{"id":9331,"date":"2024-08-30T19:41:51","date_gmt":"2024-08-30T23:41:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/spaceandplanetarynewswire.com\/?p=9331"},"modified":"2024-08-30T19:42:17","modified_gmt":"2024-08-30T23:42:17","slug":"nasa-esa-missions-help-scientists-uncover-how-solar-wind-gets-energy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/spaceandplanetarynewswire.com\/?p=9331","title":{"rendered":"NASA, ESA Missions Help Scientists Uncover How Solar Wind Gets Energy"},"content":{"rendered":"

Since the 1960s, astronomers have wondered how the Sun\u2019s supersonic \u201csolar wind,\u201d a stream of energetic particles that flows out into the solar system, continues to receive energy once it leaves the Sun. Now, they may have discovered the answer.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

This conceptual image shows Parker Solar Probe about to enter the solar corona.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Since the 1960s, astronomers have wondered how the Sun\u2019s supersonic \u201csolar wind,\u201d a stream of energetic particles that flows out into the solar system, continues to receive energy once it leaves the Sun. Now, thanks to a lucky lineup of a NASA and an ESA (European Space Agency)\/NASA spacecraft both currently studying the Sun, they may have discovered the answer \u2014 knowledge that is a crucial piece of the puzzle to help scientists better forecast solar activity between the Sun and Earth.<\/p>\n

A paper<\/a> published in the August 30, 2024, issue of the journal Science<\/em> provides persuasive evidence that the fastest solar winds are powered by magnetic \u201cswitchbacks,\u201d or large kinks in the magnetic field, near the Sun.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur study addresses a huge open question about how the solar wind is energized and helps us understand how the Sun affects its environment and, ultimately, the Earth,\u201d said Yeimy Rivera, co-leader of the study and a postdoctoral fellow at the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory, part of Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian. \u201cIf this process happens in our local star, it\u2019s highly likely that this powers winds from other stars across the Milky Way galaxy and beyond and could have implications for the habitability of exoplanets.\u201d<\/p>\n

Previously, NASA\u2019s Parker Solar Probe found that these switchbacks<\/a> were common throughout the solar wind. Parker, which became the first craft to enter the Sun’s magnetic atmosphere<\/a> in 2021, allowed scientists to determine that switchbacks become more distinct and more powerful close to the Sun. Up to now, however, scientists lacked experimental evidence that this interesting phenomenon actually deposits enough energy to be important in the solar wind.<\/p>\n

\u201cAbout three years ago, I was giving a talk about how fascinating these waves are,\u201d said co-author Mike Stevens, astrophysicist at the Center for Astrophysics. \u201cAt the end, an astronomy professor stood up and said, \u2018that’s neat, but do they actually matter?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

An artist\u2019s concept shows Solar Orbiter near the Sun.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

To answer this, the team of scientists had to use two different spacecraft. Parker is built to fly through the Sun\u2019s atmosphere, or \u201ccorona.\u201d ESA’s and NASA\u2019s Solar Orbiter mission is also on an orbit that takes it relatively close to the Sun, and it measures solar wind at larger distances. <\/p>\n

The discovery was made possible because of a coincidental alignment in February 2022 that allowed both Parker Solar Probe and Solar Orbiter to measure the same solar wind stream within two days of each other. Solar Orbiter was almost halfway to the Sun while Parker was skirting the edge of the Sun’s magnetic atmosphere.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe didn’t initially realize that Parker and Solar Orbiter were measuring the same thing at all. Parker saw this slower plasma near the Sun that was full of switchback waves, and then Solar Orbiter recorded a fast stream which had received heat and with very little wave activity,\u201d said Samuel Badman, astrophysicist at the Center for Astrophysics and the other co-lead of the study. \u201cWhen we connected the two, that was a real eureka moment.\u201d<\/p>\n

Scientists have long known that energy is moved throughout the Sun\u2018s corona and the solar wind, at least in part, through what are known as “Alfv\u00e9n waves.\u201d These waves transport energy through a plasma, the superheated state of matter that makes up the solar wind.<\/p>\n

This artist\u2019s concept shows switchbacks, or large kinks in the Sun\u2019s magnetic field. NASA\u2019s Goddard Space Flight Center\/Conceptual Image Lab\/Adriana Manrique Gutierrez<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

However, how much the Alfv\u00e9n waves evolve and interact with the solar wind between the Sun and Earth couldn’t be measured \u2014 until these two missions were sent closer to the Sun than ever before, at the same time. Now, scientists can directly determine how much energy is stored in the magnetic and velocity fluctuations of these waves near the corona, and how much less energy is carried by the waves farther from the Sun.<\/p>\n

The new research shows that the Alfv\u00e9n waves in the form of switchbacks provide enough energy to account for the heating and acceleration documented in the faster stream of the solar wind as it flows away from the Sun. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt took over half a century to confirm that Alfvenic wave acceleration and heating are important processes, and they happen in approximately the way we think they do,\u201d said John Belcher, emeritus professor from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology who co-discovered Alfv\u00e9n waves in the solar wind but was not involved in this study.<\/p>\n

In addition to helping scientists better forecast solar activity and space weather, such information helps us understand mysteries of the universe elsewhere and how Sun-like stars and stellar winds operate everywhere.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis discovery is one of the key puzzle pieces to answer the 50-year-old question of how the solar wind is accelerated and heated in the innermost portions of the heliosphere, bringing us closer to closure to one of the main science objectives of the Parker Solar Probe mission,\u201d said Adam Szabo, Parker Solar Probe mission science lead at NASA.<\/p>\n

– Megan Watzke<\/em>
\nCenter for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Since the 1960s, astronomers have wondered how the Sun\u2019s supersonic \u201csolar wind,\u201d a stream of energetic particles that flows out into the solar system, continues to receive energy once it leaves the Sun. Now, they may have discovered the answer. Since the 1960s, astronomers have wondered how the Sun\u2019s supersonic \u201csolar wind,\u201d a stream of…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":71,"featured_media":9333,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/science.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/switchbacks-sun-web.gif?w=2048&format=webp","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[207],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9331","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-research"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/spaceandplanetarynewswire.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9331","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/spaceandplanetarynewswire.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/spaceandplanetarynewswire.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/spaceandplanetarynewswire.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/71"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/spaceandplanetarynewswire.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=9331"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/spaceandplanetarynewswire.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9331\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9335,"href":"https:\/\/spaceandplanetarynewswire.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9331\/revisions\/9335"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/spaceandplanetarynewswire.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/9333"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/spaceandplanetarynewswire.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=9331"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/spaceandplanetarynewswire.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=9331"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/spaceandplanetarynewswire.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=9331"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}