A team of astrophysicists from the University of Warwick in the UK, working with colleagues from the Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research, Northumbria University and the Royal Belgian Observatory, have moved one step closer to understanding why the Sun’s corona is so large. hot. In his study published in the journal Nature CommunicationThe group analyzed data from two solar energy information sources.

The Sun’s corona is the outermost part of its atmosphere; Previous studies have shown that it is thousands of times hotter than indoors. And despite many efforts, scientists still don’t know why this is the case. In this new study, the research team took a new approach to find the cause of the intense heat in the corona.

The team’s work also included examining data collected by ESA’s Solar Orbiter and NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory. Both sources provided data on the plasma that makes up most of the corona, including the rings. The loops are arched structures made of very dense plasma that separate them from the rest of the corona. They begin and end at the lower points of the photosphere. Analyzing data on the cycles, the research team discovered twisting oscillations that had not been observed before. These fluctuations were clearly visible from both one probe orbiting the Sun and another probe orbiting the Earth. The hinges shook like guitar strings.

The researchers then examined the oscillations more closely and measured their decay rates. They state that things that oscillate must either decay and eventually stop, or they must have a source of energy that moves them. By examining the oscillations of the folds, the research team found that they did not decay, suggesting that there was some kind of energy source that kept them going.

Moreover, researchers suggest that whatever this energy source is, it is not accidental and must be internal. They suggest that the same energy source is likely responsible for the extreme heat in the corona. They concluded that a deeper study of coronal oscillations could reveal the ultimate source of the heat produced in the corona.