For the first time in history, Nasa‘s Parker solar probe Fleed through a region of the sun where the explosive magnetic forces have heard and reconnected, directly confirming a theory that scientists have debated for 70 years.
This breakthrough explains how the sun unleashes immense bursts of energy which cause sunscreen and storms powerful enough to disturb the satellites, electrical networks and communications here on earth.
Confirmation of solar theories old several decades
A team led by the Southwest Research Institute (SWRI) has provided the first direct confirmation of long -standing theories on magnetic reconnection, a powerful process that unleashes the magnetic energy stored and fuels solar flares, coronal mass ejections and other space meteorological events. The breakthrough was made possible by the NASA Parker solar probe (PSP), the only spacecraft to travel through the high atmosphere of the sun.
Magnetic reconnection takes place when the magnetic field lines inside overheating plasma Brush yourself, then connect again in a different arrangement. This sudden change releases enormous energy. On the sun, the process leads to eruptions which can fold over the solar system and interfere with technology on earth, including satellites, communications and electrical networks. The development of precise models of how reconnection works on the sun is the key to predicting these disturbing solar storms before reaching our planet.
From the earthly magnetosphere to the sun
“The reconnection works at different spatial and temporal scales, in space plasmas ranging from the sun to the terrestrial magnetosphere, including laboratory riots to cosmic scales,” said Dr. Ritsh Patel, scientific researcher in the new document of the solar system published in the science and exploration of SWRI published in a new document in the solar system published in the science of the system and SWR exploration Natural astronomy. “Since the late 1990s, we have been able to identify reconnection in the solar crown by imaging and spectroscopy. In situ detection was possible in the Earth’s magnetosphere with the launch of missions such as the multi-scale (MMS) magnetospheric of NASA.
The unprecedented proximity of the PSP with the sun opened the door to discoveries, once deemed impossible. During a narrow pass on September 6, 2022, the spacecraft encountered a massive eruption and gathered the first images and detailed measurements of plasma activity and on the magnetic field in such an event. By combining these observations with data from European Space AgencyThe solar orbit, the team led by Swri confirmed that PSP had indeed stolen through a magnetic reconnection area in the atmosphere of the sun for the first time.
Longtime models have finally validated
“We have been developing the theory of magnetic reconnection for almost 70 years, so we had a basic idea of the way different parameters would behave,” said Patel. “The measures and observations received from the meeting have validated digital simulation models that have existed for decades in a certain degree of uncertainty. The data will serve as strong constraints for future models and will provide a path to understand the solar measures of the PSP from other deadlines and events. ”
The NASA MMS mission, led by Swri, provided researchers an idea of how reconnection occurs in the environment close to the land on a smaller scale. The observations of the PSP 2022 now provide researchers with the missing part connecting the land scale to the reconnection of the solar scale. Swri will then work to identify whether the reconnection mechanisms accompanied by turbulence or fluctuations and magnetic fields are present in the solar regions that the PSP has identified as having an active reconnection.
Unlock energy transfer secrets
“The work in progress provides discoveries on different scales, which allows us to see how the energy is transferred and how the particles are accelerated,” said Patel. “Understanding these processes in the sun can help better predict solar activity and improve our understanding of the almost earthly environment.”
Reference: “Direct in situ observations of magnetic recognition associated with the eruption in the solar corona” by Ritesh Patel, Tatiana Niemmbro, Xiaoyan Xie, Daniel B. Seaton, Samuel T. Badman, Soumya Roy, Yeimy J. Rivera, Kathene K. Reeves, Guillermo Sten Burse Feller, David Orozco Suárez, Sami K. Solanki, Hanna Stacker and Gheerardo Valori, August 13, 2025, Natural astronomy.
Two: 10.1038 / S41550-025-02623-6
The Solar Parker probe is a mission of NASA designed to study the sun closely and discover how its activity shapes the environment around the earth. It is part of NASA Living With A Star Program, which focuses on the Sun-Earth system and its impact on daily life and society. The program is managed by the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland for the agency’s scientific mission management in Washington. The spaceship itself was designed and built by the Physics laboratory applied to Johns Hopkins Universitywhich also exploits and manages the mission.
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