“Twilight” on the sun. An unknown phenomenon in the center of the solar system

A team of astronomers studying radio emissions has discovered an unusual phenomenon on our central star. At an altitude of about 40,000 kilometers above the dark sunspot, they detected radio emissions that had the characteristics of an aurora borealis. As they admit, This is the first time they have encountered such a stellar phenomenon.

Sunspots are obviously darker areas on the surface of the Sun, their main feature is a temperature much lower than the ambient temperature, and they have a very strong magnetic field. Sunspots appear due to the contrast with the surface of the very bright star Honestly black From our point of view.

According to the National Weather Service, there are magnetic fields around sunspots About 2,500 times stronger than Earth. This causes its temperature to be lower than that of the brighter parts of the star.

The wave analysis was published in the journal “Natural Astronomy”. The radio wave emissions mentioned in the article were first observed in 2016 by the Very Large Array (VLA) Astronomical Observatory. However, only this week it was possible to provide an analysis of the phenomenon described as “Similar to the northern lights.”

Auroras are created on Earth when the solar wind, a stream of plasma flowing from the Sun, interacts with the atmosphere and magnetic field. Then the gases in our atmosphere begin to glow with colors depending on this Concentration of a given gas, i.eFlax is red and green, and nitrogen is blue and purple.

However, in the sun we deal with a slightly different process. Unlike the aurora borealis on Earth, aurora emissions from sunspots occur within a certain range From hundreds of thousands of kilohertz to about one million kilohertz. This is because the magnetic field of sunspots is thousands of times stronger than the Earth’s magnetic field.

Scientists do not believe that sunspot radio emissions are directly related to the timing of flares. They assume that the sporadic flares are a source of additional electrons in the magnetic field loop, which… It depends on sunspots. Moreover, it turns out that the Sun is not unique in this regard. Other stars can boast something similar “Aurora radio sunspots.”

Although the Sun fuels life on Earth and is essential for us to survive, we still know little about it. However, thanks to the latest technological advances and the determination of scientists, this is slowly starting to change. Understand the processes taking place on our central star It will allow us to better prepare for potential anomalies.