We all know that the Sun is about 1.4 million kilometers wide, and it is a massive ball of plasma that’s placed at the center of our solar system. We have been studying it for quite a while now, and we’re even sending back probes to touch. However, there’s an intriguing aspect of the Sun: how can its magnetic field influence the entire solar system? Scientists from the University of Wisconsin-Madison wanted to understand this process, so they build their own “mini-sun.”
This mini-sun is represented in the journal Nature Physics, which appeared on the 29th of July. It is millions of times smaller than the Sun, and it is just 3 meters wide. It kind of looks like a human brain that has steel and wires. They have nicknamed it the Big Red Ball. They pump helium gas – which is also found in our Sun, and then they turn it into plasma. A magnet that’s placed at the center of the ball creates a magnetic field, a moment in which the team applies an electric current to the machine. This process shows how the real Sun’s plasma and magnetic fields usually operate.
Many satellite missions have shown pretty well where the fast wind comes from, as said by the lead author on the study, named Ethan Peterson. He also said that they were trying to study, especially how the slow solar wind is generated and how it actually evolves when it comes towards the Earth.
They focused on the solar wind, and they have seen particles that stream out from the Sun and go into the solar system. In the ball, they were able even to recreate the Parker Spiral, which is the magnetic field that twists out on the solar system as a whole.
Andre Blair s is the lead editor for . He holds a B.A. in Psychology from the University of Toronto, and a Master of Science in Public Health (M.S.P.H.) from the School of Public Health, Department of Health Administration, at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Andre specializes in environmental health, but writes on a variety of issues.