By seeing it edge-on, it doesn't blind the telescopes on the X-Ray Telescope aboard the solar-observing Hinode satellite, he explained. "When the flare is behind the disk it's easier to see the flare structure." Another key to confirming the tower of twisting plasma was the additional observations made by the two identical STEREO solar satellites which are a couple of million miles apart. The double images from different vantage points allowed scientists to literally untangle the lines of plasma and verify that this was, indeed, a tornado-like feature. Before the STEREO satellites went into operation in 2006 solar scientists had no depth perception when they looked at the sun. So even though twisting features were seen, they were impossible to confirm. "The situation here was dramatically improved when the information from STEREO became available," said Spiros Patsourakos, also of George Mason University. With the new observations Pariat and Patsourakos were able to compare the real solar twisters to structures they have generated in computer simulations. The nice match they have found in this case means they are beginning to get a handle on how the sun makes these flares and eruptions. That in turn ought to help in the forecasting of space weather around Earth -- which is entirely ruled by the sun. Storms of high-speed charged particles from the sun can create auroras, interfere with high latitude radio transmissions, create global electrical problems and damage satellites. Related Links: Larry O'Hanlon's blog: Earth Impacts Discovery News blog: Free Space Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics American Geophysical Union Joint Assembly |
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