On March 11, NASA deployed Polarimeter to Unify the Corona and Heliosphere, or Punch for friends. Three months later, the mission finally produced its first scientific data – and they are breathtaking.
To re -situate the context, Punch is A set of four satellites Perched on a polar heliosynchronous orbit approximately 650 kilometers from the surface. Together, they are able to capture very detailed images of a wide variety of phenomena associated with solar weather. Their instruments are particularly gifted to record the activity of the crown and the dynamics of the solar wind – a phenomenon very difficult to observe.
But the main innovation of these four probes is that they have a field of Extremely extensive vision. It covers a large portion of the sky, far beyond the observation capacities of all current coronographers such as LASCO. The latter is one of the most efficient instruments in the world when it comes to capturing this kind of phenomenon; But it is also very old, and its optics cover only a much narrower region in comparison.
A first series of breathtaking images
In practice, this means that Punch can follow the propagation of many phenomena of solar origin over a very long distance, with an excellent resolution. And to realize it, just look at the public images of the mission, which were presented during the 246th meeting of the American Astronomical Society and spotted by Sciencealert.
« I would like to draw your attention to the white circle near the center of the field of vision. This circle represents the field of vision of LASCO, the largest coronograph currently used to provide space weather “Said Craig Deforest, astrophysicist and co-author of this work, during his conference. A very eloquent detail that makes it possible to achieve The enormous difference that exists between the performance of the two devices.
A new look at the CMEs
The Deforest team used this huge field of vision to reveal a whole new perspective on a very important phenomenon of solar dynamics: Coronal mass ejectionsor CME (pour Coronal Mass Ejection). These are events that occur when the magnetic field lines of our star intertwine, break and reconnect.
This process releases an immense amount of energy which literally tears up material belonging to the crown of the star; We are therefore witnessing the ejection of a very large number of loaded particles. The latter are grouped in the form of a huge plasma bubble, the mass of which can reach several billions of tonnes.
Depending on their point of origin, these CMEs can sometimes go straight to earth. If necessary, they then appear to us in the form of a halo, a kind of halo which seems to grow around the sun while the equipment approaches our planet several hundred kilometers per second. And this is precisely what Punch managed to capture.
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« This coronal ejection halo is something that you have never seen before “Explique deforest. « If you follow the scientific press, you’ve probably already seen films on coronal ejection halos. But you’ve never seen 30 or 40 degrees of the sun … Here you see something that literally sweeps the whole sky of the internal solar system approaching the earth “Insists the researcher.
And the icing on the cake is that it is only a start. The four probes have not yet reached their final positions, and the process of calibration of the instruments is not quite finished. This means that in a few months, Punch will be able to produce even more precise images. The latter will be incredibly precious for researchers who study the dynamics of the sun and its influence on other celestial bodies, starting with the earth.
Monitor the sun, more than a question of science
We know that CMEs can have a very concrete impact on our planet. When these gigantic plasma bubbles go towards the earth, they end up colliding with its magnetic field, which behaves like a shield against these charged particles. This impact transfers part of the energy of the CME to the magnetosphere, thus causing what is called a geomagnetic storm.
The weakest have no noticeable effect, with the exception of some beautiful dawn. But beyond a certain threshold, these phenomena can also have much more boring consequences, such as disturbances in navigation and communication systems. In the most extreme cases, these storms can generate a significant electric current in conductive materials.
And it’s a big, big problem. In practice, this means that solar eruptions, and especially the most violent CMEs, are very dangerous for certain key elements of our technological ecosystemstarting with satellites that evolve in an area more exposed to particles from space. In other words, exceptionally violent CMEs represent a leading threat to our civilizationas evidenced by the famous example of the Carrington event.
Beyond pure solar science, we therefore also have a practical and very concrete reason to monitor the whims of the sun. Thanks to Punch, we now have a new very effective tool for achieving it, and we are already looking forward to discovering the superb images that he will probably report during his two -year mission.
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