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NASA’s Parker Solar Probe has directly observed magnetic reconnection on the Sun, a key process that drives powerful solar eruptions capable of disrupting technology on Earth. The breakthrough, reported in Nature Astronomy and highlighted by ScienceDaily, could enhance forecasting of space weather that threatens satellites, communications, and power grids.
Magnetic reconnection occurs when magnetic field lines in plasma snap and reconnect, releasing massive amounts of energy. While scientists have long studied this process in Earth’s magnetosphere, capturing it on the Sun required the Parker Solar Probe’s journey into the solar atmosphere. In September 2022, the probe recorded a significant solar eruption, collecting plasma and magnetic field data that confirmed the phenomenon. The European Space Agency’s Solar Orbiter provided additional observations.
“We’ve been developing the theory of magnetic reconnection for almost 70 years, so we had a basic idea of how different parameters would behave,” said Dr. Ritesh Patel, lead author of the study and research scientist at the Southwest Research Institute. “These measurements validate numerical simulation models and provide strong constraints for future studies, helping us interpret Parker Solar Probe data from other events.”
The discovery could help protect critical infrastructure and maintain communications during major solar storms. Patel noted that while reconnection has been observed in the solar corona via imaging and spectroscopy since the late 1990s, in-situ detection on the Sun became possible only with Parker Solar Probe’s 2018 launch, following similar studies of Earth’s magnetosphere using NASA’s MMS mission.
This milestone offers scientists a powerful tool to predict space weather and safeguard technology on Earth, marking a new era in solar research.
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