2023-04-20 14:06:41
How the Sun generates high-energy particles and X-rays has been mysterious, because the particles are accelerated at a scale smaller than the viewing resolution provided by current technology.
There are many theories that try to explain the emergence of the Earth’s magnetic field, some of which say that it is the result of the presence of large deposits of pure iron that were magnetized over time forming a giant permanent magnet, and some of them say that there is a strong electric current that passes through the liquid outer core of the Earth that contains quantities of Molten iron is highly conductive, forming a magnetic field.
But the constant is that this magnetic field represents a protective shield from the waves of solar flares that contain harmful high-energy particles and X-rays and scatter them to space, which might have burned the surface of the Earth with all its life.
unknown mechanism
Although scientists know this fact, the mechanism of the sun’s generation of these high-energy particles and X-rays was mysterious, and this is due to the fact that the acceleration of particles occurs on a smaller scale than the viewing accuracy provided by current technology, so a group of scientists from the California Institute of Technology (CalTach) resorted to ) to trying to simulate corona rings in the laboratory.
Corona rings or halo rings are arcs of plasma that emerge from the surface of the sun along magnetic field lines that act as highways for charged particles, directing the movement of electrons and ions that make up the plasma.
Mentionsed Statement The journalist published by the California Institute of Technology on the sixth of April said that the rings that may rise 100,000 km above the surface of the sun can last from minutes to hours, and the rings usually grow and develop slowly, but sometimes a huge amount of The energy sent into space is billions of times more powerful than the most powerful nuclear explosion on Earth.
Solar flare in the laboratory
This sudden explosion of energy is called a solar flare, and some of the energy of this glow takes the form of charged particles and high-energy X-rays, which are high-energy electromagnetic waves such as those used in bone imaging in the doctor’s office, and this energy is known to disrupt communications and energy networks, and it also forms A constant threat to spacecraft and astronauts in space.
Paul Bellan, Professor of Applied Physics in the Thomas J. Watson, Sr. Laboratory of Applied Physics at Caltech, built a vacuum chamber with twin electrodes inside, charged a capacitor with enough power to power the city of Pasadena for a few microseconds, then discharged it through the electrodes to create a miniature solar corona ring .
Each ring lasts regarding 10 microseconds and is regarding 20 centimeters long and regarding one centimeter in diameter, but structurally Planh’s rings are identical to the real ones, allowing him and his colleagues the opportunity to simulate and study them at will.
Braided strands of energy
says Blanc, principal investigator forfor paper According to the new research, which was published in the journal Nature Astronomy, each experiment consumes approximately the energy needed to turn on a 100-watt lamp for regarding a minute, and charging the capacitor takes only a few minutes. Millions of frames per second, then he studies the images, and he discovered, among other recent discoveries, that the rings of solar coronas do not appear to be a single structure, but rather consist of braided fractal filaments that resemble a large rope.
“If you cut the rope, you’ll find that it’s made up of strands of individual strands. Take those individual strands apart, and you’ll see that they’re strands of smaller strands, etc. Plasma loops seem to work the same way,” said Yang Zhang, a graduate student and lead author of the paper. .
It turns out that this structure is important for the generation of energetic particles and the X-ray bursts associated with solar flares. Plasma is a strong electrical conductor, and when too much current tries to pass through the ring of the solar corona, its structure changes and the ring develops a twist (spiral-shaped instability) and individual filaments begin to break, and each strand A new broken takes the pressure off the remaining parts.
cases of instability
“Like a very taut rubber band, the loop gets longer and thinner until the threads snap,” says Seth Brie, a postdoctoral researcher in applied physics and materials science and co-author of the paper. When studying the microsecond process, the team noticed a negative voltage spike associated with the X-ray burst at the exact moment the thread broke. This voltage spike is similar to the pressure drop that builds up at the choke point in a water pipe. The resulting electric field accelerates charged particles into energy. maximal, then X-rays are emitted when the energetic particles slow down.
In addition, Zhang combed through images of solar flares and was able to document an instability similar to the one created in the laboratory that was associated with the subsequent X-ray burst. The team next plans to explore how separate rings of plasma merge and reorganize into different configurations. They are interested to see if There were also energy burst events during this type of interaction.
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