"New Insight on Solar Storms: 50-year-old Perplexity Concerning Our Sun's Tempests Could Be Resolved"

Scientists Shed Light on Long-Standing Solar Flares Mystery

In a groundbreaking discovery, a team of scientists from the University of St Andrews has potentially solved a half-century-old astrophysics mystery regarding the broad spectral lines in solar flares. Their findings, published in The Astrophysical Journal Letters, challenge the historical assumption that ions and electrons in solar physics must have the same temperature.

The mystery surrounds the extreme-ultraviolet and X-ray light spectral lines from solar flares, which are unusually broad. Dr. Alexander Russell and his team approached this enigma by using advanced spectroscopic observations and numerical simulations to investigate the physical processes in solar flares.

Their discovery is based on the process called magnetic reconnection, which appears to heat ions 6.5 times as much as electrons. This unexpected difference in heating could explain the broad spectral lines, as the ions are heated to over 60 million Kelvin while electrons remain relatively cooler.

If their findings hold up, the broad spectral lines may no longer be thought to be the result of turbulence. Instead, the team suggests that turbulent motions and non-thermal effects in the solar atmosphere during flares could be the culprits.

Solar flares are our solar system's largest explosive events. They are intense bursts of radiation coming from the release of magnetic energy associated with sunspots. These events can be seen as bright areas on the Sun and can last from minutes to hours. They are typically monitored by the photons (or light) they release, primarily in x-rays and optical light.

The team's discovery opens the way to consider super-hot ions for the first time in solar flare studies. They conclude that more advanced mapping of thermal equilibrium rates on the Sun is necessary, and NASA's upcoming Multi-slit Solar Explorer (MUSE) and Extreme Ultraviolet High-Throughput Spectroscopic Telescope (EUVST) missions are suited to this task.

Solar flares were first discovered in 1859 during the Carrington Event, the largest solar storm ever witnessed. Since then, they have continued to fascinate scientists and the public alike, and this latest discovery promises to deepen our understanding of these awe-inspiring phenomena.

"New Insight on Solar Storms: 50-year-old Perplexity Concerning Our Sun's Tempests Could Be Resolved"