Supercomputer Simulations Help Scientists Decode Old Space Weather Puzzle

Scientists have long questioned why the bursts of hot gas from the sun do not cool down as fast as expected, and have now used a supercomputer to find out. Using these simulations, the team, led by University College London researchers, deduced that the solar wind stays hot for longer because of small-scale magnetic reconnection that forms in the turbulence of the solar wind. “Magnetic reconnection occurs almost spontaneously and all the time in the turbulent solar wind. “This is an incredibly exciting time to combine huge plasma simulations with the latest Solar Orbiter observations. Our understanding of reconnection and turbulence could take a major leap forward by combining our simulations with the new data from the Solar Orbiter,” Agudelo explained.