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Scientists’ new discovery is directly related to the phenomenon of coronal rain, which was first described in the 1970s, as scientists noticed that the hot plasma released from the sun far into the coronal region cools and condenses in a strong magnetic field and then falls on the surface of our star. But this time, in the falling mass of plasma, researchers saw… huge fireballs. This observation was made possible thanks to the use of the Solar Orbiter (SolO).
It turns out that when the gas that makes up the Sun’s corona is heated to a million degrees, the sudden drop in temperature associated with moving away from the star leads to the formation of extremely dense “lumps” of plasma that can reach a height of up to 250 kilometers per hour. Diameter. They stand out against the background of the entire plasma wave, as the sun’s gravity pulls these fireballs at a speed of nearly 100 kilometers per second.
Patrick Antolin, the lead researcher of the described phenomenon, explains that if life were somehow possible on the surface of the Sun, its inhabitants would often see such strange displays of “shooting stars”, generated by plasma balls with a diameter of hundreds. Of kilometers.
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