NASA SDO: Electromagnetic 'Twisted rope' clue to dangerous solar storms

Model of the magnetic field in the region where occurred a major flare on December 13th 2006. 

This model has been obtained using magnetic field data obtained at the surface of the Sun by the satellite HINODE and the high resolution model MESHMHD few hours before the eruption. 

It shows that a magnetic rope (grey) is maintained in equilibrium by overlaying arcades (orange). 

Credit: Tahar Amari /Centre de physique théorique.CNRS-Ecole Polytechnique.FRANCE.

A "twisted rope" of magnetically-charged energy precedes solar storms that have the potential to damage satellites and electricity grids, French scientists said on Wednesday.

A cord of magnetic flux emerges on the Sun's surface, grows and is squeezed upwards, and the following day, the star unleashes a blast of radiation, high-energy particles and magnetised plasma.

Solar outbursts are considered a rare but increasingly worrisome risk for satellites, global positioning systems (GPS) and power grids on which modern life depends.

Reporting in the journal Nature, a team led by Tahar Amari of France's National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS) looked at a solar storm that brewed in December 2006 and happened to be observed by a Japanese scientific satellite.

"We were able to identify the source of the eruption four days before it developed," Amari said to reporters.

"The magnetic field builds up in the shape of a twisted rope. The ends of the rope are anchored in sunspots," he said, referring to notoriously magnetised features on the solar surface.

Experts say solar storms can cause widespread breakdowns, disabling everything from power and radio to GPS geo-location and water supplies which rely on electrical pumps.

View of typical solar eruption using data from the NASA Solar Dynamic Observatory space mission. 

The Earth has been shown to show the gigantic size of the phenomena 

Credit: Tahar Amari /Centre de physique théorique.CNRS-Ecole Polytechnique.FRANCE

They begin with an explosion on the Sun's surface, known as a solar flare, sending X-rays and extreme ultra-violet radiation towards Earth at light speed.

Hours later, energetic particles follow and these electrons and protons can electrify satellites and damage their electronics.

Next are coronal mass ejections (CME), billion-tonne clouds of magnetised plasma that take a day or more to cross the Sun-Earth gap.

A solar storm in 1859 caused an electrical surge on telegraph lines that prompted some offices to catch fire and operators to receive shocks. A 1989 event caused power outages for five million people in the Canadian province of Quebec.

A 2009 report by a panel of scientists assembled by NASA warned that a catastrophic solar storm could cost the United States alone up to two trillion dollars (1.6 trillion euros) in repairs in the first year, and it could take up to 10 years to fully recover.

Predicting when these events will take place, and if Earth lies in their path, has been thwart with problems.

Eruption of the magnetic rope in the dynamic model METEOSOL after its departure from equilibrium 

Credit: Tahar Amari /Centre de physique théorique.CNRS-Ecole Polytechnique.FRANCE

On July 23, 2012, Earth narrowly missed the biggest storm in 150 years, an event big enough to "knock modern civilisation back to the 18th century," yet few humans were even aware of the peril, NASA said last July.

At present, Earth gets a few hours' warning of a solar eruption thanks to the eyes of orbiting US satellites.

But, said Amari, warning time should eventually improve.

"The work will help us fine tune knowledge about impending solar eruptions," he said.

"Using real-time magnetic data and mathematical models, it will eventually be possible to predict space weather."

More information: Characterizing and predicting the magnetic environment leading to solar eruptions, Nature, dx.doi.org/10.1038/nature13815

ESA XMM-Newton: Inexplicable signal provides clue about dark matter

A sketch (not to scale) showing axions (blue) streaming out from the Sun, converting in the Earth's magnetic field (red) into X-rays (orange), which are then detected by the XMM-Newton observatory. 

Credit: University of Leicester

Cutting-edge paper by Professor George Fraser, who tragically died in March this year,and colleagues at the University of Leicester provides first potential indication of direct detection of Dark Matter, something that has been a mystery in physics for over 30 years.

Space scientists at the University of Leicester have detected a curious signal in the X-ray sky – one that provides a tantalising insight into the nature of mysterious Dark Matter.

The Leicester team has found what appears to be a signature of 'axions', predicted 'Dark Matter' particle candidates, something that has been a puzzle to science for years.

In a study being published on Monday 20 October in the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, the University of Leicester scientists describe their finding of a signal which has no conventional explanation.

As first author Professor George Fraser, who sadly died in March of this year, wrote: "The direct detection of dark matter has preoccupied physics for over thirty years."

Dark Matter, a kind of invisible mass of unknown origin, cannot be seen directly with telescopes, but is instead inferred from its gravitational effects on ordinary matter and on light.

Dark Matter is believed to make up 85% of the matter of the Universe.

"The X-ray background, the sky, after the bright X-ray sources are removed - appears to be unchanged whenever you look at it," explained Dr. Andy Read, also from the University of Leicester Department of Physics and Astronomy and now leading the paper.

"However, we have discovered a seasonal signal in this X-ray background, which has no conventional explanation, but is consistent with the discovery of axions."

This result was found through an extensive study of almost the entire archive of data from the European Space Agency's X-ray observatory, XMM-Newton, which will celebrate its 15th year in orbit this December.

Previous searches for axions, notably at CERN, and with other spacecraft in Earth orbit, have so far proved unsuccessful.

As Professor Fraser explains in the paper: "It appears plausible that axions, Dark Matter particle candidates, are indeed produced in the core of the Sun and do indeed convert to X-rays in the magnetic field of the Earth."

It is predicted that the X-ray signal due to axions will be greatest when looking through the sunward side of the magnetic field because this is where the field is strongest.

Dr. Read concludes: "These exciting discoveries, in George's final paper, could be truly ground-breaking, potentially opening a window to new physics, and could have huge implications, not only for our understanding of the true X-ray sky, but also for identifying the Dark Matter that dominates the mass content of the cosmos."

President of the Royal Astronomical Society Professor Martin Barstow, who is Pro-Vice-Chancellor, Head of the College of Science & Engineering and Professor of Astrophysics & Space Science at the University of Leicester said: "This is an amazing result. If confirmed, it will be first direct detection and identification of the elusive dark matter particles and will have a fundamental impact on our theories of the Universe."

More information: "Potential solar axion signatures in X-ray observations with the XMM-Newton observatory," G. W. Fraser, A. M. Read, S. Sembay, J. A. Carter, E. Schyns, Accepted (08/09/14) for publication in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society (mnras.oxfordjournals.org/), Paper can be found on arXiv : arxiv.org/abs/1403.2436.

Titan: Clue to 'Magic Island' mystery on Saturn moon

The bright feature shown in the image was spotted in images from July last year, but a few days later it had vanished

Scientists have outlined their best explanations for a mysterious feature dubbed the "magic island", which has been spotted on Saturn's moon Titan.

The Cassini spacecraft captured the "island" during a flyby, but it had vanished by the time of the next pass.

The bright splodge is seen in Ligeia Mare, one of the seas of methane and ethane found at Titan's north pole.

Icebergs, waves and gas bubbling up from the sea bed are all possibilities, the scientists say.

The study by an international team has been published in the journal Nature Geoscience.

Ligeia Mare is the second largest body of liquid on the saturnian moon

Saturn's largest moon shares much in common with Earth, such as a substantial atmosphere and a seasonal cycle. Wind and rain shape the surface to form river channels, seas, dunes and shorelines.

Titan's mountains and dune fields are made of ice, rather than rock or sand, and liquid hydrocarbons take many of the roles played by water on Earth.

The seas and lakes peppering the moon's north polar region are filled with methane and ethane. These are gases on Earth, but at typical Titan temperatures of -180C, they exist in a liquid state.

Titan, seen here with Tethys in the background, is shrouded in an orange haze of organic chemicals

• Titan is Saturn's largest moon and the second biggest in the Solar System
• It is the only moon in the Solar System with clouds and a substantial atmosphere
• Wind and rain create similar features to those found on Earth, such as dunes, lakes and rivers
• But on Titan it rains liquid methane, filling the rivers, lakes and seas with hydrocarbons

The bright feature was spotted in pictures from a Cassini flyby of Titan on 10 July 2013. The "island" is absent in imagery of Ligeia Mare taken on three previous flybys.

By the time of the next pass of Titan, on 26 July, the feature had vanished, and was not visible in two subsequent flybys.

"'Magic island' is a colloquial term that we use within the team to refer to this. But we don't actually think it's an island," co-author Jason Hofgartner told reporters.

The feature appears and disappears too quickly to be a volcanic islet. So the team were left with a handful of potential explanations.

Titan's lakes and seas are thought to be filled with a mixture of liquid methane and ethane

Mr Hofgartner, who is based at Cornell University in New York, explained: "We have four different hypotheses that are all equally preferred. In no particular order they are: waves, rising bubbles, floating solids and suspended solids."

Titan operates on a 30-year seasonal cycle, and the moon's northern region is expected to become a more dynamic place as Titan approaches its summer solstice in May 2017.

"Right now, Titan is basically half way between the vernal equinox (August 2009) - at the beginning of spring - and the summer solstice, the start of summer. It's roughly equivalent to what we would consider the beginning of May," said Mr Hofgartner.

"As Titan approaches its summer, more of the Sun's energy is being deposited in the northern hemisphere."

Winds will get stronger, causing an increase in waves, which are one potential explanation for the "magic island". Researchers have already seen possible evidence for small waves on another Titan sea.