The Sun has disappeared somewhere … rays. We are talking about two long rays emerging from the corona of the star and dividing the heliosphere (space around the Sun) into two regions with different polarities of the magnetic field. These rays, or "whiskers", of the Sun are clearly visible precisely during the period of minimum solar activity, when the rest of the corona remains more or less even. But on Friday, astronomers did not see them
According to Corresponding Member of the Russian Academy of Sciences Viktor Grigoriev, scientists during the observation of the total solar eclipse could not see two long rays in the sun's corona. The academician says that now it is difficult to name the reason for what happened. It is necessary to analyze the material, compare the data obtained during the eclipse with those already available.
Anatoly Belov, Head of the Laboratory of Cosmic Ray Variation at the Institute of Terrestrial Magnetism, Ionosphere and Radio Wave Propagation of the Russian Academy of Sciences, discussed the issue of the disappearance of coronary rays with the correspondents of MK.
Anatoly Belov is confident in the accuracy of the observations of Siberian scientists and believes that soon they themselves will find an explanation for the absence of rays on the coronagraph. The reason for the phenomenon could be the weak density of the current sheet or some difficulties in observation through the earth's atmosphere. Observing the Sun from Earth, according to Belov, is more difficult than using a satellite.
Modern spacecraft make it possible to observe solar eclipses every day. They block the luminary with a special shutter mounted on a bracket, and transmit photographs of artificial eclipses to scientists on Earth. Anatoly Belov demonstrated this possibility by requesting data from the SOHO satellite on an eclipse dated August 3.
The above-mentioned solar "whiskers" were clearly visible in the images, however, their image differed from expected, given the minimum solar activity, which scientists are currently fixing. According to Belov, it is too early to talk about any anomaly, since scientists observe the current sheet during the absolute solar minimum for only the fourth time during the entire study. Perhaps the above behavior is normal for the Sun.