By Duncan Geere, Wired UK
Mathematicians at the University of Sheffield have uncovered evidence of vast magnetic vortices spinning in the atmosphere off the Sun.
[partner id="wireduk" align="right"]Spinning vortices, which bear a resemblance to tornadoes on Earth, have been spotted previously in the atmosphere of the Sun, but these smaller twisters differ because they carry energy from the convection zone below the Sun's surface to the outer atmosphere. It's thought that as many as 11,000 of the vortices could be swirling across the surface of the star at any one time.
They're surrounded by a magnetic skeleton, and comprised of plasma -- a fourth state of matter, alongside solid, liquid and gas, which is thought to account for 99 percent of the matter in the universe. The temperature of these tornadoes? A few millions of degrees kelvin.
Robertus Erdélyi, head of the Solar Physics and Space Plasma Research Centre (SP2RC) of the University of Sheffield's School of Mathematics and Statistics, said in a press release: "One of the major problems in modern astrophysics is why the atmosphere of a star, like our own Sun, is considerably hotter than its surface. Imagine, that you climb a mountain, e.g. a munro in the Scottish highlands, and it becomes hotter as you go higher and higher. Many scientists are researching how to 'heat' the atmosphere above the surface of the Sun, or any other star."
He added: "It is understood that the energy originates from below the Sun's surface, but how this massive amount of energy travels up to the solar atmosphere surrounding it is a mystery. We believe we have found evidence in the form of rotating magnetic structures -- solar tornadoes -- that channel the necessary energy in the form of magnetic waves to heat the magnetised solar plasma."
Despite being smaller than the monster tornadoes snapped by the Solar Dynamic Observatory, the magnetic vortices still stretch more than 1,600 kilometres across -- larger than Britain.
"Because of our collaborative research it looks an essential leap forward is made towards unveiling the secrets about a great and exciting problem in plasma-astrophysics and we are getting closer and closer to find a solution," Erdélyi said.
He added that he hopes that the process could be replicated here on Earth to energise plasma in tokamak, producing energy.
"If we understand how nature heats up magnetised plasmas, like in the tornadoes observed in the Sun, one day we may be able to use this process to develop the necessary technology and build devices on Earth that produce free, clean, green energy."
Source: Wired UK
Image: Model of magnetic solar tornadoes. (Wedemeyer-Bohm et al./Nature)
