An international team of scientists, including a Skoltech researcher, has developed a model to describe changes in solar plasma. This model helps to understand solar dynamics and provides prerequisites for more accurate space weather predictions.
The results of the study were published in The Astrophysical Journal.
Plasma β is an important quantity for the substituting effects of plasma and magnetic pressure on the solar atmosphere. It is associated with both the solar magnetic field and such dynamic phenomena as the solar wind, coronal mass ejections and solar flares. All of these phenomena have a direct impact on space weather.
Jenny Rodriguez is a fellow at the Space Center of the Skolkovo Institute of Science and Technology, and her colleagues at the Leibniz Institute for Physics of the Sun (Germany) and the National Institute for Space Research (Brazil) have developed a model to evaluate how β plasma changes in the solar atmosphere. In particular, they obtained a description of β plasma in the solar corona during the last solar cycles (about 22 years). Scientists have found that solar torches and quiet regions of the Sun have the greatest influence on this parameter.
Solar torches and "quiet sun" regions govern changes in magnetic and kinetic pressure in the solar corona. This can directly affect space weather and its forecasting capabilities. These results provide an interesting insight into the dynamics of the solar cycle.
“Β is an important parameter of solar plasma characterizing the solar atmosphere. The solar atmosphere is a laboratory for plasma physics that allows us to learn about its dynamics and understand how many events occur on the Sun. We believe our results will help us understand the dynamics of events on the Sun and help predict space weather,”says Dr. Jenny Rodriguez.