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But particles in plasma move so erratically and unpredictably that they have until now not been able to fully demonstrate how and when this occurs. 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. The crack in Earth's magnetosphere also helped to generate strong green auroras throughout the night, Varik said.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. As a result, the auroras gave off a neon pink glow as the supercharged particles smashed mostly into nitrogen atoms. However, during the recent solar storm, the crack in Earth's magnetosphere enabled the solar wind to penetrate below 62 miles, where nitrogen is the most abundant gas, according to. As solar particles pass through the atmosphere, they superheat gases, which then vibrantly glow in the night sky, according to NASA (opens in new tab).Īuroras most commonly appear green, because oxygen atoms, which are abundant in the part of the atmosphere that solar wind normally reaches, emit that hue when they are excited. The planet's magnetic field protects us from cosmic radiation, but the shield is naturally weaker at the North and South Poles, which enables the solar wind to skim through the atmosphere - usually between 62 and 186 miles (100 and 300 kilometers) above Earth's surface. Auroras are formed when streams of highly energetic charged particles, known as solar wind, pass around the magnetosphere.