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WASHINGTON (AFP) - Two US scientists have developed a technique to take images of explosions taking place on the far side of the sun, Science magazine reports. Such space weather events are of interest to scientists as they are capable of disrupting telecommunications and power grids on Earth.
Astrophysicists at the Solar Physics Research Corp in Tucson, Arizona, have developed a technique to image explosive regions on the far side of the sun by using ripples on the sun's surface to probe its interior, Science magazine reports in its latest edition. The technique will give scientists a week's warning of bad weather in space, the report said.
The astrophysicists developed the technique with help from observations taken from the Michelson Doppler Imager on the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO). SOHO is a joint project between the European Space Agency and the US National Aeronautics and Space Administration
"This is a major breakthrough in our ability to forecast solar storms that can affect us on earth," said Morris Aizenman, of the US National Science Foundation, which funded the research.
Eruptions of hot electrically charged gas known as plasma cause explosions on the sun's surface. Modern telecommunications systems on Earth are increasingly sensitive to radiation and plasma from these events, but the explosions have until now been hidden from observers on Earth until they rotate to the side of the sun visible from earth.
To locate these explosive regions in advance, the scientists developed a technique of using ripples, caused by sound waves reverberating through the sun and out onto its surface, to image the interior.
"We've known for ten years that in theory we could make the sun transparent all the way to the far side. But we needed observations of exceptional quality." said Charles Lindsey, who developed the technique along with Douglas Braun at Solar Physics Research.
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