WASHINGTON - An international spacecraft named Hinode has shot X-ray images of the sun, which show that its magnetic field is more turbulent than previously thought. Hinode was launched in September and aims to use its sophisticated instruments to study different layers of the Sun.
Scientists who examined these photographs saw that the Sun's corona had different plumes of gas rising from it and also reacting with the magnetic field. It is theorized that these interactions create instability and may be responsible for the solar storms that affect Earth.
Leon Golub, an astrophysicist at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics suggested that precious theories did indicate the presence of twisted magnetic fields, but these imaged demonstrated these theories.
"With the X-Ray Telescope, we can see them clearly for the first time.," he added. "It's going to put us in a whole new realm of understanding. Everything we thought we knew about X-ray images of the sun is out of date."
Scientists are hoping to glean knowledge on these interacting magnetic fields so they may be able to forecast space weather, which can affect satellites in the form of solar storms.
