Strange Gamma Rays from the Sun May Help Decipher its Magnetic Fields (Waves Blog)

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        Chris Tyburski

         Recently, Scientists have made a shocking discovery about our sun. In the past, we have always viewed the sun as a very "sleepy" star, at times producing less light and energy than usual. However, contrary to previous ideas, scientists have observed that the sun sends out more high-energy gamma rays than usual when in a "sleepier" stage. The reasoning behind it is quite interesting.

High-Energy Gamma Rays
           It turns out that these gamma rays are not produced directly from the sun. They are actually caused by cosmic rays (protons that move through space at very high speeds). These cosmic rays collide with solar protons, which creates high-energy gamma rays. Scientists and astronomers have been able to spot these gamma rays, but never really understood how they were created. What didn't add up about these discoveries is that the gamma rays, in theory, should not be able to escape the sun.


Illustration of cosmic rays colliding with the Earth's atmosphere.
      The reason the gamma rays are able to escape is because of the Sun's magnetic field. The magnetic field spins the gamma rays around, helping them gain enough speed to leave the sun. The reason this discovery is important to us is because scientists have been trying to understand the sun's magnetic field for a long time, so now is is possible to study the field using gamma rays.
Depiction of the Sun's magnetic field
        So far, however, we have not dived very deep into this discovery. I believe the future will be scientists figuring more and more about the Sun's magnetic field and how it works. One might ask, "why do we need to know about the magnetic field?". The reason is because we can more successfully plan for satellite launches and space imaging, and not waste time and money guessing about the best possible time to do so.


https://www.sciencenews.org/article/strange-gamma-rays-sun-magnetic-fields
https://www.space.com/22393-sun-magnetic-field-explained-infographic.html

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