Chandrayaan-2 Observes Sun’s CMEs Impact Moon

Why in News?

ISRO’s Chandrayaan-2 orbiter has for the first time directly observed the effect of Solar Coronal Mass Ejections (CMEs) on the Moon’s exosphere, enhancing understanding of lunar space weather, atom liberation, and implications for future lunar missions and human habitats. This groundbreaking research draws parallels to Earth’s environmental challenges, such as monitoring the air quality index and addressing delhi pollution.

Mission and Scientific Instrumentation:

• Chandrayaan-2, launched on 22nd July 2019 via GSLV-MkIII-M1, continues to operate in a 100 km x 100 km lunar orbit. Its mission objectives include studying the lunar atmosphere, which is vastly different from Earth’s complex air pollution issues, particularly air pollution delhi caused by various factors including thermal power plants.
• The Vikram lander lost communication during its 7th September 2019 landing attempt, but the orbiter remains fully functional, continuing its crucial observations.
• Carries eight scientific payloads, including CHACE-2 (Chandra’s Atmospheric Compositional Explorer 2). This instrument’s role is similar to how pollution control boards on Earth monitor atmospheric conditions.
• CHACE-2 studies the composition, distribution, and variability of the lunar neutral exosphere. Its findings could potentially inform future air quality standards for lunar habitats.
• Enables direct observation of interactions between solar activity and the Moon’s thin atmosphere, providing insights that could be applied to understanding phenomena like smog formation on Earth.

Observation of Coronal Mass Ejections

• On 10th May 2024, a series of CMEs from the Sun impacted the Moon, an event as significant for lunar studies as the monsoon withdrawal is for Earth’s climate patterns.
• CHACE-2 recorded a significant rise in total pressure on the dayside lunar exosphere. This phenomenon is analogous to pollution accumulation in Earth’s atmosphere, though vastly different in scale and composition.
• The number density of neutral atoms and molecules increased by over an order of magnitude, confirming theoretical predictions. This process shares similarities with secondary particle formation in Earth’s atmosphere during pollution events.
• The Moon’s exosphere, being a surface boundary exosphere, is highly sensitive due to absence of a global magnetic field. This sensitivity is comparable to how Earth’s atmosphere reacts to pollutants from sources like vehicular emissions.
• CME effects enhanced atom liberation from the lunar surface, temporarily altering lunar atmospheric conditions. This process is reminiscent of how unburnt carbon particles affect Earth’s air quality during events like the stubble burning season.