ESA-гийн Solar Orbiter сансрын хөлөг нарны салхины соронзон бүтцийн гарал үүслийг нарийвчлан тогтоов.
ESA-гийн Solar Orbiter сансрын хөлөг нарны салхинд агуулагдах “S” хэлбэрийн соронзон мушгиа буюу соронзон шилжилтүүдийн үүсэл, хөгжлийг судлан, тэдгээрийн нарны гадаргуутай холбоотой болохыг тогтоожээ. Эрдэмтэд 2022 онд уг хөлгийн тусламжтайгаар нарны гадаргуугаас ирж буй соронзон шилжилтийн бүтцийг анх удаа ажигласан байна. Судалгааны баг хөлгийн Solar Wind Analyser багажийг ашиглан нар болон Дэлхийн хоорондох зайд уг бүтцийн доторх плазмын найрлагыг шинжилжээ.
Судалгаагаар тус соронзон мушгианы доторх цэнэгтэй хүчилтөрөгч болон нүүрстөрөгчийн өвөрмөц холимог нь нарны гадаргуу дээрх халуун соронзон гогцоонуудад л үүсэх боломжтойг тогтоосон байна. Энэхүү баримт нь соронзон шилжилтүүд нь “солилцооны дахин холболт” (interchange reconnection) гэх процессоор үүсдэг болохыг нотлох гол нотолгоо болжээ. Нарны гадаргуу дээрх нээлттэй болон хаалттай соронзон шугамууд харилцан үйлчлэх үед өмнө нь гогцоонд түгжигдсэн байсан плазм сансарт чөлөөлөгддөг байна.
Судлаачид мөн уг соронзон мушгиа нарны гадаргуугаас алсрах тусам долгион болон үймээн (turbulence) нь түүний хөдөлгөөнийг удирдах гол хүчин зүйл болдог болохыг илрүүлжээ. Өөрөөр хэлбэл, эдгээр процесс нь хоорондоо зөрчилдөх бус, соронзон шилжилтийн аяллын өөр өөр үе шатыг тайлбарладаг байна. Nature Astronomy сэтгүүлд нийтлэгдсэн энэхүү судалгаа нь нарны плазмын түүхийг сэргээн босгох, соронзон бүтэц сансарт хэрхэн хувьсан өөрчлөгдөхийг ойлгоход чухал ач холбогдолтой юм.
Энэхүү нээлт нь нарны шуурганы талаарх мэдлэгийг гүнзгийрүүлж, сансрын дэд бүтэц, технологийн системийг болзошгүй эрсдэлээс хамгаалахад хувь нэмэр оруулах юм. Solar Orbiter хөлгийн нарны ойролцоох байрлал болон нарийн багаж хэрэгсэл нь энэхүү нарийн төвөгтэй холбоосыг илрүүлэх боломжийг олгосон байна. Цаашид эрдэмтэд нарны үйл явцыг илүү нарийвчлалтай хянахын тулд NASA-гийн Solar Dynamics Observatory-ийн өгөгдлийг нэгтгэн ажиллаж байна.
Дэлгэрэнгүйг эх сурвалжаас харах
↓Эх сурвалжийг нээх ↓
Scientists have finally traced a strange magnetic twist in the solar wind back to the sun’s surface. Using ESA’s Solar Orbiter spacecraft, researchers discovered how these S-shaped structures form and what happens to them as they travel through space.
The sun’s magnetic field is anything but calm. It constantly shifts and changes, sending streams of charged particles into space through what scientists call the solar wind. As these particles move outward, they carry magnetic field lines that can twist, bend and sometimes fold back on themselves.
Some of these bends, known as magnetic switchbacks, have puzzled scientists for years. Researchers have spotted them many times near the sun, but exactly how they form has remained an open question.
A Strange Magnetic Twist Leads Back to the Sun
Back in 2022, Solar Orbiter captured something scientists had long expected to see: a magnetic switchback shaped like the letter S. The observation confirmed earlier predictions about what these structures actually look like.
But seeing a switchback was only part of the challenge. Scientists still needed to understand where it came from. That opportunity arrived when Solar Orbiter passed directly through an unusually large switchback, giving researchers the chance to study the particles inside it.
The European Space Agency reports that a team led by Jesse Coburn of CNRS/LPP in France used the spacecraft’s Solar Wind Analyser to examine the plasma making up the structure. At the time, Solar Orbiter was roughly halfway between Earth and the sun. Its instruments picked up a distinctive mixture of charged oxygen and carbon particles.
Those particles turned out to be the key. Their particular combination could only have formed inside hot magnetic loops on the sun’s surface.
“Because of this, we were able to sample rarely observed particles there that have telltale fingerprints of their origin,” Coburn explained.
The discovery, published in Nature Astronomy, gave researchers a way to connect the switchback encountered in space with the solar region where its particles first formed.
Two Competing Ideas, One Discovery
For years, scientists have debated two main explanations for magnetic switchbacks. One centers on a process called interchange reconnection. The other involves waves and turbulence in the solar wind. The new measurements show that both processes have a role to play, just at different moments.
To understand the first, it helps to look at how magnetic fields behave around the sun. Some magnetic field lines stretch outward into space, creating open paths that allow charged particles to escape. Others form closed loops that rise above the solar surface before curving back down.
When these open and closed regions interact, their magnetic field lines can break and reconnect in different ways. This releases plasma that had previously been trapped inside the loops.The unusual mixture of oxygen and carbon detected by Solar Orbiter provided evidence that this process was responsible for forming the switchback.
“The specific mix of particles detected by Solar Orbiter is the smoking gun for a formation process known as ‘interchange reconnection,’” Coburn said.
The spacecraft also detected signs of waves and turbulence, pointing to another process that becomes important once the switchback has moved away from the sun.
“Once the switchback has left the sun, waves and turbulence take over and govern how it moves,” explained study co-author Stephanie Yardley of Northumbria University.
Rather than contradicting each other, the two explanations describe different stages in a switchback’s journey.
What This Discovery Tells Us About Solar Storms
Tracking a magnetic switchback back to the sun was a complex task. Researchers combined particle measurements from Solar Orbiter with images of the solar surface and models of the surrounding magnetic fields. They also developed a new model linking Solar Orbiter’s observations to data from NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory.
The findings also revealed that particles retain traces of their original environment even after traveling far from the sun. These signatures help scientists reconstruct the history of solar plasma and understand how magnetic structures evolve through space.
Solar Orbiter demonstrated how solar events can leave identifiable evidence across vast distances. ESA project scientist Daniel Müller emphasized this connection, stating,
“The more we know, the better we can prepare for solar storms to protect our space-based infrastructure and technology.” He also highlighted that: “This discovery just wouldn’t have been possible without Solar Orbiter—no other spacecraft has both the proximity to the sun and the right instruments needed to make this connection.”
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