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Showing posts with label Loops cold could help. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Loops cold could help. Show all posts

Sunday, September 16, 2012

Loops cold could help solve the mystery of the solar corona


The surface of the Sun is a very cold place. When compare it with the crown, the upper atmosphere of the Sun, which is almost 400 times hotter. This large temperature difference has long been a mystery, but a newly discovered feature in the Sun's magnetic field could help us get to the bottom of it.

The Sun's magnetic field tangled includes huge loops forming an arc from the surface to the crown. We can see the bright loops because the surface plasma flows along its curves.