New insights into the Sun's corona emerge from the first successful detailed magnetic field measurements – crucial for understanding solar eruptions
The Sun’s corona, its outermost atmospheric layer, holds the key to understanding solar activity, including phenomena like solar flares and space weather events. For decades, scientists have grappled with the challenge of measuring the Sun’s coronal magnetic field, as this field drives much of the energy that leads to solar eruptions. Now, in a groundbreaking achievement, Professor Tian Hui's research team from Peking University, in collaboration with international experts, has made the first conventional measurements of the global coronal magnetic field. Their findings, published in the journal Science (Volume 386, No 6717), offer new insights into the Sun’s magnetic activity over a period of eight months. The Sun’s magnetic field is responsible for storing and releasing energy, which heats the plasma in the corona and triggers solar eruptions. These eruptions, in turn, can have significant impacts on space weather, potentially affecting satellite operations, GPS systems, and