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Tag: sun’s

The Future: The Rise of Artificial Suns in Clean Energy

Creating artificial suns may seem confusing to many people, but these are not like the Sun we see in the sky. They won’t be placed up there and won’t emit heat to reach us. Instead, they are produced in nuclear fusion reactors. To make these artificial suns, scientists need hydrogen and deuterium to react. This process is entirely environmentally friendly and has been studied for a long time.

Recently, South Korean nuclear scientists achieved a remarkable feat by reaching a temperature of 100 million degrees Celsius, setting a world record. No other country has been able to achieve such a high temperature before. Nuclear fusion could become a crucial source of clean energy in the future world, and South Korean scientists have made significant progress in this regard.

They have successfully reached temperatures in the tens of millions of degrees Celsius and aim to break previous records. While high temperatures have been achieved in the past, they usually lasted for only around 30 seconds. However, South Korean scientists managed to maintain the temperature for 48 seconds this time.

During nuclear fusion experiments in the artificial sun, this temperature reaches 7 times that of the Sun’s core, which is around 15 million degrees Celsius. This achievement is considered a significant milestone for the future by South Korean scientists.

Other countries like China, America, and France are also working on developing artificial suns. This process generates a tremendous amount of energy, and scientists believe it could help solve climate problems because it’s environmentally friendly. In nuclear fusion, a lot of energy can be produced without causing carbon pollution.

April 9, 2024
Astronomers Witness Sun’s Own Northern Lights for the First Time

In a groundbreaking discovery, scientists have observed a mesmerizing display of radio waves resembling the Northern Lights on Earth, known as auroras, occurring on the surface of the sun. This captivating solar lightshow unfolded approximately 25,000 miles above a sunspot, a magnetic dark area on the sun’s surface. This marks the first time such a phenomenon has been observed on our own sun.

Astronomers, based on Earth, detected these bursts of radio waves over the course of a week. Unlike typical transient solar radio bursts lasting minutes or hours, this discovery is described as “quite unlike” anything seen before, with the potential to reshape our understanding of magnetic processes on stars. The findings were published in the journal Nature Astronomy on November 13.

On Earth, auroras result from energetic solar debris interacting with the atmosphere near the poles, where the protective magnetic field is weaker. This interaction causes oxygen and nitrogen molecules to release energy in the form of light, creating the beautiful and colorful displays seen in the night sky.

Solar debris is usually ejected from the sun when magnetic fields around sunspots become tangled and then suddenly snap. This release of energy leads to solar flares and explosive jets of solar material, known as coronal mass ejections (CMEs).

By pointing a radio telescope at a sunspot on the sun’s surface, researchers detected an aurora-like emission above it. They believe this emission is caused by electrons from solar flares being accelerated along the sunspot’s powerful magnetic field lines. Unlike Earth’s auroras, these sunspot aurora emissions occur at much higher frequencies due to the sunspot’s magnetic field being thousands of times stronger than Earth’s.

The scientists express excitement about this discovery, as it introduces new avenues for studying the sun’s activity. They have already started examining archival data to uncover hidden evidence of past solar auroras. The research not only enhances our understanding of our own sun but also opens doors to studying stars beyond our solar system.

The researchers are in the early stages of assembling the puzzle of how energetic particles and magnetic fields interact, especially in the presence of long-lasting sunspots. This knowledge has broad implications, not only for understanding our sun but also for gaining insights into the activities of stars far beyond our solar system.

November 22, 2023
Parker Solar Probe: Journey to the Sun’s Heart Sets New Speed Record

NASA’s Parker Solar Probe, the winner of PopSci’s Best of What’s New in 2018, continues to achieve remarkable feats. The spacecraft has been progressively moving closer to the sun than any previous spacecraft, setting new speed records along the way. In a recent update from NASA, it was revealed that the Parker Solar Probe has once again broken its own record by becoming the fastest human-made object, reaching an incredible speed of 394,736 miles per hour.

This milestone was accomplished thanks to a gravity-assist flyby from Venus. The record-breaking event occurred during the probe’s 17th “solar encounter,” which took place from September 27 to October 3. To put this extraordinary speed into perspective, the Parker Solar Probe could hypothetically complete about 15 circumnavigations of Earth in a single hour or traverse the distance between New York City and Los Angeles in just 20 seconds. However, such a journey would be unsurvivable for human passengers, but it remains an impressive achievement.

During this recent encounter, the probe also set a new record for proximity to the sun, coming within a mere 4.51 million miles from the sun’s scorching plasma “surface.” To withstand temperatures reaching nearly 2,500 degrees Fahrenheit, the Parker Solar Probe is equipped with a 4.5-inch-thick carbon-composite shield to safeguard its sensitive instruments.

These instruments play a crucial role in measuring and imaging the sun’s surface, advancing our understanding of the origins and evolution of solar winds. Additionally, they aid in predicting changes in space environments that could impact life on Earth. In a significant event last month, the probe passed through one of the most intense coronal mass ejections (CMEs) ever observed, confirming a two-decade-old theory that CMEs interact with interplanetary dust. This discovery will enhance experts’ capabilities in forecasting space weather.

Despite the grueling conditions it encounters, NASA reports that the Parker Solar Probe remains in excellent health, with all systems operating normally. The mission is far from over, with seven more solar encounters planned through 2024. By that time, within the orbit of Mercury, the Parker Solar Probe will meet its poetic end, vaporizing into the sun’s intense solar winds, as one mission researcher described it back in 2021.

October 13, 2023
Aditya L-1: ISRO’s Bold Mission to Study the Sun’s Mysteries

Sending spacecraft closer to the Sun, where the heat is unbearable, might sound surprising, but it’s a fascinating endeavor that scientists and space agencies like NASA and ISRO are embarking on. While we’ve sent numerous spacecraft to the Moon and even had humans land there, the Sun is an entirely different challenge.

NASA states that the core temperature of the Sun reaches a staggering 27 million degrees Fahrenheit or around 15 million degrees Celsius. However, the surface temperature of the Sun is comparatively cooler at about 10,000 degrees Fahrenheit. Despite this significant difference in temperature, conquering the Sun poses extraordinary challenges.

NASA’s journey towards studying the Sun began with proposed solar expeditions as early as 1958. However, it wasn’t until the 21st century that advanced technology made it possible for humans to approach the Sun closely. In 2018, the historic Parker Solar Probe spacecraft was launched towards the Sun. This marked a significant milestone in our quest to understand the Sun’s deepest layer, the corona.

The Parker Solar Probe became the first spacecraft to breach Earth’s atmosphere and venture into the Sun’s corona region. Until then, this area had remained shrouded in mystery. Researching the corona is vital for comprehending the Sun’s impact on our solar system. Gathering data about this region is crucial because solar winds emanate from the corona, influencing space weather and conditions on Earth.

While NASA’s Parker Solar Probe embarked on this incredible mission, another significant development took place on September 2, this year, when the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) launched the Aditya L-1 spacecraft. This vehicle is set to cover an astonishing 15 lakh kilometers in just 127 days.

The Aditya L-1 spacecraft was launched using the PSLV 057 rocket and is now on its way to its designated target. Its mission objective is to reach the Sun’s Lagrange Point One, a specific region in space that will provide unique research opportunities.

One of the primary goals of the Aditya L-1 spacecraft is to study light emitted by the Sun and gather information that can help us understand Earth’s ice ages better. Additionally, this spacecraft aims to extract valuable data about the Sun’s magnetic field, marking a significant milestone in solar research.

September 18, 2023