Scientists at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and the European Space Agency (ESA) observed a unique phenomenon near the surface of the sun— miniature solar flares, dubbed “campfires.” The new revelation comes as Solar Orbiter, a new Sun-observing mission became the first spacecraft to take images of the Sun’s surface from a closer distance.
Releasing the first images on Thursday, Holly Gilbert, NASA project scientist for the mission in a press briefing said, “These unprecedented pictures of the Sun are the closest we have ever obtained. These amazing images will help scientists piece together the Sun’s atmospheric layers, which is important for understanding how it drives space weather near the Earth and throughout the solar system.
The joint team operated the spacecraft over 152 million km away remotely as the coronavirus pandemic forced operations to be shut. As the spacecraft flew within 48 million miles of the Sun, all 10 instruments flicked on, and Solar Orbiter snapped the closest pictures of the giant star to date.
Sun phasesThe Extreme Ultraviolet Imager (EUI) on ESA’s Solar Orbiter spacecraft took these images on 30 May 2020. (Source: ESA)
Flyby reveals new phenomenon- 'Campfires'
The campfires are little relatives of the solar flares that are observed from Earth, just million or billion times smaller. Scientists do not know yet whether the campfires are just tiny versions of big flares, or whether they are driven by different mechanisms.
There are, however, theories that these miniature flares could be contributing to one of the most mysterious phenomena— heat the Sun's outer atmosphere, or corona, to its temperature 300 times hotter than the solar surface.
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The solar corona is the outermost layer of the Sun’s atmosphere that extends millions of kilometers into outer space. Its temperature is more than a million degrees Celsius, which in orders of magnitude is hotter than the surface of the Sun, a ‘cool’ 5500 degree Celsius. “These campfires are totally insignificant each by themselves, but summing up their effect all over the Sun, they might be the dominant contribution to the heating of the solar corona,” said Frédéric Auchère, of the Institut d'Astrophysique Spatiale (IAS) in a statement released by the ESA.
Seeing the far side of the Sun
In its bid to get a wider view of the Sun, which has been shrouded in mystery for decades, the joint team is monitoring active regions of the star with strong magnetic fields, which can explode solar flares.
Solar flares have been an active threat to Earth as it releases bursts of energetic particles that enhance the solar winds, which when interacts with Earth’s magnetosphere can cause magnetic storms disrupting telecommunication networks and power grids across the planet. Scientists are for the first time observing an area prone to solar flares, which was not observable from Earth due to its location on the dark side.
Solar orbiterESA’s Solar Orbiter carries both remote-sensing instruments to look at the Sun, and in situ instruments that sample the properties of the ‘solar wind’ around the spacecraft. (Source: ESA)
“Right now, we are in the part of the 11-year solar cycle when the Sun is very quiet. But because the Solar Orbiter is at a different angle to the Sun than Earth, we could actually see one active region that wasn’t observable from Earth. That is a first. We have never been able to measure the magnetic field at the back of the Sun,” said Sami Solanki, the director of the Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research in Germany.
Solar Orbiter, launched on 10 February 2020, carries six remote-sensing instruments, or telescopes, that image the Sun and its surroundings, and four in situ instruments that monitor the environment around the spacecraft.
Releasing the first images on Thursday, Holly Gilbert, NASA project scientist for the mission in a press briefing said, “These unprecedented pictures of the Sun are the closest we have ever obtained. These amazing images will help scientists piece together the Sun’s atmospheric layers, which is important for understanding how it drives space weather near the Earth and throughout the solar system.
The joint team operated the spacecraft over 152 million km away remotely as the coronavirus pandemic forced operations to be shut. As the spacecraft flew within 48 million miles of the Sun, all 10 instruments flicked on, and Solar Orbiter snapped the closest pictures of the giant star to date.
Sun phasesThe Extreme Ultraviolet Imager (EUI) on ESA’s Solar Orbiter spacecraft took these images on 30 May 2020. (Source: ESA)
Flyby reveals new phenomenon- 'Campfires'
The campfires are little relatives of the solar flares that are observed from Earth, just million or billion times smaller. Scientists do not know yet whether the campfires are just tiny versions of big flares, or whether they are driven by different mechanisms.
There are, however, theories that these miniature flares could be contributing to one of the most mysterious phenomena— heat the Sun's outer atmosphere, or corona, to its temperature 300 times hotter than the solar surface.
ALSO READ: Nasa's Perseverance Mars mission: Sherlock's probe, & an Indian connection
The solar corona is the outermost layer of the Sun’s atmosphere that extends millions of kilometers into outer space. Its temperature is more than a million degrees Celsius, which in orders of magnitude is hotter than the surface of the Sun, a ‘cool’ 5500 degree Celsius. “These campfires are totally insignificant each by themselves, but summing up their effect all over the Sun, they might be the dominant contribution to the heating of the solar corona,” said Frédéric Auchère, of the Institut d'Astrophysique Spatiale (IAS) in a statement released by the ESA.
Seeing the far side of the Sun
In its bid to get a wider view of the Sun, which has been shrouded in mystery for decades, the joint team is monitoring active regions of the star with strong magnetic fields, which can explode solar flares.
Solar flares have been an active threat to Earth as it releases bursts of energetic particles that enhance the solar winds, which when interacts with Earth’s magnetosphere can cause magnetic storms disrupting telecommunication networks and power grids across the planet. Scientists are for the first time observing an area prone to solar flares, which was not observable from Earth due to its location on the dark side.
Solar orbiterESA’s Solar Orbiter carries both remote-sensing instruments to look at the Sun, and in situ instruments that sample the properties of the ‘solar wind’ around the spacecraft. (Source: ESA)
“Right now, we are in the part of the 11-year solar cycle when the Sun is very quiet. But because the Solar Orbiter is at a different angle to the Sun than Earth, we could actually see one active region that wasn’t observable from Earth. That is a first. We have never been able to measure the magnetic field at the back of the Sun,” said Sami Solanki, the director of the Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research in Germany.
Solar Orbiter, launched on 10 February 2020, carries six remote-sensing instruments, or telescopes, that image the Sun and its surroundings, and four in situ instruments that monitor the environment around the spacecraft.
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