Auroras and thin current sheets in space
Wednesday, August 1, 2012 - 12:03
in Astronomy & Space
Around Earth, the processes accelerating electrons which hit the atmosphere and cause beautiful auroras are often initiated in thin current sheets. Similar processes, auroras and thin current sheets are found around other planets such as Jupiter and Saturn. Plasma regions close to the hot solar surface are separated by thin current sheets, and similar boundaries should also be common around distant stars.