Sun May 04 14:29:02 UTC 2025: ## Indian Scientists Achieve First Accurate Measurement of Sun’s Helium Abundance
**Bengaluru, India (May 4, 2025)** – Researchers from the Indian Institute of Astrophysics (IIA) have made a significant breakthrough in solar physics, achieving the first accurate measurement of helium abundance in the sun’s photosphere. This accomplishment, published in the Astrophysical Journal, addresses a long-standing challenge for astronomers.
Traditional methods for estimating solar helium relied on indirect measurements from hotter stars, the sun’s outer atmosphere, or seismology. These lacked direct observation of the photosphere, where helium spectral lines are absent, making accurate estimations difficult.
The IIA team, led by PhD scholar Satyajeet Moharana, employed a novel technique. By carefully modeling spectral lines of magnesium and carbon atoms, along with their hydrogenated molecules, they were able to accurately constrain the relative abundance of helium in the sun’s visible surface. This breakthrough is expected to significantly improve the accuracy of models used to assess the sun’s opacity.
The study’s co-authors are B.P. Hema and Gajendra Pandey. The Department of Science and Technology highlighted the importance of this finding, stating that the accurate determination of helium abundance is crucial for a more complete understanding of solar physics.
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