An international team of scientists claims to have identified the reason why lThe Sun’s atmosphere is more than 300 times hotter than its surface: supergiant tornadoesthat would inject heat into the outer layers of the star. As the authors explain inNatureThe research has been carried out by comparing images from the Swedish solar telescope and those taken by NASA’s Solar Observatory, and it has been determined that bright spots on the surface of the Sun and the atmosphere correspond to eddies.
The solar atmosphere is divided into three layers, which from innermost to outermost are called the photosphere, chromosphere, and corona. The surface temperature of the Sun is 5,526ºC, while the peaks in the corona reach two million degrees. The observed tornadoes, 14 in total, were detected in the chromosphere, but subsequent studies have indicated that these eddies extend through all three layers of the Sun.
Using a three-dimensional simulation, the team verified thateddies could play a role in lifting the outer layer of the Sun. Unlike tornadoes on Earth, which are fueled by differences in temperature and humidity, tornadoes on the Sun are a combination of hot, flowing gas that becomes entangled in the star’s magnetic field and is ultimately propelled. by nuclear reactions in the solar nucleus.
Experts have pointed out that tornadoes rotate at thousands of kilometers per hour and vary in size, with diameters ranging from 1,500 to 5,550 kilometers. “Based on the events detected, it is estimated thatat least 11,000 eddies are present in the Sun at all times“, explained Sven-Wedemeyer Böhm, lead author of the study.
In the simulation you can also see that in the photosphere, the innermost layer that is tied to the surface of the Sun, these tornadoes cool down. “The resulting funnel is narrow at the bottom and widens with height in the atmosphere,” said Sven-Wedemeyer Böhm.
