Graphic of the sun
A breakthrough discovery by experts at the University of Sheffield, which sheds light on mega-tsunamis on the Sun, is set to be revealed at the House of Commons next week (Monday 8 March 2010). Solar physicists from the University will discuss their discovery of solar Transition Region Quakes to an audience of MPs both from the House of Commons and the House of Lords at the House of Commons Marquee, after being selected by the Parliamentary and Scientific Committee. It is hoped their findings hold the key to understanding the long-standing secret of solar coronal heating. The solar transition region is located about 2000km above the Sun´s visible surface. It is the narrow layer of sharp transition in density and temperature between the relatively cool solar chromosphere, which reaches temperatures of about 10-20,000 Kelvin, and the very hot upper corona, which sees temperature hit 1-10 Megakelvin. The way in which the solar corona is heated to temperatures of over a million degrees has so far remained a long-standing puzzle of solar and space physics, especially as this region of the Sun is even further away from the centre of energy production than the underlying solar surface. But the team of experts at the University, including Professor Robertus von Fay-Siebenburgen, postdoctoral research associate Dr Victor Fedun and postgraduate student Eamon Scullion, all from the University´s Department of Applied Mathematics and members of the Solar Wave Theory Group and the Solar Physics and Space Plasma Research Centre, (SWAT/SP2RC), have addressed this enigma by discovering that Transition Region Quakes power the lower base of the solar corona.
TO READ THIS ARTICLE, CREATE YOUR ACCOUNT
And extend your reading, free of charge and with no commitment.
