England (Commonwealth Union) – The Sun-observing Solar Orbiter spacecraft which was formed by the European Space Agency to carry out measurements and observations of the sun, is currently utilizing instruments proposed, designed and built by the University College London (UCL). The spacecraft recently noted a “tube” of cooler atmospheric gases moving similar to a snake in its path through the Sun’s magnetic field.
The observation has delivered a captivating new feature indicated by the European Space Agency-led mission, especially since the snake was a significant finding.
The inquiry into the phenomenon is led by Dr David Long of the UCL Mullard Space Science Laboratory, co-leader of the science team for the Extreme Ultraviolet Imager onboard the spacecraft.
The snake was witnessed on 5 September 2022, while the Solar Orbiter moved nearer to the Sun for a close pass on 12 October. It is a tube of cool plasma supported by magnetic fields in the hotter surrounding plasma of the Sun’s environment.
Plasma is a state of matter where a gas is in such a high temperature that its atoms start to lose some of their outer particles, known as electrons. This loss makes the gas electrically charged hence vulnerable to magnetic fields. All gas in the Sun’s atmosphere is a plasma as the temperature here is over a million degrees centigrade.
The plasma in the snake takes after a specifically long filament of the Sun’s magnetic field that is moving from one side of the Sun to another. Dr Long said: “You’re getting plasma flowing from one side to the other but the magnetic field is really twisted. So, you’re getting this change in direction because we’re looking down on a twisted structure.”
The ability to observe an eruption occur and then sample the ejected gasses, either from the its own instruments or from another spacecraft, is a key goal of the Solar Orbiter, opening doors for better knowledge of the solar activity and its method of forming ‘space weather’, capable of disrupting satellites and other technology in the world.
