The Sun is a medium star, and there are mysteries which need to be unraveled. A team of scientists from NASA has been untiringly working to understand the mysteries of our nearest star.
The surface of the Sun is always in a state of dynamic flux with huge plumes of solar material being thrown out like solar flares. The surface of the star is oozing with plasma, a condition when the atoms disintegrate into its individual components. Scientists are trying to understand the secrets which may be hidden within the hot surface.
Recently the Interface Region Imaging Spectrograph or the IRIS spacecraft launched by NASA to study the sun had captured a mid-level solar flare from the surface of the sun.
A significant amount of magnetic material is spewed out during a solar eruption. The solar flares heat the sun’s atmosphere and release energized particles deep into space. The IRIS is helping scientists to unravel the changes happening on the star.
Here’s the video below:
NASA has recently released a 9-second video showing what is known as the post-flare loop or coronal rain when solar material falls to the solar surface in the form of a great loop.
NASA has described the material in flares as plasma. At very high temperatures, atoms break down into its individual components of electrons, protons, and for an intensely hot mixture which then follows the magnetic field of the sun’s atmosphere. As the flare falls, it cools fast to the order of a few tens of thousands of Kelvin.
NASA has also clarified that the bright pixels in the video are not a component of the solar flares but are caused when high-energy particles strike the Charge-Coupled Device Camera –an instrument used to detect photons which are the unit component of light.
The Sun is our nearest star and all the energy received by the planets comes from the Sun. The sun is rapidly losing its mass by a process known as Nuclear Fusion which generates an enormous amount of energy. The fusion reaction takes place under intense pressure and very high temperatures. Such conditions occur within the sun in its core. Often massive explosions occur on the coronal surface and spews out a large amount of plasma into space.
The flares reach our planet also, but Earth’s Magnetic field and atmosphere protect the inhabitants of the globe. However, such flares can wreak havoc on the satellites which orbit the earth above this protective region.
