What processes are responsible for heating solar flares and what dangers do they pose to Earth? This is what a recent study published in The Astrophysical Journal Letters hopes to address as an international team of scientists investigated how the solar wind is heated and how it interacts with Earth’s magnetic field. This study has the potential to help scientists better understand the processes responsible for the solar wind, the latter of which can harm communication satellites and electronic ground stations on Earth.
For the study, the researchers analyzed data regarding solar plasma, which comprises the Sun’s surface and atmosphere while having temperatures in the millions of degrees Kelvin and being electrically charged. This plasma is driven by the Sun’s magnetic field and transforms into solar wind as it escapes the Sun’s gravity. The goal of the study was to better understand the ions and electrons that comprise solar plasma while attempting to solve a decades-long theory about the temperature of solar wind. In the end, the researchers found that the solar plasma ion temperatures can exceed 60 million degrees Kelvin, which is more than 6.5 times hotter than previous estimates.
“Solar physics has historically assumed that ions and electrons must have the same temperature,” said Dr. Alexander Russell, who is from the Lockheed Martin Solar & Astrophysics Laboratory and lead author of the study. “However, redoing calculations with modern data, we found that ion and electron temperature differences can last for as long as tens of minutes in important parts of solar flares, opening the way to consider super-hot ions for the first time. What’s more is that the new ion temperature fits well with the width of flare spectral lines, potentially solving an astrophysics mystery that has stood for nearly half a century.”
As noted, solar wind can wreak havoc on satellites and ground stations, while also potentially harming astronauts in Earth orbit. Therefore, better understanding the solar wind’s temperature and processes can help scientists, astronauts, engineers, and mission planners better prepare for solar wind activity and reduce the risks of damaging hardware or harming humans.
What new discoveries about the solar wind will researchers make in the coming years and decades? Only time will tell, and this is why we science!
As always, keep doing science & keep looking up!
Sources: The Astrophysical Journal Letters, EurekAlert!
Featured Image: Solar flare with Earth for scale. (Credit: Alexander Russell (University of Andrews))