Solving a mystery of the Sun's corona
Monday, February 4, 2013 - 08:00
in Astronomy & Space
(Phys.org)—The corona of the sun is the hot (over a million kelvin), gaseous outer region of its atmosphere. The corona is threaded by intense magnetic fields that extend upwards from the surface in braids that are twisted and sheared by the convective stirrings of the underlying dense atmosphere. Understanding the corona and its physical processes is essential to the development of a long-range space weather prediction capability.