NJIT: Evolving Energy of Solar Flare's Explosive First Minutes Measured

Find out the latest thinking about our universe.
Post Reply
User avatar
bystander
Apathetic Retiree
Posts: 21571
Joined: Mon Aug 28, 2006 2:06 pm
Location: Oklahoma

NJIT: Evolving Energy of Solar Flare's Explosive First Minutes Measured

Post by bystander » Fri Jan 17, 2020 7:13 pm

Evolving Energy of Solar Flare's Explosive First Minutes Measured
New Jersey Institute of Technology | 2020 Jan 17
blue sun flare2.jpg
Toward the end of 2017, a massive new region of magnetic field erupted on the Sun’s surface next to an existing sunspot. The powerful collision of magnetic energy produced a series of potent solar flares, causing turbulent space weather conditions at Earth. These were the first flares to be captured, in their moment-by-moment progression, by NJIT’s then recently opened Expanded Owens Valley Solar Array (EOVSA) radio telescope.

In research published today in the journal Science, the solar scientists who recorded those images have pinpointed for the first time ever exactly when and where the explosion released the energy that heated spewing plasma to energies equivalent to 1 billion degrees in temperature.

With data collected in the microwave spectrum, they have been able to provide quantitative measurements of the evolving magnetic field strength directly following the flare’s ignition and have tracked its conversion into other energy forms – kinetic, thermal and superthermal – that power the flare’s explosive 5-minute trip through the corona. ...

Decay of the Coronal Magnetic Field Can Release Sufficient Energy to Power a Solar Flare ~ Gregory D. Fleishman et al
Know the quiet place within your heart and touch the rainbow of possibility; be
alive to the gentle breeze of communication, and please stop being such a jerk.
— Garrison Keillor

saturno2
Commander
Posts: 755
Joined: Wed Jun 29, 2011 10:05 pm

Re: NJIT: Evolving Energy of Solar Flare's Explosive First Minutes Measured

Post by saturno2 » Sat Jan 18, 2020 10:26 pm

" 1 billion degrees of temperature",
But it does not indicate if they are C, F or K.

User avatar
neufer
Vacationer at Tralfamadore
Posts: 18805
Joined: Mon Jan 21, 2008 1:57 pm
Location: Alexandria, Virginia

Re: NJIT: Evolving Energy of Solar Flare's Explosive First Minutes Measured

Post by neufer » Sat Jan 18, 2020 11:14 pm

saturno2 wrote: Sat Jan 18, 2020 10:26 pm
"1 billion degrees of temperature",
But it does not indicate if they are C, F or K.
When in doubt simply assume K.
(A factor of 2 hardly matters.)
Art Neuendorffer

Post Reply