Astronomers at the University of California at Los Angeles and George Mason University in the United States have discovered a source of potentially dangerous particles in the Sun that are ejected at high speed during solar activity. These particles reach Earth and can disrupt satellites. This was announced in a press release on EurekAlert !. The experts' article was published in the journal Science Advances.
The researchers analyzed the composition of high-energy particles and found that they have properties characteristic of plasma located in the lower layers of the solar corona, above the chromosphere. Plasma, held back by magnetic fields, releases particles that are then accelerated to several thousand kilometers per second.
The data was obtained using the Wind space probe, located in orbit between the Earth and the Sun. The device recorded a series of particle streams in 2014, each of which lasted at least a day. The researchers also received spectra from the Hinode apparatus of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency. It turned out that the particles originate from a region with an excess of silicon over sulfur, which is typical for the lower part of hot coronal loops – structures formed by plasma and magnetic fields.