Science

Solar Orbiter: 'World-leading' UK scientists will help unravel the mysteries of the Sun


Dr Fludra said SPICE will then observe spectra in extreme ultraviolet wavelengths to measure the temperatures and speeds of plasma in the Sun’s atmosphere.

SPICE is also equipped to study the composition of the plasma and will detect heavier elements formed at temperatures ranging between 17,540 to 17 million degrees Fahrenheit (100,000 to 10 million degrees Kelvin).

In the long-run, studying these phenomena will help scientists on Earth better understand and predict the effects of space weather events such as solar storms and CMEs.

According to Dr Fludra, how these processes operate has been one of the big questions “since the start of the space age”.

Dr Fludra said: “Once we understand how these mass ejections are originated, how they travel, also how the solar winds behave and, better still, how phenomena on the Sun are actually launched.

“Once the science is understood it will be helpful to the space weather community to inform them and impart that knowledge to them, so they can then make better predictions of these space weather events.”



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