Scientists have to struggle with it for a long time[{” attribute=”” tabindex=”0″ role=”link”>NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory has uncovered a promising new sign: flickering coronal loops.
These arch-like structures in the Sun’s atmosphere show erratic brightness fluctuations just hours before a flare, potentially providing a much-needed early warning system. With the potential to predict flares with significant accuracy, this discovery could revolutionize how we protect astronauts, satellites, and power grids from hazardous space weather.
Unveiling Solar Flare Predictors
For many years scientists have struggled to accurately predict solar flares — powerful bursts of energy from the Sun that can send charged particles racing through the solar system. Now, using data from NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO), researchers have discovered flickering loops in the Sun’s atmosphere, known as the corona, that may serve as an early warning sign of an impending solar flare.
This discovery could help NASA and other organizations protect astronauts, satellites, and ground-based technology from the potentially harmful effects of space weather.
Studying Coronal Loops for Clues
The research team, led by heliophysicist Emily Mason from Predictive Sciences Inc. in San Diego, California, focused on coronal loops — arching structures that extend from the Sun’s surface. These loops form in magnetically active regions, the same areas where solar flares originate.
The team looked at coronal loops near 50 strong solar flares, analyzing how their brightness in extreme ultraviolet light varied in the hours before a flare compared to loops above non-flaring regions. Like flashing warning lights, the loops above flaring regions varied much more than those above non-flaring regions.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wfmoifcadeo
The four panels in this film show changes in brightness in coronal loops in four different wavelengths of extreme ultraviolet light (131, 171, 193 and 304 Angstroms) before a solar leak was recorded in December 2011 in December 2011. ) on the solar dynamics of the NASA and processed to reveal flickers in the coronal loops. Credit: NASA/Solar Dynamics Observatory/Jhelioviewer/e. mason
Irregular flickers: a crucial discovery
“We found that some of the extreme ultraviolet light over the active regions flicker irregularly a few hours before a delinent,” said Mason. “The results are really important to understand torches and can improve our ability to predict dangerous space weather.”
Published in the Astrophysical Journal Letters In December 2024 and January 15, 2025 at a press conference during the 245th meeting of the American Astronomical Society, the results also indicate that flickering earlier reaches a highlight for stronger torches. According to the team, however, further observations are required to confirm this link.
Other researchers have tried to predict solar torches by examining magnetic fields on the sun or looking for consistent trends in other coronal loops. However, Mason and her colleagues believe that measuring the brightness fluctuations in coronal loops could provide precise warnings than these methods – signal the oncoming torches 2 to 6 hours in advance with an accuracy of 60 to 80 percent.
Prediction of solar excavations with precision
“Many of the developed predictive schemes still predict the likelihood of torches in a certain period of time and not necessarily exactly the timing” Ohio.
“Every solar torch is like a snowflake – every single torch is unique.”
Kara Kniezewski, Air Force Institute of Technology
“The Corona of the sun is a dynamic environment, and every sunlight is like a snowflake – every single flare is unique,” said team member Kara Kniezewski, doctoral student at the Air Force Institute of Technology and Management Author of the newspaper. “We find that the search for periods of” chaotic “behavior in coronal loop emissions and not specific trends represents a much more consistent metric and can also correlate with the strong flare.”
From research to real applications
The scientists hope that their knowledge about coronal loops can finally be used to keep astronauts, spaceships, electrical networks and other assets to accompany with solar radiation, which are accompanied by solar. For example, an automated system could search for changes in brightness in coronal loops in real-time images from the solar dynamics observatory and output warnings.
“Earlier works by other researchers report about interesting prediction figures” University of Washington In DC “we were able to build on it and develop a well -tested and ideally simpler indicator that is willing to jump from research for operations.”
Reference: “The variability of the emission of 131 and 304 Å increases hours before sunrise” by Kara L. Kniezewski, Ei Mason, Vadim M. Uritsky and Seth H. Garland, December 6, 2024, The astrophysical journal letters.
Two: 10.3847/2041-8213/AD94DD