Decay of the coronal magnetic field can release sufficient energy to power a solar flare
Abstract
Solar flares are bright flashes and associated eruptions of plasma from the Sun that are thought to be powered by violent rearrangement of the magnetic fields near sunspots. Fleishman et al. observed a bright solar flare with a microwave interferometer, allowing them to map the magnetic field in the solar corona and monitor how it changed during the flare. They found a large drop in the local field strength over 2 minutes, releasing enough magnetic energy to power the entire solar flare. Determining the origin of this energy will help to predict how strong future solar flares may be and their potential space weather impacts on Earth.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Pub Defense Publication
- Publication Date
- Jan 17, 2020
- Source ID
- 10.1126/science.aax6874
Entities
People
- Bin Chen
- Dale Gary
- Gelu M. Nita
- Gregory Fleishman
- Natsuha Kuroda
- Sijie Yu
Organizations
- National Aeronautics and Space Administration
- National Science Foundation Office of the Director
- New Jersey Institute of Technology
- United States Naval Research Laboratory
- University Corporation for Atmospheric Research