Coronal Holes

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Context

• Recently, a phenomenon called "coronal holes" was spotted on the sun by NASA.

About

• Coronal holes are areas in the Sun's atmosphere that appear dark in X-ray and ultraviolet images of the Sun.
• The plasma (electrified gas) in these regions of the Sun's corona (it's upper atmosphere) is coolerand denser than in other parts of the corona.
• They appear dark because plasma particles can escape along the magnetic field from the solar surface into interplanetary space, leaving a ‘hole’ in the corona.
• The escaping particles form high-speed solar wind streams that can eventually hit Earth, causing geomagnetic storms.
• The appearance and location of these holes on the Sun vary in dependence on solar activity, giving us also important information on the long-term evolution of the Sun.
• In Coronal Holes, the magnetic field is open to interplanetary space, sending solar material out in a high-speed stream of solar wind. Coronal holes can last between a few weeks to months.
• ‘Coronal holes’ are important to understanding the space environment around the earth through which our technology and astronauts travel.

 

Read:

 https://www.iasgyan.in/daily-current-affairs/geomagnetic-storm

https://www.iasgyan.in/daily-current-affairs/solar-flares

https://www.iasgyan.in/blogs/solar-cycle

https://www.iasgyan.in/daily-current-affairs/muse-and-helioswarm

 

https://indianexpress.com/article/explained/explained-sci-tech/why-the-sun-was-smiling-in-an-image-shared-by-nasa-8243451/#:~:text=What%20are%20coronal%20holes%3F,much%20darker%20than%20their%20surroundings.