Coronal Holes

In News

Recently, NASA Solar Dynamics Observatory Captured dark patches on the sun’s surface resembling eyes and a smile

  • NASA explained that the patches are called coronal holes.

Image Courtesy :IE

About Coronal Hole

  • It is a patch of the Sun’s atmosphere with much lower density than elsewhere. 
  •  In ultraviolet views of the Sun, coronal holes appear as dark splotches. 
  • These are regions where the Sun’s magnetic field lines are connected directly to interplanetary space, allowing solar material to  escape out in a high-speed stream of solar wind, leaving a dark “hole” near the surface of the Sun. 
  • Coronal holes appear throughout the solar cycle, but can last for much longer periods of time during solar minimums, when the Sun is less active.  
  • Importance : “These ‘coronal holes’ are important to understanding the space environment around the earth through which our technology and astronauts travel.

Source:IE