Zoran Mikić (Predictive Science, Inc.) and collaborators offer a new model of the Sun’s outer layers that’s up to date with the latest theoretical work on how the interior of the Sun heats and magnetically innervates the corona. Miloslav Druckmüller, Peter Aniol, Shadia Habbal / NASA Goddard, Joy Ng The Once and Future Corona This animation compares a composite image generated from photographs taken on the day of the total eclipse (Aug. ![]() developed a numerical model that simulated what the corona would look like during the August 21, 2017, total solar eclipse. Now, solar physicists have shown August 27th in Nature Astronomy that they can accurately predict the appearance of the corona one week in advance - an important milestone on the path to predicting the oncoming solar wind. This type of space weather threatens satellites, electrical grids, and telecommunications networks, so it’s in our best interest to understand it. When the magnetic field, continually pulled and stressed by the Sun’s rotation, erupts, it launches coronal plasma into interplanetary space. Because plasma is made of charged particles, which respond to magnetic influence, the Sun’s magnetic field can twist the corona into loops and bands and prongs. The corona expresses the hidden magnetic angst of the Sun. Ironically, its outermost layer - the corona, an intricate crown of super-heated, diffuse plasma - is the least understood. It’s bright, so there’s no shortage of light to examine it’s nearby, so even small details on its surface are clear and for about twelve hours per day, it faces almost no competition for astronomical attention.īut for all its nearness and brightness, the Sun remains mysterious. The Sun is about as easy to study as any astronomical object could be. Observations confirmed that they got the broad strokes right. ![]() Scientists predicted the shape of the solar corona as it would be seen during the August 21, 2017, total solar eclipse.
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