Solar prominences put on strange and beautiful show in the Sun's sky
The features were discovered by Dr Xing Li and PhD student, Jeff Smith, of Aberystwyth University using the Atmospheric Imaging Assembly (AIA) telescope on board the Solar Dynamic Observatory (SDO) satellite. The findings have been presented at the RAS National Astronomy Meeting in St Andrews.
Prominences are -- relatively -- cold gaseous features, with temperatures around 5000 degrees Celsius compared to the surrounding the hot solar atmosphere of about 1-2 million degrees. They can be seen as towering features extending outwards from the Sun's surface, often in the shape of a loop. They are called filaments when viewed against the solar disc, appearing as dark stripes because the cold gases they contain absorb the light emitted from below. Solar prominences and filaments supply most of the material released in coronal mass ejections, eruptions from the Sun's atmosphere that can cause space weather and create geomagnetic storms on Earth.
Rotating discs in solar prominences were first observed decades ago, using ground-based telescopes, and have puzzled solar physicists since. The new SDO observations of a rotating disc reveal that the feature covered a temperature range from a few thousand to one million degrees Celsius. Li and Smith believe that the rotation was caused by turbulence produced at the interface of two gases of enormously different temperatures.
"We think the rotation is produced when hot gases enter a cold medium in an organised fashion. The magnetic field serves as a thermal barrier between the two media. The resulting rotation can last hours," said Li.
The persistent horizontal motion of feathery streamers from a solar prominence was observed by SDO over a period of more than 15 hours. Li and Smith believe that the likely cause was a large-scale, slow restructuring of the magnetic field through a process called magnetic reconnection.
In a further observation, lasting around three hours, a jet of superheated gases as hot as 1.5 -- 2 million degrees Celsius was sucked from the coronal cavity surrounding a prominence and spiralled up along a helical path to strike the top of prominence 50 000 km high.
"The feat of the jet hitting the top of the prominence, and the distances involved, is comparable to a ballistic missile hitting a satellite in geostationary orbit!" said Li.
Finally the SDO imagery showed counter-streaming flows at more than a million kilometres per hour along a filament channel consisting of many very thin threads.
"These fabulous motions suggest more complex magnetic structures of filaments/prominences than scientists previously thought," said Li.
Smith added: "These events are beautiful to observe and also set a fascinating challenge to get to the bottom of the physics involved."
Welcome to SUV System Ltd!
SUV System Ltd is ISO 90012008 Certified electronics distributor with 10 years of experiences.
We have built up long term business relationship with about many companies which are stockers and authorized agents. we have a steady and reliable supply to meet customer's demands to the greatest extent .Confidently, we are able to lower your cost and support your business with our years of professional service.
SUV System Ltd is Electronic Components Distributor Supplies,Find Quality Electronic Components Supplies Products IC(Integrated Circuits),Connectors,Capacitor,Resistors,Diodes,Transistors,LED at Suvsystem.com. Sourcing Other Energy, Environment, Excess Inventory Products from Manufacturers and Suppliers at Suvsystem.com
Electronic Components distributor:http://www.suvsystem.com
Connectors Distributor:http://www.suvsystem.com/l/Connectors-1.html
IC Distributor:http://www.suvsystem.com/l/IC(Integrated-Circuits)-1.html
LED Distributor:http://www.suvsystem.com/l/LED-1.html
Capacitor Distributor:http://www.suvsystem.com/l/Capacitor-1.html
Transistor Distributor:http://www.suvsystem.com/l/Transistors-1.html
Resistor Distributor:http://www.suvsystem.com/l/Resistors-1.html
Diode Distributor:http://www.suvsystem.com/l/Diodes-1.html
SUV System Ltd insists on the managing faith ofsincereness,speciality,foresight, win-win,so we build up stable-relationship customers located all over the world, including the States, Europe, Argentina, UAE, Malaysia, Australia,and India etc
we are focus on the following fields,and hope we can help you.
3186BC261T030ALA1 3186BC251T350APA2 3186BC223U040BM0A2 3186BC221T450APA1 3186BC212U075APA2 3186BC202T075AHA2 3186BC183U040APA1 3186BC181T450BHA1 3186BC172U075AM0A4 3186BD502U010APA1 3186BD492U050APA2 3186BD442U010AM0A2 3186BD253U050APA1 3186BD253U035APA1 3186BD191T040APA2 3186BD183U040BPA2 3186BD183U040AM0A1 3186BD153M75BPA1 3186BD143U025APA2 3186BD133T063APA1 3186BD103U075APA1 3186BD103U040BM0A5 3186BD103U040BM0A4 3186BD103M080M0PA2 3186BD103M080APA2 3186BD103M080APA1 3186BC892U025APA2 3186BC842U040AMA1 3186BC822U010BHA2 3186BC802U030APA3 3186BC701T010BPA1 3186BC692U075APA2 3186BC682U050APA2 3186BC681T040APA1 3186BC602U040APA4 3186BC601T150APA1 3186BC601T150AMA1 3186BC582U040BM0A2 3186BC562U025APA2 3186BE223S040M0PA2
http://www.suvsystem.com/a/3512.aspx
