Hundreds of tornadoes on the sun tens of thousands of miles wide could blast hot plasma towards Earth and knock out entire power grids
- Experts analysed data from Nasa' Solar Dynamics Observatory from 2011
- They identified 361 tornadoes and were able to follow the collapse of 166
- Large filaments of energy called prominences may become unstable
- This can fling hot clouds of electrically charged particles out into the universe
- This is a process known as coronal mass ejection and can cause havoc on Earth
- A CME is more likely to occur 1 to 3 days after a tornado first forms, they say
The sun is home to mega-tornadoes that could cause havoc on Earth.
Researchers have studied hundreds of these solar tornadoes made of searing clouds of electrically charged particles in an effort to better understand them.
The twisters tens of thousands of miles (km) wide threaten to wreak havoc here on Earth by ejecting plumes of hot plasma out into the universe.
The collapse of these tornadoes can create coronal mass ejections, which have the power to knock out satellites and even entire power grids.
Now, experts say they have a better understanding of how this process occurs and can predict how long it will take for a mass ejection to form.
They say this is more likely to happen within one to three days of a solar tornado first forming.
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Tornadoes made of searing clouds of electrically charged particles batter the surface of the sun (pictured). Hundreds of the twisters tens of thousands of miles wide threaten to wreak havoc here on Earth by ejecting plumes of hot plasma out into the universe
Experts at the Space Research Institute of the Austrian Academy of Sciences in Vienna analysed data from Nasa' Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO), according to an in-depth report by Leah Crane in New Scientist.
They identified 361 tornadoes among data recorded in 2011, and were able to follow 166 of which they until they dissipated.
Solar prominences - large, bright features extending outward from the sun's surface, can become unbalanced when this happens, particularly when the collapse of the tornado is particularly violent.
This can fling plasma, intensely hot clouds of electrically charged particles, out into the universe in what’s known as a coronal mass ejection (CME).
These can damage satellites and have an enormous financial cost.
The charged particles can also threaten airlines by disturbing Earth's magnetic field.
Very large flares can even create currents within electricity grids and knock out energy supplies.
When Coronal Mass Ejections strike Earth they cause geomagnetic storms and enhanced aurora.
They can disrupt radio waves, GPS coordinates and overload electrical systems.
A large influx of energy could flow into high voltage power grids and permanently damage transformers.
This could shut off businesses and homes around the world.
The collapse of these tornadoes can create coronal mass ejections (CME), which have the power to knock out satellites and even entire power grids. This image of a CME was taken using Nasa's Soho Lasco instrument in 2000
Lead researcher Teimuraz Zaqarashvili told Live Science: 'The instability in the tornadoes really destabilises the entire prominence.
'When a CME hits the Earth’s magnetosphere, it generates magnetic storms, and this may affect satellites, telecommunication systems, and even human health.
'So it is very important to predict CMEs, and that can be done by looking to the tornadoes.'
Tornadoes may cause CMEs by storing and then releasing magnetic energy, researchers told New Scientist.
Much like here on Earth, their shape is likely formed by twisting magnetic fields.
When these twists become too large, the tornadoes become unstable and collapses.
Experts at the at the Space Research Institute of the Austrian Academy of Sciences in Vienna analysed data from Nasa' Solar Dynamics Observatory (artist's impresion), a Nasa mission that has been observing the sun since 2010
WHAT IS NASA'S SOLAR DYNAMICS OBSERVATORY SATELLITE?
The Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) is a Nasa mission that has been observing the sun since 2010.
Its ultra-HD cameras convert different wavelengths of light into an image humans can see, and the light is then colourised into a rainbow of colours.
The satellite launched on February 11, 2010, from Cape Canaveral.
The SDO contains a suite of instruments that provide observations that will lead to a more complete understanding of the solar dynamics that drive variability in the Earth's environment.
One of the many incredible images the SDO has provided
Among the tasks this set of instruments can achieve is measure ultraviolet light, variances in the sun's magnetic filed, take images of the chromosphere and inner corona and capture solar variations that may exist in different time periods of a solar cycle.
It does so, using three separate pieces of equipment: the Helioseismic and Magnetic Imager; Atmospheric Imaging Assembly; and Extreme Ultraviolet Variability Experiment.
Science Teams receive this data, which they then process, analyse, archive, and release to the public.
This causes them to release their stored energy into the prominence of which it is part, causing them to erupt.
Experts found that 48 per cent of the tornadoes they observed caused triggered this eruption, 50 per cent caused instability but no CME and two per cent resulted in no changes.
The lifetime of the observed tornadoes ranged from seven to 398 hours, with tornadoes causing CMEs lasting around 25 to 75 hours.
Experts say that means a CME is more likely to occur one to three days after a tornado first forms.
The full findings have been published on the pre-print server Arxiv and are awaiting peer review.
SOLAR STORMS PRESENT A CLEAR DANGER TO ASTRONAUTS AND CAN DAMAGE SATELLITES
Solar storms, or solar activity, can be divided into four main components that can have impacts on Earth:
- Solar flares: A large explosion in the sun's atmosphere. These flares are made of photons that travel out directly from the flare site. Solar flares impact Earth only when they occur on the side of the sun facing Earth.
- Coronal Mass Ejections (CME's): Large clouds of plasma and magnetic field that erupt from the sun. These clouds can erupt in any direction, and then continue on in that direction, plowing through solar wind. These clouds only cause impacts to Earth when they're aimed at Earth.
- High-speed solar wind streams: These come from coronal holes on the sun, which form anywhere on the sun and usually only when they are closer to the solar equator do the winds impact Earth.
- Solar energetic particles: High-energy charged particles thought to be released primarily by shocks formed at the front of coronal mass ejections and solar flares. When a CME cloud plows through solar wind, solar energetic particles can be produced and because they are charged, they follow the magnetic field lines between the Sun and Earth. Only charged particles that follow magnetic field lines that intersect Earth will have an impact.
While these may seem dangerous, astronauts are not in immediate danger of these phenomena because of the relatively low orbit of manned missions.
However, they do have to be concerned about cumulative exposure during space walks.
This photo shows the sun's coronal holes in an x-ray image. The outer solar atmosphere, the corona, is structured by strong magnetic fields, which when closed can cause the atmosphere to suddenly and violently release bubbles or tongues of gas and magnetic fields called coronal mass ejections
The damage caused by solar storms
Solar flares can damage satellites and have an enormous financial cost.
The charged particles can also threaten airlines by disturbing Earth's magnetic field.
Very large flares can even create currents within electricity grids and knock out energy supplies.
When Coronal Mass Ejections strike Earth they cause geomagnetic storms and enhanced aurora.
They can disrupt radio waves, GPS coordinates and overload electrical systems.
A large influx of energy could flow into high voltage power grids and permanently damage transformers.
This could shut off businesses and homes around the world.
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