The outermost part of the standard pressure of the Sun , the solar corona , is almost 1,000 time hotter than the Sun ’s airfoil . scientist are yet to find the crucial mechanics or chemical mechanism behind this peculiar disparity but we might be pose closer to resolve this enigma .
Last year , the European Space Agency ’s Solar Orbiter redeem theclosest image of the Sun yet . Those first image delivered some exciting and unexpected discoveries a whole year before the prescribed scientific mission begins . Solar Orbiter ’s Extreme Ultraviolet Imager ( EUI ) observed 1,500 small flickering solar flares , divulge to be a Modern phenomenon dubbed " campfire , " near the control surface of the Sun .
Now , new work lay out at theEuropean Geosciences Union ( EGU ) General Assemblysuggests that if our apprehension of these miniature flares is correct , they could be of the essence to stir up up the Sun ’s corona . The Sun ’s Earth’s surface is 5,500 ° C ( 10,000 ° farad ) , but its Saint Elmo’s fire is around 1 million ° carbon ( 1.8 million ° fluorine ) . It ’s not live why it get hotter the further from the aerofoil of the star you get , but the Sun ’s magnetized plain is a potential challenger . How that vigour is generated and enthrall , however , is up for public debate .
“ Our model demonstrate that the energy released from the brightenings through constituent reconnection could be enough to maintain the temperature of the solar corona predicted from observations , ” Yajie Chen , from Peking University , whose research is accepted inAstronomy and Astrophysics , said in astatement .
While the model is exciting , it is still very early day . Solar Orbiter ’s full scientific discipline mission does n’t actually set out until November this twelvemonth , where more observations will be taken . Then the model can be further tested and refined and hopefully , it will hold up . If confirmed , this could be a key firearm of the mystifier of the Sun ’s temperature disparity .
A 2nd paper , also bring out inAstronomy and Astrophysics , provides more insight into what we presently live of the campfire . They run to last between 10 and 200 mo , extend between 400 and 4,000 kilometers ( 250 to 2,500 miles ) . research worker utilize observations from NASA ’s Solar Dynamics Observatory to really work out where in the solar atm these campfires happen .
“ To our surprisal , campfires are located very down in the mouth in the solar atmospheric state , only a few thousand kilometers above the solar open , the photosphere , ” lead generator David Berghmans , principal investigator of EUI , said . “ It is very former Day , and we are still see a lot about the campfire feature . For example , even though campfire look like modest coronal loops , their duration is on average a bit myopic for their height , propose we only see part of these little loops . But our preliminary depth psychology also shows that campfires do not really alter their height during their lifetime , set up them by from jet - like features . ”
read these campfire , what drives them , and their relationship with other solar phenomena will help scientist cut into deeper into the curious solar corona puzzler .
Solar Orbiter is already evince us the Sun as we have never seen before butthe best is yet to get . Among the many exciting thing this mission will deliver are observations of the Sun ’s polar region , something we have never learn before .
