A cooperation between Northumbria University and prominent US aerospace technology company, Lockheed Martin, has brought a long-standing conundrum that has perplexed astronomers and physicists one step closer to being answered.
Even though it is the sun’s outermost region of atmosphere, the solar corona can reach temperatures that are millions of degrees hotter than the sun’s surface. It is shaped and fueled by the magnetic field of the sun, but for the past 80 years, it has been difficult to pinpoint exactly how the magnetic field passes its energy to the coronal gas.
According to one concept, the Parker nanoflare theory, which dates back to 1988, heat is produced when magnetic field lines within the corona break and recommence, leading to a brief burst of energy known as a “nanoflare.”
Researchers led by Dr Patrick Antolin of Northumbria University discovered concrete proof in 2021 that this reconnection causes “nanojets,” which are extremely quick sideways separations of reconnecting magnetic field lines. The solar corona’s high temperature may be explained by this phenomena if it occurs in the corona, which has become the telltale indication of the nanoflare theory.
Nanojets are challenging to spot and forecast, though. Seeing the process in operation has only ever happened by coincidence, and little is known about how frequently nanojets occur or how they affect coronal heating. Nanojets are challenging for devices to detect with the current available resolutions due to their small sizes and quick timelines.
Ramada Sukarmadji, a Ph.D. candidate at Northumbria University working under the guidance of Dr. Patrick Antolin, is collaborating with researchers from the Lockheed Martin Solar and Astrophysics Laboratory (LMSAL), a unit of Lockheed Martin’s Advanced Technology Centre, to create machine learning algorithms that will automatically detect and record nanojets as they happen.
Ramada is a part of the renowned Solar and Space Physics research group at Northumbria University, which works closely with more than 40 industrial partners, including Lockheed Martin, as well as UK Research and Innovation, the UK Space Agency, the European Space Agency, the UK Met Office, and more.
In the fields of magnetic reconnection and nanojets, Dr. Patrick Antolin is a recognized authority.
The NASA Interface Region Imaging Spectrograph (IRIS) and the Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) Atmospheric Imaging Assembly, both of which were designed, built, and are operated by Lockheed Martin Solar and Astrophysics Laboratory (LMSAL), will be used as examples of the nanojets that will be studied by the Northumbria University and Lockheed Martin team. To find nanojets, the IRIS team has focused many weeks of monitoring. The researchers will utilize this data to determine the distinct spectrum and intensity characteristics of the nanojet when it appears, and then use machine learning to develop algorithms for additional research.
Speaking about the study, Ramada said, Reconnection-based heating may play a significant role in explaining why the solar corona reaches such high temperatures. Ramada credited the work of his mentor Dr. Antolin and others for revealing the existence of nanojets. However, given the vast quantity of data that has been gathered for their project, they require a method of automatically recognizing nanojet occurrences since they can now only be detected by eye.
Due to their small size and scant evidence, they may exist in greater numbers than we realise. However, in order to fully comprehend them, we must be able to identify them as they happen.
Through machine learning, they can effectively “teach” a computer to recognize nanojets by examining data from previous instances of these phenomena. This will make it possible for them to record subsequent occurrences and fully advance the understanding of this phenomenon and how it affects the heating of the Corona.
Dr. Antolin remarked of working with Ramada on the nanojet project, It has been pure joy. She is a superb researcher due to her desire to learn, exceptional skill set, and outstanding eloquence. She has accomplished incredible things over the years, elevating the significance of nanojets through new, significant discoveries, in addition to helping to establish them as a key component of solar physics.
