United States National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) He used his supercomputers to create simulations showing the behavior of the Sun. In the impressive animation, astronomy enthusiasts can follow the intense movement of the star’s inner layers.
The simulation shows materials moving and bending in the Sun’s atmosphere due to intense motions of the inner layers. If you look closely, you’ll see that the behavior resembles an aquarium full of fish swimming on the surface, or even a pot of boiling water.
Despite the impressive images, NASA scientists emphasize that realistic simulations only allow models to observe smaller areas. This means NASA’s computer models do not yet have the capacity to create a realistic simulation that represents all aspects of the Sun’s full complexity.
Discovering the Sun Like Never Before. ??
The latest insights into the complex behavior of the Sun were obtained by NASA’s supercomputer and active Sun-observing spacecraft. These data allow researchers to investigate and analyze complex solar phenomena, resulting in a better outcome. pic.twitter.com/SDuKVfT1E8
—Diana???? (@justbeci) 22 November 2024
The 3D simulation presents some details of the Sun’s structure; Dark reds indicate the most intense flows, while light areas indicate less turbulent flows.
“Our simulations use what we call a realistic approach, which means we incorporate everything we know about solar plasma to date to reproduce the different phenomena observed on NASA space missions. Due to its complexity, we do not currently have the computational capacity to create realistic global models of the entire Sun.” said study participant and NASA member Irina Kitiashvili.
complexity of the sun
The computer models developed in the simulation represent only a small portion of the structure of the solar surface and atmosphere. Although it is not a complete model Scientists are pleased with the results because for the first time a study has managed to reproduce details of the structures of the subsurface solar layer.
To perform the simulations, the researchers used data collected by NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) probe, which launched in 2010. The Pleiades supercomputer from NASA’s Advanced Supercomputing Facility was selected to process the data and make the simulations feasible.
“The Sun continues to surprise us. We look forward to discovering what exciting events the Sun will bring,” adds Kitiashvili.
The North American space agency plans to make the closest approach to the Sun of the Parker Solar Probe probe, launched in 2018, in December 2024. The aim is to collect more data that will help answer important questions about the star.
Get up-to-date information about astronomy at TecMundo. If you wish, take the opportunity to understand what would happen if the Sun suddenly disappeared. Until next time!
Source: Tec Mundo
I’m Blaine Morgan, an experienced journalist and writer with over 8 years of experience in the tech industry. My expertise lies in writing about technology news and trends, covering everything from cutting-edge gadgets to emerging software developments. I’ve written for several leading publications including Gadget Onus where I am an author.