NuSTAR Telescope Takes High-Energy X-ray of Sun - http://clapway.com/2015/07/12/nustar-telescope-takes-high-energy-x-ray-of-sun-543/

NuSTAR (Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array), a telescope used by NASA to spy on black holes, supernovas, and other high-energy objects in space, has captured an opportunity for astronomers to see and understand the high-energy X-rays in the Sun’s corona.

The Big Burning Ball of Yellow

Several of us know basic information about the sun thanks to grade school science classes, and we’d be able to take a general quiz – with stuff like what it’s made of and if we know whether it’s considered a star or not, etc. – and pass it. There are actually still many facts that scientists are learning about the sun. for instance, different parts of the sun rotate at different rates. Have you ever wondered how hot the Sun gets? Its core is about 27 millions degrees Fahrenheit. NASA has a plethora of information on the sun that some of us might not have known before.

The New X-Ray Image From the NuSTAR Telescope

Iain Hannah of the University of Glasgow, Scotland, presented the image Thursday to the Royal Astronomical Society’s National Astronomy Meeting in Wales, saying that the sun is “quieting down in its activity cycle, but still has a couple of years before it reaches a minimum.” You can see the image on NASA’s website.

What the NuSTAR Telescope Can Do For Science

Researchers are looking forward to using the NuSTAR telescope’s new images of the sun to approximate where the flares are released from, since the detailed locations are not exactly known. The NuSTAR telescope is extremely sensitive and cannot view the larger flares; however, it can still aid in measuring the energy of micoflares. Scientists are also interested in the fact that it can detect nanoflares, which are a type of flare that could possibly explain why the sun’s atmosphere is much hotter than expected. However, it is possible that the flares might give the same high-energy X-rays that the NuSTAR telescope is too sensitive to detect. Astronomer on the NuSTAR team, Brian Grefenstette, said, “What’s great about NuSTAR is that the telescope is so versatile that we can hunt black holes millions of light-years away and we can also learn something fundamental about the star in our own backyard.”

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NuSTAR Telescope Takes High-Energy X-ray of Sun

Here Comes the Sun- an X-Ray Photo Extravanganza - http://clapway.com/2015/07/09/here-comes-the-sun-an-x-ray-photo-extravanganza987/

Flaring sun resembled a kaleidoscope

Once again at the National Astronomy Meeting in Llandudno, Wales, some new exciting science research and news came up. On July 7th, the NAM released a press release on the Sun with accompanying x-rays that turned into an x-ray extravaganza.

The resulting images looks like the sun turned into a quasi-kaleidoscope, with some areas of the Sun lighting up from flare activity. According to one astronomer with the University of Glasgow, Ianin Hannah, in a press release by the Royal Astronomical Society, the activity seems to be dimming down. However, the process of dimming will still be a few years coming before it reaches its minimum activity level. Perhaps a few less heat waves? Here’s to hoping.

NuSTAR captures the Sun

NuSTAR usually observes black holes and other such things, but was used to study the Sun one day. NuSTAR’s mission is to focus light on high energy x-rays, which in this case revealed areas lit up in the images to be the work of nanoflares. This tells scientists why the Sun is so much hotter on an atmospheric level, and because these nanoflares are smaller in comparison to other things that occur on the Sun, we wouldn’t normally be able to see them were it not for the x-ray images.

But because other flares occur more visibly to telescopes than the nanoflares, detecting them with the NuSTAR was difficult. However, this particular instrument finally succeeded.

Hindrance

Since the Sun is particularly active now, as evident by the solar flares hitting Earth a few weekends ago twice in one week, circumstances make it difficult to study the smaller nanoflares. This is why the dimming down in activity is a good thing. It makes for studying the nanoflares easier without the disrupting larger solar flares getting in the way. Ironically, the Sun is near the end of the quiet session in its eleven year cycle, yet still remaining really active this year.

Once the activity cools down, researchers hope to pinpoint where and how these nanoflares are produced on the Sun. Just don’t try to spot them yourself by staring at it.

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Here Comes the Sun- an X-Ray Photo Extravanganza