At the center of this image (left) from NASAs High Resolution Coronal Imager sounding rocket is a small-scale, patchy structure on the Sun that solar physicists call “moss.” It forms low in the solar environment around the center of sunspot groups on the Sun where magnetic activity is strong. An image from NASAs Interface Region Imaging Spectrograph, or IRIS, mission reveals an in-depth surroundings of the cooler roots of moss (right). Credit: NASA/Bose et al 2024NASA research study has revealed how electrical currents and twisted electromagnetic fields heat the Suns mossy regions from 10,000 to 1 million degrees Fahrenheit, aiding in understanding solar atmospheric heating.Did you understand the Sun has moss? Due to its resemblance to the earthly plants, researchers have actually named a small, brilliant, patchy structure made from plasma in the solar atmosphere “moss.” This moss, which was initially determined in 1999 by NASAs TRACE objective, blossoms around the center of a sunspot group, where magnetic conditions are strong. It straddles two atmospheric layers known as the chromosphere and corona and hides below the long feathery ropes of plasma called coronal loops.Research on Solar MossFor decades, researchers have struggled to comprehend how this mossy area is connected to the Suns lower climatic layers and how material there is heated up from 10,000 degrees Fahrenheit up to almost 1 million degrees Fahrenheit– 100 times hotter than the intense surface just below. Now, research enabled by NASAs High Resolution Coronal Imager (Hi-C) sounding rocket and NASAs Interface Region Imaging Spectrograph (IRIS) mission have offered researchers insights into the superheating system at play in the moss.Advances in Understanding Solar HeatingObservations from these instruments combined with complex 3D simulations have actually now revealed that electrical currents may contribute to warming the moss. Throughout this region there is a mess of electromagnetic field lines, like unnoticeable spaghetti. This tangle of magnetic spaghetti creates electrical currents that can help heat material to a vast array of temperatures from 10,000 to 1 million degrees Fahrenheit. This regional heating in the moss appears to take place in addition to heat streaming from the hot, multi-million-degree overlying corona. This insight, published in the journal Nature Astronomy on April 15, can help scientists understand the bigger concern of why the Suns entire corona is so much hotter than the surface.Future Research and Missions” Thanks to the high-resolution observations and our advanced mathematical simulations, were able to find out part of this secret thats baffled us for the previous quarter of a century,” stated author Souvik Bose, a research researcher at Lockheed Martin Solar and Astrophysics Laboratory and Bay Area Environmental Institute, NASAs Ames Research Center in Californias Silicon Valley. “However, this is just a piece of the puzzle; it does not fix the whole problem.” For that, many more observations are required. Some are coming soon: Hi-C is scheduled to launch once again this month to record a solar flare, and it might also catch another moss area together with IRIS. To get observations that can completely resolve how the corona and moss are heated, scientists and engineers are working to establish new instruments onboard the future MUlti-slit Solar Explorer (MUSE) mission.IRIS and TRACE are part of NASAs Explorers Program.Reference: “Chromospheric and coronal heating in an active region plage by dissipation of currents from braiding” by Souvik Bose, Bart De Pontieu, Viggo Hansteen, Alberto Sainz Dalda, Sabrina Savage and Amy Winebarger, 15 April 2024, Nature Astronomy.DOI: 10.1038/ s41550-024-02241-8.
Credit: NASA/Bose et al 2024NASA research has uncovered how electrical currents and twisted magnetic fields warm the Suns mossy regions from 10,000 to 1 million degrees Fahrenheit, aiding in comprehending solar climatic heating.Did you understand the Sun has moss? Now, research allowed by NASAs High Resolution Coronal Imager (Hi-C) sounding rocket and NASAs Interface Region Imaging Spectrograph (IRIS) objective have provided researchers insights into the superheating system at play in the moss.Advances in Understanding Solar HeatingObservations from these instruments combined with intricate 3D simulations have actually now exposed that electrical currents may contribute to heating up the moss. To get observations that can totally deal with how the corona and moss are heated, engineers and researchers are working to develop brand-new instruments onboard the future MUlti-slit Solar Explorer (MUSE) mission.IRIS and TRACE are part of NASAs Explorers Program.Reference: “Coronal and chromospheric heating in an active area plage by dissipation of currents from braiding” by Souvik Bose, Bart De Pontieu, Viggo Hansteen, Alberto Sainz Dalda, Sabrina Savage and Amy Winebarger, 15 April 2024, Nature Astronomy.DOI: 10.1038/ s41550-024-02241-8.
