Scientists develop a new model for inferring density inhomogeneity in the solar corona

What is the News?

Scientists have developed a new theoretical model to quantify the inhomogeneity in the density of Solar Corona generated by the turbulence in the electrically conducting, magnetized fluid present as plasma in it.

What is Solar Corona?

The Solar Corona is the outermost part of the Sun’s atmosphere. The corona is usually hidden by the bright light of the Sun’s surface. That makes it difficult to see without using special instruments. However, the corona can be viewed during a total solar eclipse.

What is the Coronal Heating problem?

The solar corona is an extremely dynamic medium. It is well established from the last few decades that electrically conducting, magnetized fluid present as plasma which causes Magnetohydrodynamic(MHD) wave-driven turbulence plays an important role in the heating of the solar corona by millions of degrees.

However, the exact reason behind heating of the solar corona to such a high temperature is still an open question and is known as the ‘coronal heating problem’ in the solar physics community.

What causes Turbulence in the Solar Corona?

Propagation of the MHD waves in a plasma medium can cause turbulence. When the MHD-wave propagates through the medium, it carries energy and the amount of energy depends on the density inhomogeneity of the medium.

What have the scientists developed?

Scientists have developed a new approach to estimate the amount of density inhomogeneity in the solar atmosphere, which can be quantified by the density filling factor (fraction of the volume occupied by the overdense regions with respect to the entire volume of the medium).

Source: The post is based on the article “Scientists develop a new model for inferring density inhomogeneity in the solar corona” published in PIB on 5th May 2022.