BBSO tagged posts

Sun: Igniting a Solar Flare in the Corona with Lower-Atmosphere Kindling

Recent images captured by NJIT's 1.6-meter New Solar Telescope at Big Bear Solar Observatory (BBSO) have revealed the emergence of small-scale magnetic fields in the lower reaches of the corona the researchers say may be linked to the onset of a main flare. Credit: NJIT

Recent images captured by NJIT’s 1.6-meter New Solar Telescope at Big Bear Solar Observatory (BBSO) have revealed the emergence of small-scale magnetic fields in the lower reaches of the corona the researchers say may be linked to the onset of a main flare. Credit: NJIT

Scientists from NJIT’s Center for Solar-Terrestrial Research are providing some of the first detailed views of the mechanisms that may trigger solar flares, colossal releases of magnetic energy in the Sun’s corona that dispatch energized particles capable of penetrating Earth’s atmosphere within an hour and disrupting orbiting satellites and electronic communications on the ground.

Recent images captured by the university’s 1...

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From bright Flare Ribbons to Coronal Rain

The impulsive phase of the solar flare, in which most energy is released. Credit: NJIT

The impulsive phase of the solar flare, in which most energy is released. Panel (a) a snapshot of Hα + 1.0 Å image showing post-flare brightening associated with coronal rain. The white box marks the ROI where the brightenings occurred. Panel (b) the zoomed-in view of the ROI marked by the white box in panel (a). The slits, with different colors, mark where the brightenings’ cross-sectional width were measured. Panel (c) the pseudo Dopplergrams (with red corresponding to red shift) of the ROI. Panels (d–g) the normalized Hα + 1.0 Å intensity profiles along the slits and the Gaussian fits. For reference, the color of each profile is the same as the color of the slit (see panel b). The Gaussian FWHM and ±3σ are provided in the panels. Credit: NJIT

High-resolution images...

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