solar physics – Quanta Magazine https://www.quantamagazine.org Illuminating science Mon, 16 Sep 2024 14:10:47 -0400 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.2 How a NASA Probe Solved a Scorching Solar Mystery https://www.quantamagazine.org/how-a-nasa-probe-solved-a-scorching-solar-mystery-20240429/ https://www.quantamagazine.org/how-a-nasa-probe-solved-a-scorching-solar-mystery-20240429/#respond Mon, 29 Apr 2024 13:49:26 +0000 https://www.quantamagazine.org/?p=137582 The post How a NASA Probe Solved a Scorching Solar Mystery first appeared on Quanta Magazine

]]> Our sun is the best-observed star in the entire universe. We see its light every day. For centuries, scientists have tracked the dark spots dappling its radiant face, while in recent decades, telescopes in space and on Earth have scrutinized sunbeams in wavelengths spanning the electromagnetic spectrum. Experiments have also sniffed the sun’s atmosphere, captured puffs of the solar wind...

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]]> https://www.quantamagazine.org/how-a-nasa-probe-solved-a-scorching-solar-mystery-20240429/feed/ 0 How Scientists Are Tackling the Tricky Task of Solar Cycle Prediction https://www.quantamagazine.org/how-scientists-are-tackling-the-tricky-task-of-solar-cycle-prediction-20230907/ https://www.quantamagazine.org/how-scientists-are-tackling-the-tricky-task-of-solar-cycle-prediction-20230907/#respond Thu, 07 Sep 2023 14:39:30 +0000 https://www.quantamagazine.org/?p=129832 The post How Scientists Are Tackling the Tricky Task of Solar Cycle Prediction first appeared on Quanta Magazine

]]> The sun looks immutable, a boring celestial lightbulb that’s always turned on. But this fusion-powered ball of plasma is in constant flux. Every 11 years or so, it swings between slumber and an active, unruly epoch marked by sunspots and solar eruptions, such as flares and plasma outbursts. The sun is now approaching its maximum level of activity in the current cycle, and it’s not exactly behaving...

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]]> https://www.quantamagazine.org/how-scientists-are-tackling-the-tricky-task-of-solar-cycle-prediction-20230907/feed/ 0 The Tiny Physics Behind Immense Cosmic Eruptions https://www.quantamagazine.org/the-tiny-physics-behind-immense-cosmic-eruptions-20230515/ https://www.quantamagazine.org/the-tiny-physics-behind-immense-cosmic-eruptions-20230515/#respond Mon, 15 May 2023 13:58:29 +0000 https://www.quantamagazine.org/?p=125916 The post The Tiny Physics Behind Immense Cosmic Eruptions first appeared on Quanta Magazine

]]> During fleeting fits, the sun occasionally hurls a colossal amount of energy into space. Called solar flares, these eruptions last for mere minutes, and they can trigger catastrophic blackouts and dazzling auroras on Earth. But our leading mathematical theories of how these flares work fail to predict the strength and speed of what we observe. At the heart of these outbursts is a mechanism that...

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]]> https://www.quantamagazine.org/the-tiny-physics-behind-immense-cosmic-eruptions-20230515/feed/ 0 Tiny Jets on the Sun Power the Colossal Solar Wind https://www.quantamagazine.org/tiny-jets-on-the-sun-power-the-colossal-solar-wind-20230424/ https://www.quantamagazine.org/tiny-jets-on-the-sun-power-the-colossal-solar-wind-20230424/#respond Mon, 24 Apr 2023 14:00:36 +0000 https://www.quantamagazine.org/?p=125213 The post Tiny Jets on the Sun Power the Colossal Solar Wind first appeared on Quanta Magazine

]]> Torrents of charged particles continuously lift off the sun’s atmosphere and radiate outward at millions of kilometers per hour, yielding a solar wind so immense that its limit defines the outer edge of our solar system. Despite the vast reach of this wind, its formation has long been a puzzle. Now a new analysis argues that the solar wind is powered by a collective set of intermittent...

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]]> https://www.quantamagazine.org/tiny-jets-on-the-sun-power-the-colossal-solar-wind-20230424/feed/ 0 Strange Solar Gamma Rays Discovered at Even Higher Energies https://www.quantamagazine.org/strange-solar-gamma-rays-discovered-at-even-higher-energies-20230227/ https://www.quantamagazine.org/strange-solar-gamma-rays-discovered-at-even-higher-energies-20230227/#respond Mon, 27 Feb 2023 14:55:47 +0000 https://www.quantamagazine.org/?p=123360 The post Strange Solar Gamma Rays Discovered at Even Higher Energies first appeared on Quanta Magazine

]]> In 2019, researchers announced that something appeared to be off with the sun. After 10 years of observations, they had concluded that the sun’s high-energy radiation was seven times more abundant than expected. Now a new study based on even higher-energy data has sharpened the picture. Researchers found that the solar gamma-ray excess persists at higher energies. It then drops off at the topmost...

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