coronal mass ejections, can stir geomagnetic storms that disturb satellites, GPS signals, radio links and power grids. Knowing what happens at the Sun's poles helps scientists understand where that wind comes from and how the Sun's magnetic field builds up over each cycle, which feeds forecasts of the next one. The study also shows that ground-based radio maps, gathered over decades, can watch the poles that are hard to see head-on. For India, it shows DST and Department of Space institutes working together on solar physics, the same science that Aditya-L1 is studying from space.

Prelims pointers

  • Coronal holes: regions of open magnetic field lines, dark in extreme-ultraviolet and X-ray images; source of the fast solar wind.
  • Solar wind: a continuous outflow of charged particles (plasma) from the corona; guided by Earth's magnetic field to the poles, it produces auroras.
  • Solar cycle: sunspot numbers rise and fall over about 11 years; the Sun's magnetic polarity flips near each solar maximum.
  • ARIES, Nainital: autonomous institute of the Department of Science and Technology; it runs the 3.6 m Devasthal Optical Telescope.
  • Udaipur Solar Observatory is run by the Physical Research Laboratory, Ahmedabad, a unit of the Department of Space.
  • Aditya-L1: ISRO's first space-based solar observatory, launched in 2023 on PSLV-C57, orbiting Lagrange point L1 to watch solar flares.
  • Aditya Solar wind Particle Experiment (ASPEX), one of Aditya-L1's seven payloads, was built by the Physical Research Laboratory.
  • Lagrange point L1 lies about 1.5 million km from Earth towards the Sun and gives an uninterrupted view of the Sun.

Practise a UPSC-style question

Consider the following statements:

1. The Aryabhatta Research Institute of Observational Sciences, Nainital, is an autonomous institute under the Department of Science and Technology.

2. The Udaipur Solar Observatory is run by the Physical Research Laboratory, a unit of the Department of Space.

3. The Physical Research Laboratory is an autonomous institute under the Department of Atomic Energy.

Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

  1. (a) 1 and 2 only
  2. (b) 2 and 3 only
  3. (c) 1 and 3 only
  4. (d) 1, 2 and 3
Show the answer

Answer: (a) 1 and 2 only

1 is correct: ARIES, Nainital, is an autonomous institute under the Department of Science and Technology. 2 is correct: the Udaipur Solar Observatory belongs to the Physical Research Laboratory, Ahmedabad. 3 is incorrect: the Physical Research Laboratory works under the Department of Space, not the Department of Atomic Energy.

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