![]() Scientists have long believed that the sun's plasma generates high-energy particles. The sun and other stars' outer atmosphere consist of particles in a plasma state, a highly turbulent state distinct from liquid, gas, and solid states. In their paper, "Ion and Electron Acceleration in Fully Kinetic Plasma Turbulence," Comisso and Sironi demonstrate that magnetic fields in the outer atmosphere of the sun can accelerate ions and electrons up to velocities close to the speed of light. Within the next couple of years, he added, NASA's Parker Solar Probe, the closest spacecraft to the sun, may be able to validate the paper's findings by directly observing the predicted distribution of high-energy particles that are generated in the sun's outer atmosphere. "This exciting new research will allow us to better predict the origin of solar energetic particles and improve forecasting models of space weather events, a key goal of NASA and other space agencies and governments around the globe," Comisso said. This new research paves the way for more accurate predictions of when dangerous bursts of these particles will occur. This week, in a paper in The Astrophysical Journal Letters, authors Luca Comisso and Lorenzo Sironi of Columbia's Department of Astronomy and the Astrophysics Laboratory, have for the first time used supercomputers to simulate when and how high-energy particles are born in turbulent environments like that on the atmosphere of the sun.
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