“It seems to be a universal law.” Unveiled mystery with 50 years on solar storms

For about half a century, scientists were intrigued by the strange spectral lines produced by solar eruptions. Now we can finally have some answers.

A new study on these eruptions may have resolved a puzzle that has challenged the scientific community for 50 years, revealing that solar eruptions can be much warmer what was thought.

Solar eruptions are common phenomena on the surface of the sun. They can be observed regularly throughout the year, especially during the solar phase of our star cycle.

A solar rash It is an intense explosion of radiation resulting from the release of magnetic energy associated with solar spots. These are the largest explosive events of our solar system. They appear as bright areas in the sun and can last from minutes to hour, to NASA.

I see them mainly for the radiation they releasepractically throughout the spectrum. The most commonly used way to monitor it is via x-rays and visible light. They are also places where particles – electrons, protons and heavier particles – are accelerated.

Solar eruptions are studied since its discoveryin 1859, during OA largest solar storm that there is record. However, there are still several riddles for resolving.

One of them, who intrigues scientists since the 1970s, is spectral lines of these eruptionstells the.

When the light of star sources is decomposed in its spectrum, clear and dark areas are revealed, known as spectral lines. The brightest correspond to emission, while the darkest show elements that have absorbed the light along the course.

Solar explosion and the scale of the earth

Although we know the sunshine relatively well (thanks to the eclipse of 1868), it remains a mystery: why the spectral lines of extreme ultraviolet and x-rays of the solar eruptions remain. They are so wide.

In a new study, scientists at the University of St Andrews, UK, who sought to realize how solar eruptions warm the plasma to more than 10 million KelvinThey believe they have found an explanation.

The results of the study were presented in a published on Wednesday in the magazine The Astrophysical Journal Letters.

According to the authors of the study, the solar plasma can reach temperatures higher than 60 million Kelvinwhile the electrons remain (relatively) colder.

“We were enthusiastic about recent discoveries that show that a process called magnetic reconnection warms the ions 6.5 times more than electrons,” he explains Alexander Russellresearcher at the University of St Andrews and first author of the study at the University.

“This seems to be a universal law And it has already been confirmed in the space near the earth, in the solar wind and in computational simulations. However, no one had never made the connection with the solar eruptions, ”he adds.

“Solar physics historically assumed that ions and electrons had to have the same temperature. But by redoing the calculations with modern data, we found that the differences between the temperatures of ions and electrons They can remain for tens of minutes in crucial areas of solar eruptions, paving the way for the first time to consider Russell.

“In addition, the new temperature of the ions adjusts well to the width of the lines Spectral of eruptions, which could resolve a mystery of astrophysics that has been forgiving almost half a century, ”he adds.

So far, it was believed that the unusual width of the spectral lines was due to turbulence. But if this work is confirmed, this explanation may have to be reviewed.

“As soon as the eruption beginsIt is expected that turbulence appears in the region above the bow, caused by the reconnection jet braking. It is probably necessary in the impulsive phase to accelerate particles in the same region, ”say the study’s authors.

“However, the amplitude of this turbulence and the energy transferred to waves/flow of poynting will have to be low magazinesIf the ions are in fact warmer than the electrons, ”the investigators conclude.