The sun - giver of life, light bulb in the sky, and head honcho of our solar system - exhibits an extremely odd characteristic: it's actually hotter as you move away from the surface. Scientists may have finally understood a key piece to this puzzle by studying the sun's corona in unprecedented detail.
The corona, which is the outer layer of the sun responsible for solar storms and flares which could potentially affect life and communications here on Earth, can reach temperatures in the millions of degrees thanks to a process known as magnetic reduction. The sun's surface, interestingly enough, doesn't even come close to breaking a hundred thousand degrees.
"This is the first time we've had images at high enough resolution to directly observe magnetic reconnection," explained astronomer Leon Golub from the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics. "We can see details in the corona five times finer than any other instrument."
Giant magnetic strips line the sun's surface, and it is along the magnetic fields of these areas that plasma flows. It's the collision of these magnetic fields and plasma that can create temperatures of 7-million degrees Fahrenheit. These magnetic fields, according to the scientists, resemble braids of hair, and immense amounts of energy are released when these "magnetic braids" straighten out.
Watch a video of these magnetic braids:
The astronomers had to utilize a device known as the High-resolution Coronal Imager (Hi-C), which weighs in at around 464 pounds and can spot a dime from 10 miles away, to take finely-detailed images of the sun's corona.
"These mirrors were to be the finest pieces of glass ever fabricated for solar astrophysics," said Marshall heliophysicist Dr. Jonathan Cirtain, principal investigator on the Hi-C mission.
- Contribute to this Story:
- Send us a tip
- Send us a photo or video
- Suggest a correction
