Mysterious ripples in the sun’s plasma have gone unexplained for decades, but they may be caused by strange beams of high-energy electrons fired inward by solar flares
Ropes of plasma can extend from the sun’s hot, thin corona during a solar flare
ESA/NASA/SOHO
We may finally know what causes sunquakes. The cause of these strange rumbles within the sun has divided solar physicists for decades, but a new study has found that they may come from beams of high-energy electrons burrowing through the outer layers of the sun.
Sunquakes are waves in the sun’s photosphere – the surface from which its light shines – that ripple across the star like the waves from a pebble tossed in a lake. They are usually associated with …
