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New findings by NASA spacecraft about how the Sun’s atmosphere or corona or what causes solar winds that can impact technological infrastructure in space and on Earth has moved over the scientific community an unprecedented sum of information close to our Sun.

The new findings by NASA's Interface Region Imaging Spectrograph (IRIS) reveal a region of the Sun more complicated than previously believed.

“Combining IRIS data with observations from other missions is enabling breakthroughs in our apprehension of the sun and its interactions with the solar scheme,” said Jeff Newmark, interim manager of the Heliophysics Division at NASA Headquarters in Washington, DC.

The first result identified heat pockets of 111,093 degrees Celsius, lower in the solar atmosphere than ever observed by previous spacecraft.

IRIS also observed numerous, small, low-lying loops of solar material in the interface region for the foremost time.

“The unprecedented resolution provided by IRIS will enable scientists to better see how the solar atmosphere is exciting,” Newmark added.

A surprise to researchers was the third finding of IRIS observations showing structures resembling mini-tornadoes occurring in solar active regions for the foremost time.

These tornadoes move at speeds as fast as 12 miles per second and are spread throughout the chromosphere, or the layer of the sunlight in the interface region just above the surface.

Another finding uncovers evidence of high-speed jets at the source of the solar wind.

“The fountains are fountains of plasma that shoot out of coronal holes, areas of less dense material in the solar atmosphere and are typically considered to be a source of the solar wind,” Newmark pointed out.

The final result highlights the effects of nanoflares throughout the corona.

"Large solar flares are initiated by a mechanism called magnetic reconnection, whereby magnetic field lines cross and explosively realign. These often send particles out into distance at almost the speed of light,” researchers emphasized.

The raw information will help researchers better understand how our nearest star transfers energy through its atmosphere and track the dynamic solar activity, concluded the topic that appeared in the journal Science.

NASA· Spacecraft

Brighten up Sun like never earlier finding NASA

 
See All News

New findings by NASA spacecraft about how the Sun’s atmosphere or corona or what causes solar winds that can impact technological infrastructure in space and on Earth has moved over the scientific community an unprecedented sum of information close to our Sun.

The new findings by NASA's Interface Region Imaging Spectrograph (IRIS) reveal a region of the Sun more complicated than previously believed.

“Combining IRIS data with observations from other missions is enabling breakthroughs in our apprehension of the sun and its interactions with the solar scheme,” said Jeff Newmark, interim manager of the Heliophysics Division at NASA Headquarters in Washington, DC.

The first result identified heat pockets of 111,093 degrees Celsius, lower in the solar atmosphere than ever observed by previous spacecraft.

IRIS also observed numerous, small, low-lying loops of solar material in the interface region for the foremost time.

“The unprecedented resolution provided by IRIS will enable scientists to better see how the solar atmosphere is exciting,” Newmark added.

A surprise to researchers was the third finding of IRIS observations showing structures resembling mini-tornadoes occurring in solar active regions for the foremost time.

These tornadoes move at speeds as fast as 12 miles per second and are spread throughout the chromosphere, or the layer of the sunlight in the interface region just above the surface.

Another finding uncovers evidence of high-speed jets at the source of the solar wind.

“The fountains are fountains of plasma that shoot out of coronal holes, areas of less dense material in the solar atmosphere and are typically considered to be a source of the solar wind,” Newmark pointed out.

The final result highlights the effects of nanoflares throughout the corona.

"Large solar flares are initiated by a mechanism called magnetic reconnection, whereby magnetic field lines cross and explosively realign. These often send particles out into distance at almost the speed of light,” researchers emphasized.

The raw information will help researchers better understand how our nearest star transfers energy through its atmosphere and track the dynamic solar activity, concluded the topic that appeared in the journal Science.