. 24/7 Space News .
SOLAR SCIENCE
Secrets behind sunquakes could lurk beneath the solar surface
by Mara Johnson-Groh for GSFC News
Greenbelt MD (SPX) Jan 06, 2021

Earthquake-like waves that ripple through our star. Left frame shows the active region in visible light (amber) and extreme ultraviolet (red) on July 30, 2011. Right frame shows the ripples on Sun�s outlying surface up to 42 minutes after the onset of the flare, which is marked by the label "IP" for impulsive flare. Click here for a Movie of a sunquake

A secret behind the workings of sunquakes - seismic activity on the Sun during solar flares - might be hidden beneath the solar surface.

These earthquake-like events release acoustic energy in the form of waves that ripple along the Sun's surface, like waves on a lake, in the minutes following a solar flare - an outburst of light, energy, and material seen in the Sun's outer atmosphere.

Scientists have long suspected that sunquakes are driven by magnetic forces or heating of the outer atmosphere, where the flare occurs. These waves were thought to dive down through the Sun's surface and deep into its interior. But new results, using data from NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory, have found something different.

In July 2011, SDO observed a sunquake with unusually sharp ripples emanating from a moderately strong solar flare. Scientists were able to track the waves that caused these ripples back to their source, using a technique called helioseismic holography.

This technique, which used SDO's Helioseismic and Magnetic Imager to measure how the solar surface was moving, has previously been used to track acoustic waves from a variety of other sources in the Sun.

Instead of the waves traveling into the Sun from above, the scientists saw the surface ripples of a sunquake emerging from deep beneath the solar surface right after a flare occurred. The results, published in the journal Astrophysical Journal Letters, found the acoustic source was around 700 miles below the surface of the Sun - not above the surface as previously was thought.

The scientists believe that these waves were driven by a submerged source, which was in turn somehow triggered by the solar flare in the atmosphere above. The new findings might help explain a long-standing mystery about sunquakes: why some of their characteristics look remarkably different from the flares that trigger them.

The scientists still haven't identified exactly what mechanism actually causes sunquakes, though the results do provide the clue that their origins likely lurk beneath the surface. The scientists plan to continue searching for a mechanism by looking at other sunquakes to see if they have similarly submerged sources.


Related Links
Solar Dynamics Observatory
Solar Science News at SpaceDaily


Thanks for being there;
We need your help. The SpaceDaily news network continues to grow but revenues have never been harder to maintain.

With the rise of Ad Blockers, and Facebook - our traditional revenue sources via quality network advertising continues to decline. And unlike so many other news sites, we don't have a paywall - with those annoying usernames and passwords.

Our news coverage takes time and effort to publish 365 days a year.

If you find our news sites informative and useful then please consider becoming a regular supporter or for now make a one off contribution.
SpaceDaily Monthly Supporter
$5+ Billed Monthly


paypal only
SpaceDaily Contributor
$5 Billed Once


credit card or paypal


SOLAR SCIENCE
NASA Approves Heliophysics Missions to Explore Sun, Earth's Aurora
Greenbelt MD (SPX) Dec 30, 2020
NASA has approved two heliophysics missions to explore the Sun and the system that drives space weather near Earth. Together, NASA's contribution to the Extreme Ultraviolet High-Throughput Spectroscopic Telescope Epsilon Mission, or EUVST, and the Electrojet Zeeman Imaging Explorer, or EZIE, will help us understand the Sun and Earth as an interconnected system. Understanding the physics that drive the solar wind and solar explosions - including solar flares and coronal mass ejections - could one d ... read more

Comment using your Disqus, Facebook, Google or Twitter login.



Share this article via these popular social media networks
del.icio.usdel.icio.us DiggDigg RedditReddit GoogleGoogle

SOLAR SCIENCE
NASA Extends Exploration for Two Planetary Science Missions

NASA prepares Orion simulator for lunar mission training

European Gateway module to be built in France as Thomas Pesquet readies for second spaceflight

NASA explores upper limits of global navigation systems for Artemis

SOLAR SCIENCE
SpaceX Dragon capsule to make first of its kind science splashdown

SpaceX launches Turkish satellite from Florida

SpaceX, L3Harris pursue hypersonic missile defense system

SLS proceeding with Green Run Hot Fire

SOLAR SCIENCE
Frosty scenes in martian summer

Seven things to know about the NASA rover about to land on Mars

China Focus: 400 mln km within 163 days, China's Mars probe heads for red planet

Tianwen 1 robotic probe to enter Mars orbit in Feb

SOLAR SCIENCE
Chinese space enterprise gears up for record-breaking 40-plus launches in 2021

China's space achievements out of this world

China's Chang'e-5 orbiter embarks on new mission to gravitationally stable spot at L1

China plans to launch four manned spacecraft in next two years

SOLAR SCIENCE
NASA, FAA Partnership Bolsters American Commercial Space Activities

Orbit Logic Leverages Blockchain for Constellation Communication over Dynamic Networks

Airbus signs multi-satellite contract with Intelsat for OneSat flexible satellites

New funding for innovative space tech to help solve problems on Earth

SOLAR SCIENCE
Physicists observe competition between magnetic orders

EOS supports Texas Rocket Engineering Laboratory (TREL) to fuel additive manufacturing education

A good GRASP on the New Year

Autonomous in-space assembly and manufacturing moves closer to reality

SOLAR SCIENCE
Discovery boosts theory that life on Earth arose from RNA-DNA mix

Astronomers detect possible radio emission from exoplanet

Key building block for organic molecules discovered in meteorites

Device mimics life's first steps in outer space

SOLAR SCIENCE
Dark Storm on Neptune reverses direction, possibly shedding a fragment

The 'Great' Conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn

NASA's Juno Spacecraft Updates Quarter-Century Jupiter Mystery

Swedish space instrument participates in the search for life around Jupiter









The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2024 - Space Media Network. All websites are published in Australia and are solely subject to Australian law and governed by Fair Use principals for news reporting and research purposes. AFP, UPI and IANS news wire stories are copyright Agence France-Presse, United Press International and Indo-Asia News Service. ESA news reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. All articles labeled "by Staff Writers" include reports supplied to Space Media Network by industry news wires, PR agencies, corporate press officers and the like. Such articles are individually curated and edited by Space Media Network staff on the basis of the report's information value to our industry and professional readership. Advertising does not imply endorsement, agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by Space Media Network on any Web page published or hosted by Space Media Network. General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) Statement Our advertisers use various cookies and the like to deliver the best ad banner available at one time. All network advertising suppliers have GDPR policies (Legitimate Interest) that conform with EU regulations for data collection. By using our websites you consent to cookie based advertising. If you do not agree with this then you must stop using the websites from May 25, 2018. Privacy Statement. Additional information can be found here at About Us.