Scientists have discovered solar patterns that could help understand space weather

The missing piece could be linked to unusual patterns of high energy blasting from the sun's surface, according to Science Alert Recent research.

We are accustomed to hearing about the sun's ultraviolet rays, which we protect ourselves from using sunscreen. The Sun also emits much stronger gamma rays, which are the most energetic waves on Earth Electromagnetic field. Each gamma ray photon carries a billion times more energy than an ultraviolet photon.

Gamma rays do not directly affect people on the Earth's surface because the photons are absorbed by the atmosphere. But scientists are investigating whether some of these highly energetic rays can track solar activity, such as the Sun's powerful outbursts such as solar flares or explosions on its surface. Such powerful events can create “space weather,” which can hit Earth, affect satellite operations and destroy railway or electrical systems.

Predicting extreme solar events would be a huge improvement in our understanding of the Sun, like predicting an earthquake before it happens.

In a recent study, scientists found that some parts of the Sun emit more intense gamma rays than others, a surprising finding because models previously indicated that gamma rays should be uniform across the Sun. The latest research found that the sun's poles emit the highest radiation during the moments when the sun's northern and southern magnetic fields reversed.

“It's about having better tools for predicting solar activity,” said Bruno Arseoli, co-author and researcher at the University of Lisbon and the University of Trieste. “Perhaps we can use this new information from very high energies to help our models predict the behavior of the Sun.”

The scientific rationale for this strange trend remains a mystery, the authors say. But the Sun's magnetic field will likely flip in the next year or two, allowing scientists to observe this strange phenomenon in real time and collect more data to explain this phenomenon.

Symmetry under the surface of the sun

Gamma rays are the kings of all energy. They are generated by the most energetic objects in our universe, such as supernova explosions or neutron stars. Nuclear explosions and lightning on Earth can also produce gamma rays.

The Sun can also emit gamma rays in several ways. When the Sun's eruption releases gas and plasma from its surface, gamma rays can also be emitted but at relatively small energy levels.

The largest source of solar gamma radiation comes when the Sun is bombarded by highly energetic particles emitted from supernovas and neutron stars across the universe, called cosmic rays. When a charged cosmic particle hits the Sun, it is orbited around by the Sun's magnetic field and comes back out. On its way out, it collides with gas on the Sun's surface and excites solar particles into gamma-ray photons.

Astrophysicist Tim Linden said that this conversion of gamma rays may occur at a depth of 100 to 1,000 kilometers below the surface of the sun, where the magnetic field is strong enough to divert cosmic rays.

“With gamma rays in the Sun, we can see a few thousand kilometers below,” said Linden, an astrophysicist at Stockholm University who was not involved in the new study. “Which It could provide you with a probe into what's going on deep beneath the Sun's surface.

The sun's activity is not constant. Every 11 years, our host star undergoes a costume change as its north and south magnetic poles change positions, known as a solar cycle. As the poles flip, the level of activity on the surface of the sun changes. The Sun is least active at the beginning, known as solar minimum, and most active around the middle when the magnetic poles officially flip, known as solar maximum. The Sun is expected to reach solar maximum in the next year or so.

In the new study, researchers studied how solar gamma radiation changes over an entire solar cycle, using data collected from NASA's Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope. They found that gamma radiation was most intense at the Sun's poles, where solar activity peaked during the cycle, coinciding with the formal inversion of magnetic fields.

“This was unexpected,” Arceoli said. “It's just something new we're discovering about the sun.”

Linden added that this discovery was surprising because the actual strength of the Sun's magnetic field does not change much over an 11-year period. During peak activity, the Sun's magnetic field becomes more tangled, leading to more activity such as flares and explosions on the surface, but the overall strength does not necessarily change.

“No one had any model that said certain parts of the Sun would be brighter than others as a function of the solar cycle,” Linden said, but previous studies had hinted at an unusual pattern. He showed that certain areas of the Sun are brighter than others in A Previous studyBut this new study analyzes the trends in more detail.

Now, the models and understanding of our Sun's gamma energies must be reviewed. Because this lopsided structure appears at the time the Sun passes its magnetic core, it is possible that the gamma rays are related to magnetic formation and solar activity, Arcioli said.

Elena Orlando, study author and researcher at the University of Trieste and Stanford University, said the exact explanation remains a mystery. One idea might be that cosmic rays hit different regions during solar maximum. Or maybe there's something special about the poles during solar maximum, which attracts more cosmic rays to reach them. There could also be a completely different interpretation.

“This suggests that gamma rays carry information about solar activity,” Arseoli said. “It kind of opens up a new area of ​​study for this association.”

A potential tool for predicting solar activity

Predicting an extreme solar event is like predicting an earthquake. Subsurface processes begin to shift and can lead to activity at the surface, but it is difficult to predict exactly when and where.

“This study helps expand our knowledge of exactly where gamma rays originate on the surface of the Sun,” said particle physicist Mihr On Nisa, who was not involved in the study.

Previous studies have also indicated that gamma rays do not glow uniformly across the Sun, but this is the first study to show a change during peak solar activity.

Orlando said gamma rays could help get an early look at processes on the surface and give clues about the general state of the Sun. For example, an increase in gamma radiation at the poles could indicate that the Sun's magnetic field is in the process of reversal and that the Sun's activity is increasing — leading to more solar flares that could hit Earth.

Future studies could also look at how gamma radiation changes before a large solar flare occurs, Linden said, potentially using the observations as a forecasting tool — much like determining whether it will rain on Earth due to weather conditions.

“The same magnetic fields that are responsible for modulating the high-energy particles that produce these gamma rays are also responsible for the ebbs and flows of space weather,” Nyssa said. “Regardless of whether life is disrupted by space weather, properly understanding the physics of our closest star will only increase our knowledge of our place in the universe.”

This article is part of Hidden planeta column that explores the wondrous, unexpected, and bizarre science of our planet and beyond.