Big solar blowouts hold clue to space weather

[Waspie_Dwarf]

Big solar blowouts hold a clue to space weather

Solar jets are ejections from the surface of the Sun, where 1-10 tonnes of hot material are expelled at speeds of up to 1000 kilometres per second. Using space based observatories like Hinode and STEREO, solar physicists have recently discovered a new type of jet known as 'blowout' jets, which seem to be like the Coronal Mass Ejections (CMEs) that can disrupt the magnetic field of the Earth, but on a much smaller scale.

Now a St Andrews scientist, Dr Eon Jui Lee, has created a 3D model of these events for the first time, with compelling computer-generated simulations that match the jets' appearance from space. He will present his work at the National Astronomy Meeting (NAM 2014) in Portsmouth from 23-26 June.

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