NASA discovers a “mysterious force” that shapes the solar wind sciences

An international team of scientists led by the Southwest Research Institute in the United States was able to directly observe so-called “capture ions” in the solar wind, which are atoms of origin coming from the interstellar medium, which become active in the solar wind, allowing them to be detected and their distribution measured.

These capture ions were observed using data from the Capture Ion Observation mission, which was launched in 2015 and includes four spacecraft orbiting in a precise pyramid formation around the Earth to capture details of changes in the magnetic field and plasma at the boundary between the magnetosphere and the solar wind.

The monitoring revealed a surprising behavior of the capture ions, as scientists found evidence confirming that the capture ions are drifting through the solar wind near the Earth.

If this discovery is true, it may force scientists to review space weather models, which study the relationship between the Earth and the sun, and the latter’s effect on our atmosphere.

different ions

Capture ions are created in the heliosphere when neutral particles in the heliosphere are ionized either by solar ultraviolet radiation or by exchanging charge with protons from the wind in the heliosphere.

After this ionization, these ions are attracted by the solar wind and revolve around the local magnetic field, forming a distinct plasma pool with characteristics different from the normal solar wind plasma.

And according to the study Recently published by the Journal of Physics Research, these particles, which were previously considered secondary factors, now seem capable of generating waves that affect the heating and development of the solar wind, as they interact with the plasma, which makes them contribute to heating the solar wind and accelerating its thermal budget, and thus this will be directly reflected in space weather.

Dr. Michael Starkey from the Southwest Research Institute and leader of the research team said in a statement, a copy of which was obtained by Al Jazeera Net, “The results of our study indicate that these ions are indeed capable of generating waves in the solar wind near the Earth, which stimulates the need to conduct more statistical studies of these processes.”

“Capture ions may play a greater role in heating the solar wind near Earth than previously thought, which will have major implications for solar wind models throughout the heliosphere,” he added.

What happens near Earth?

By modeling and analyzing the components of capture ions, researchers determined that capture ions in the solar wind have effects on Earth and the solar system.

according to Statement Officially issued by the Southwest Research Institute, the research team modeled the components of the individual ions, and the researchers identified groups that may be responsible for the observed wave activity.

By modeling each component individually by studying the properties of each component individually, they found that some of the waves observed in the solar wind are mostly composed of ions generated by crystalline helium and hydrogen compounds.

But despite this progress, the team was unable to precisely determine the type of ions responsible due to the limitations of current instrumentation, prompting them to develop more sensitive instruments and expand the scope of mass spectrometry so that different types of ions within the solar wind could be distinguished with greater precision.

These improvements may help reveal how charged particles coming from the Sun interact with the Earth’s magnetic field and the surrounding heliosphere.