A Craft Has Flown Close Enough to The Sun to Detect The Source of Elusive Solar Winds

Science Alert ^ | June 8, 2023 | Michelle Starr

[SunkenCiv]

In November 2021, the Parker Solar Probe skimmed within a more-than-hair-singeing 8.5 million kilometers (5.3 million miles) of the Sun, a feat enabling it to detect the fine structure of the solar wind as it gusted tons of charged particles out into the Solar System through a hole in the Sun's corona, or atmosphere.

The probe's readings give us the closest look yet at how the fast solar wind is generated, suggesting that a specific type of magnetic reconnection is what drives this powerful force of nature, according to a team of physicists led by Stuart Bale of the University of California, Berkeley, and James Drake of the University of Maryland, College Park...

Coronal holes sound a bit worrying, but they're a normal solar phenomenon. The Sun is a magnetic mess, as you can see in the visualization below, and a lot of the changes in its magnetic field manifest as phenomena in the corona. A coronal hole happens when, rather than forming closed loops, the magnetic field lines open and expand outward.

The result is a patch of cooler, less dense plasma in the corona. You won't be able to see it just by looking at the Sun (not that you ought to look at the Sun without eye protection, don't do that), but it will show up much darker in extreme ultraviolet wavelengths.

From these regions emerge powerful solar winds. Untrammeled by the usual magnetic fields, these winds gust into space at up to around 800 kilometers (500 miles) per second, twice as fast as the average solar wind.

It blows charged particles far into the Solar System; here on Earth, they can interact with our upper atmosphere to generate spectacular auroras and interfere with satellite operations and radio communications.

[SunkenCiv]

While the sun is well known as the overwhelming source of visible light in our solar system, a substantial part of its influence is driven by some aspects less visible to human perception - the magnetic field.

In this visualization, the sphere represents the solar photosphere, with neutral grey indicating a magnetic field of near zero intensity, black representing a magnetic field pointing INTO the sun (south or negative polarity) and white representing a magnetic field pointing OUT of the sun (north or positive polarity). We see that these magnetic regions often appear in nearby pairs of opposite polarities - which in visible light would often correspond to a pair of sunspots.

Using this measured magnetic field on the photosphere, combined with mathematical models based on Maxwell's equations and plasma physics, we can construct how the magnetic field would look above the photosphere. Here, the white magnetic field lines are considered 'closed'. They move up, and then return to the solar surface. We often see these closed lines associated with pairs of active regions on the sun. The green and violet lines represent field lines that are considered 'open'. Green represents positive magnetic polarity, and violet represents negative polarity. These field lines do not connect back to the sun but with more distant magnetic fields in space.

Here we build one of the simpler magnetic field models, called Potential Field Source Surface or PFSS, to construct how the magnetic 'lines of force' might look above the sun. The PFSS model represents the simplest and most steady magnetic field possible, though here we sample the field each day to illustrate the slow changes of the magnetic structure over time, in this case between January 1, 2011 through December 30, 2014.

Visualizer: Tom Bridgman (lead)

The Dynamic Solar Magnetic Field | 2:26 | NASA Scientific Visualization Studio | 27.1K subscribers | 6,748 views | February 6, 2018

[SunkenCiv]

Thanks Red Badger for the link.

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[aMorePerfectUnion]

Amish Heater. Knew it already!

[COBOL2Java]

Should have named the probe Icarus.

[adorno]

The sun is a very active mess. Lots of ‘volcanoes’ which send a lot of stuff (scientific term for ‘sheet’) out into the solar system, including our planet.

It’s unstable, and the only way to control it is to admit that climate change is a problem. We need to add water to our sun in order to cool our planet.

Where’s John Kerry when he’s needed?

[Sirius Lee]

We need to add water to our sun in order to cool our planet.

"Why can't we just tax it?"

[RoosterRedux]

Flying close to the sun should be easy if, as AOC says, you do it at night.

[metmom]

The sun?

[Macoozie]

” The Source of Elusive Solar Winds”

Yesterday’s Chipotle, cold out of the refrigerator?

[SunkenCiv]

So you’ve heard of it?

[icclearly]

Genesis 1:1
"In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth"

And so here we are in the 21st century and still trying to figure it out!

[SunkenCiv]

Ironic, there’s wind in the vacuum of space. :^)

[SunkenCiv]

Keep acting like a believer, the only thing you believe in is Vlad Putin with his shirt off.

[icclearly]

Keep acting like a believer, the only thing you believe in is Vlad Putin with his shirt off.

Uh?

[_longranger81]

Caused by Globull Warming.
Ah…Trump’s Fault…
Imperialist Capitlist Colonial Systemic Racism…
The existence of White People in the Universe…

[GMThrust]

I’m confused as well.

[GingisK]

Details, not generalities. Know the difference?

[SuperLuminal]

Someone went to work and left the heater fan on???

[Track9]

The last solar eclipse I looked at happened on a work day. At lunch I was in the parking lot with a welding helmet. People were asking what I was doing. When I told them, they wanted a turn. Every one if them, grown adults, took the helmet, looked through the glass and said, I can’t see it. Not one of them pointed the helmet towards the sun.

[SunkenCiv]

Wow, maybe you’ve worked in every place I’ve ever worked. ;^)