The sun is closer to us than any other star. It is only 8 light minutes away from us, and Proxima Centauri is more than 4 light years away. It seems we should know everything about the sun, and even more. However, it's not there. Nude science tells the mystery of the sunlight still hidden.
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The sun is a dazzling challenge to our ability to experience the world in every way. It is being studied carefully in various possible ways from ancient optical observations to solar neutrino capture, but it still has many mysteries.
ordinary but local
I don't want to give people the impression that the sun is a solid white dot in the world's scientific picture. Of course, we know a lot about him. Even in a very compressed form, if this knowledge is written in a book, it will reach several volumes.
Let's try to list the most important arguments. The sun's diameter is more than a hundred times that of the earth and its mass is 330,000 times that of the earth. Its surface temperature is 5500 degrees Celsius, while in the center - 15 million. The sun is about five billion years old. The star's energy is a thermonuclear reaction, converting 600 million tons of hydrogen into helium per second. This fuel is enough to keep the star for about 5 billion years, which means it is now in the middle of its path to life. Generally speaking, the Sun is a typical G-spectral star, averaged in all respects.
The work of the sun as a "thermal nuclear heater" has been well studied - the main process of the existence of the sun (and us). Thermonuclear reaction occurs in the center of a star. These reactions produce photon . The pressure of this radiation does cause the sun to burst from the inside and does not allow gravity to compress it. The path for photons to reach the surface ( photosphere ) takes tens of thousands of years: it is absorbed and re-emitted countless times by matter. After reaching the photosphere, light eventually bursts into vast space, including to warm the earth.
However, it can be said that this is the main activity of outstanding people. It has many side effects. They are often mysterious.
The highlight detected by the solar orbit detector may be the corona heating nanoflares. Probably not
crown problem
One of the most famous mysteries of the sun is related to the temperature of corona . The corona is a thin outer layer of the sun's atmosphere. It is farthest from the central heat source and should look relatively cool. But it's not there. The temperature of the layer below the corona - the chromosphere - is measured in tens of thousands of degrees. But in a thin (about hundreds of kilometers) transition layer between the chromosphere and the corona, the temperature suddenly rose to millions of degrees!
Why? What warms the crown? The endless crackling sound of tiny flashes? Or is the current flowing through plasma ? Or maybe a sound-like wave (for experienced readers, let's clarify: magnetofluid dynamics )? These three assumptions have very strong supporters in the scientific community. This means no one knows for sure. The media occasionally circled this news with titles such as "Scientists finally uncover the secret of coronal heat." If this secret has not been "revealed" with enviable rules for decades, they will be even more excited.
wind knows
In any sense, another huge mystery is solar wind . It is a stream of charged particles, mainly protons and electrons, constantly flowing out of the sun. There are two types of solar wind: slow (300-400 km per second) and fast (700-800 km per second). Isn’t even the “slow” wind not that leisurely?
The solar wind does fill the solar system.Admittedly, it is very rare: there are only 5-10 solar wind particles in near-Earth space per 1 cubic centimeter . In comparison, there are more atoms in a glass of water than a glass of water in the ocean. For astronomers, a material flow is a material flow, which geophysicists will naturally call a vacuum.
The main thing we don't know about solar wind is whether we should be surprised by its existence. On the one hand, the corona is very hot, although I don't know why. Some substance escapes from it into space seems natural, like steam in a pan.
But on the other side of the scale is the huge gravity of the sun. And we don't know who should win this confrontation. There is no good equation at all to describe the flow of solar wind. And those are, solved in both directions. In other words, they describe the process of matter flowing out of stars and falling onto stars. If astronomers discover Sun 2.0, it is entirely possible that it will absorb the surrounding matter rather than spray its own matter into space.
However, this problem can be solved by adding additional energy to the solar wind. That is, assume that matter leaves the corona more than just "evaporation": something pushes it out. If we know what exactly is... what about plasma waves in the corona?
Another mystery of the solar wind is its turbulence. It does not flow in calm streams like a flat river. Instead, the plasma boils and bubbles almost like a mountain stream. Why? Probably, this has some connection to its expiration mechanism - unfortunately we don't know it yet.
restless luminescent
Astronomers also have questions about the sun's magnetic field. It is true that the fact that stars have this realm is not surprising. The magnetic field is generated by current, that is, the ordered movement of charge. Most of the luminescent bodies are not composed of neutral atoms, but are made of "bare" protons and electrons. It's worth bringing them into an ordered motion and you'll get an electric current.
Surprisingly, the sun's magnetic pole drifts so quickly that every 11 years, the North Pole and the South Pole change positions. That is to say, there is a 22-year cycle: the Arctic returns to the same place every 22 years. Why does this happen, and why is this period exactly 22 years? Of course, there are models that can answer this question, how is it possible without them. But they still have many unexplainable details.
The famous 11-year Solar activity cycle is related to the 22-year polar change cycle. Its best indicator is spots (small areas of low temperatures according to the sun's standards).
As long as the sun's magnetic pole is close to the rotation pole, the number of sunspots on our star is very small - this is the minimum value of the 11-year cycle. As the magnetic poles drift toward the equator, the number of sunspots increases. When the magnetic poles of a star are at the equator, it reaches its maximum—that is the maximum of the 11-year cycle. After crossing the equator, the magnetic pole is approaching the geographical pole again, and now it reaches the opposite pole. And the number of spots was reduced to a minimum again.
Therefore, the 11-year activity cycle is half of the 22-year polarity reversal cycle. Not only the spots of light, but also the flashes, the emission of matter into space and other phenomena obey him. What’s even more annoying is that we don’t really understand the nature of this cycle. What's more mysterious is that this cycle is not strictly regular: lows and highs are sometimes unusually deep or long.
Coronal mass ejection is one of the most impressive manifestations of solar activity
When the sun spits out
Overall, solar activity is full of secrets. Of its many manifestations, let us choose the phenomenon that may have the most significant impact on our planet. These are coronal mass ejections or CME. CME is billions of tons of plasma sprayed from the sun. They are more dense than background solar wind, but are still very thin by Earth's standards. In terms of volume, this cloud significantly exceeds the Earth and often covers it "with its head". Such "bathing" will cause magnetic storm . Therefore, CME is interested not only in astronomers who are far from the worldly concerns, but also in practitioners.
statistics show that coronal mass ejection is closely related to flare . Strong flares are often accompanied by CME and therefore with magnetic storms (which draws public attention, which is not always proportional). But what is the essence of this connection? Another mystery. Maybe the flash caused the blowout? And vice versa, is it called? Or maybe the flash and catapult are two consequences of the same cause? As usual, all three assumptions have supporters. It seems enough to look at what happened first: flashes or release of matter. But even at this point, the observations are surprisingly conflicting. Generally speaking, it seems to happen in this way and that way.
Generally speaking, no matter what you take—whether it’s the crown, the solar wind or the solar activity—the mystery will fall like a bag. The sun appears to be providing work for more than a generation of researchers.
Admittedly, it is very rare: there are only 5-10 solar wind particles in near-Earth space per 1 cubic centimeter . In comparison, there are more atoms in a glass of water than a glass of water in the ocean. For astronomers, a material flow is a material flow, which geophysicists will naturally call a vacuum.The main thing we don't know about solar wind is whether we should be surprised by its existence. On the one hand, the corona is very hot, although I don't know why. Some substance escapes from it into space seems natural, like steam in a pan.
But on the other side of the scale is the huge gravity of the sun. And we don't know who should win this confrontation. There is no good equation at all to describe the flow of solar wind. And those are, solved in both directions. In other words, they describe the process of matter flowing out of stars and falling onto stars. If astronomers discover Sun 2.0, it is entirely possible that it will absorb the surrounding matter rather than spray its own matter into space.
However, this problem can be solved by adding additional energy to the solar wind. That is, assume that matter leaves the corona more than just "evaporation": something pushes it out. If we know what exactly is... what about plasma waves in the corona?
Another mystery of the solar wind is its turbulence. It does not flow in calm streams like a flat river. Instead, the plasma boils and bubbles almost like a mountain stream. Why? Probably, this has some connection to its expiration mechanism - unfortunately we don't know it yet.
restless luminescent
Astronomers also have questions about the sun's magnetic field. It is true that the fact that stars have this realm is not surprising. The magnetic field is generated by current, that is, the ordered movement of charge. Most of the luminescent bodies are not composed of neutral atoms, but are made of "bare" protons and electrons. It's worth bringing them into an ordered motion and you'll get an electric current.
Surprisingly, the sun's magnetic pole drifts so quickly that every 11 years, the North Pole and the South Pole change positions. That is to say, there is a 22-year cycle: the Arctic returns to the same place every 22 years. Why does this happen, and why is this period exactly 22 years? Of course, there are models that can answer this question, how is it possible without them. But they still have many unexplainable details.
The famous 11-year Solar activity cycle is related to the 22-year polar change cycle. Its best indicator is spots (small areas of low temperatures according to the sun's standards).
As long as the sun's magnetic pole is close to the rotation pole, the number of sunspots on our star is very small - this is the minimum value of the 11-year cycle. As the magnetic poles drift toward the equator, the number of sunspots increases. When the magnetic poles of a star are at the equator, it reaches its maximum—that is the maximum of the 11-year cycle. After crossing the equator, the magnetic pole is approaching the geographical pole again, and now it reaches the opposite pole. And the number of spots was reduced to a minimum again.
Therefore, the 11-year activity cycle is half of the 22-year polarity reversal cycle. Not only the spots of light, but also the flashes, the emission of matter into space and other phenomena obey him. What’s even more annoying is that we don’t really understand the nature of this cycle. What's more mysterious is that this cycle is not strictly regular: lows and highs are sometimes unusually deep or long.
Coronal mass ejection is one of the most impressive manifestations of solar activity
When the sun spits out
Overall, solar activity is full of secrets. Of its many manifestations, let us choose the phenomenon that may have the most significant impact on our planet. These are coronal mass ejections or CME. CME is billions of tons of plasma sprayed from the sun. They are more dense than background solar wind, but are still very thin by Earth's standards. In terms of volume, this cloud significantly exceeds the Earth and often covers it "with its head". Such "bathing" will cause magnetic storm . Therefore, CME is interested not only in astronomers who are far from the worldly concerns, but also in practitioners.
statistics show that coronal mass ejection is closely related to flare . Strong flares are often accompanied by CME and therefore with magnetic storms (which draws public attention, which is not always proportional). But what is the essence of this connection? Another mystery. Maybe the flash caused the blowout? And vice versa, is it called? Or maybe the flash and catapult are two consequences of the same cause? As usual, all three assumptions have supporters. It seems enough to look at what happened first: flashes or release of matter. But even at this point, the observations are surprisingly conflicting. Generally speaking, it seems to happen in this way and that way.
Generally speaking, no matter what you take—whether it’s the crown, the solar wind or the solar activity—the mystery will fall like a bag. The sun appears to be providing work for more than a generation of researchers.
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