Aditya-L1 Unlocks Solar Corona's Heat Mystery

Scientists have long been puzzled by the Sun's corona, its outer atmosphere, being millions of degrees Celsius hotter than its surface. New findings from India's Aditya-L1 solar observation mission are providing critical insights into this enduring mystery. The corona's temperature can reach up to 2 million degrees Celsius, or even 40 million degrees Celsius, a stark contrast to the 5,500 degrees Celsius surface temperature.

These extreme temperatures are linked to powerful solar events like coronal mass ejections (CMEs). While these CMEs cause beautiful auroras, they can also trigger geomagnetic storms, posing risks to Earth's power grids and satellites. These events can significantly affect weather and communication systems.

Despite the Sun losing vast amounts of energy through frequent CMEs, its corona maintains its high temperature. This suggests a hidden mechanism at play, which researchers are now working to fully understand. The Aditya-L1 mission's data is instrumental in unraveling how the Sun replenishes this lost energy to sustain its superheated atmosphere.