The first Bulgarian polar astronomy research project will be held on the territory of the Bulgarian Antarctic base on Livingston Island in 2024-2025, the Institute of Astronomy with the National Astronomical Observatory at the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences (IA with NAO-BAS) announced on Tuesday. The project focuses on the impact of solar activity on ionospheric dynamics and high-energy particle fluxes over Antarctica.

The team of scientists from IA, Technical University of Sofia and Nikola Vaptsarov Maritime Academy, who will work on the implementation of the project, is led by Assoc. Prof. Dr. Kamen Kozarev.

Pulsations in the Earth's ionosphere caused by solar storms will be studied in detail from the polar base on Livingston Island for the first time. The main goal of the project is to study the activity of the stellar corona, solar flares and coronal mass ejections. High-frequency radio observations, which will be carried out with the instruments prepared for the project, will provide valuable information on the speed and energy of coronal mass ejections.

Daily multi-hour radio observations of the Sun are planned on the territory of the Bulgarian Antarctic base on Livingston Island, which has a unique location due to its proximity to the Earth's South Pole. The site was also chosen for its extremely quiet radio location, which will allow the study of pulsations in solar flares and shock wave features in the stellar corona.

The study of the Sun and solar activity is extremely important for humans and the Earth's biosphere, IA notes. Sometimes solar storms reach the planet and lead to geomagnetic activity. In 2025, the solar cycle is expected to peak and solar flares will occur almost daily, the Institute added.

Scientists will also make observations of solar cosmic rays, which consist of particles accelerated by solar flares. In addition to electromagnetic radiation, solar flares accelerate ions that propagate into the stellar corona and into the interplanetary medium. These reach the Earth's magnetosphere and gain easier access to the circumpolar regions due to the special geometry of the Earth's magnetic field.

During the Antarctic summer, continuous radio observations of solar activity will be possible for up to 20 hours per day. Observations of the changing ionospheric layer will be made simultaneously from Livingstone Island, Bulgaria and Ireland, which will enable the ionosphere to be used as a giant detector of solar activity.

The project was approved in the competition for the funding of polar research of the National Center for Polar Research (NCPR) at the University of Sofia Saint Kliment Ohridski./BTA/