Astronomers Propose New Explanation for Finger-Like Features Seen in Some Solar Flares astronomy space science
This image shows several supra-arcade downflows occurring in a solar flare; the downflows appear directly above the bright flare arcade; this solar flare occurred on June 18, 2015. Image credit: SDO / NASA.Unlike typical flares that showed bright energy erupting outwards from the Sun, this solar flare also displayed a downward flow of motion, as if material was falling back towards the Sun.“We wanted to know how these dark finger-like structures occur,” Dr. Shen said.
“On the Sun, what happens is you have a lot of magnetic fields that are pointing in all different directions,” said Dr. Kathy Reeves, an astronomer with the Harvard & Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics. “It’s like stretching out a rubber band and snipping it in the middle. It’s stressed and stretched thin, so it’s going to snap back.”
“But there was a catch. Most of the downflows observed by scientists are puzzlingly slow,” said Dr. Bin Chen, an astronomer at the New Jersey Institute of Technology.
United States Latest News, United States Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Western Australia — Out With The Poles, In With The Solar PanelsHorizon Power first began offering certain remote regional customers the option to be powered by a custom built stand-alone solar and battery power system, or SPS, after bushfires destroyed more than 320 power poles and hundreds of kilometres of power lines in the region in November of 2015.
Read more »
Why Covering Canals With Solar Panels Is a Power MoveIt’s an environmental solution that saves water and generates energy. What’s not to like? (From 2021)
Read more »
Signs of an Unknown Solar 'Tsunami' Have Been Discovered Deep Inside Earth's IceDeep beneath the ice in Greenland and Antarctica, researchers have found signs of an enormous solar 'tsunami' that once crashed against Earth's atmosphere more than 9,000 years ago.
Read more »
California's Rooftop Solar Net Metering ProgramCalifornia is in the midst of seeking input from stakeholders, through a California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) process, to evolve its approach to its net metering rooftop solar program
Read more »
From Solar Race Cars To Suburban Runabouts — The Northern Territory EV TransitionThe Northern Territory of Australia has long been associated with the World Solar Car Challenge. It's advancing common electric cars now.
Read more »
Astronomers Analyze Impact of SpaceX’s Starlink Satellites | Sci-News.comAstronomers have analyzed archival images from NSF’s Zwicky Transient Facility (ZTF) and found that the number of affected ZTF images is increasing with time as SpaceX deploys more satellites.
Read more »