Revealed one of the secrets of the Sun

Sun, whose activity is constantly fascinates and sometimes frightening, it was even more dynamic. On the surface of our star discovered many new processes, opening of which clarifies the intricacies of solar flares. Finally, it became clear why the solar atmosphere becomes hotter as the distance from the surface of the lights ...



The temperature at the surface of the Sun is about 5, 5 thousand kelvins. However, in the more distant from the surface layers of the immediate value is not only not reduced, but significantly increased - up to 500 thousand degrees Kelvin. A temperature of the corona, extending even further into the solar system, it is even more than that - it is more than a million degrees Kelvin.


Astronomers have long tormented by the mystery: what can be an additional source of energy, because warming gas? And, of course, the scientists were various options for an explanation of this phenomenon, most of which are considered justified concept, stating that the case can be somehow connected with the dynamics of the complex twisted configuration of the magnetic field at the surface of our star.


And now, this hypothesis has been confirmed. Astronomers have obtained pictures of the Sun, they sent spacecraft Hinode, which proved to be the most detailed among those that have ever enjoyed scientists ...


"Theorists had predicted that such magnetic fields can exist - says Leon Golub (Leon Golub), a senior astrophysicist at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics (Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics), working in the project Hinode. - And with the help of X-ray telescope on Hinode first time we were able to clearly see them ».


As for picture quality, they are, according to Leon Golub, so good that makes previous information about the Sun obtained in the gamma range, just outdated.


As shown by the latest observations, the structure of the incandescent gas complicated way twisted magnetic field of the sun. They behave like giant rubber bands. These objects look like giant arches and contain enormous energy.


If the configuration is simplified, as a result they have weakened "tension", that results in the release of energy. Such a discharge is "hidden" source of energy, warming the atmosphere at large distances from the Sun ...


Inside sunspots it is also a powerful magnetic field. Scientists believe that this field arises from the gas flow in the deep layers of the sun. This process is called a dynamo.


With the help of Hinode scientists have registered a new type of process, which is called the chaotic dynamo, he can be seen at the level of the photosphere. This shows the process that is registered at various depths ...


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