ScienceSpace

Scientists Have Found Rain On Sun But How’s That Even Possible?

Okay! You may not know this but it rains on the Sun. No, this is not some crazy theory and nor I am high. Obviously, the components of the rain on the sun are not water. The giant ball of gases that is sun has temperatures ranging in billions of degrees. So, water is not even a question. Then, what is it? Let’s unravel the mystery.

As you know, the sun spews out helium and hydrogen in large quantities along with other stuff. There is a fusion of materials creating heat that is used to keep the earth warm. 

Sun is largely made of plasma, an electrically charged gas that tends to flow along with the magnetic loops springing from the sun’s surface and back down again. This plasma is coolest when it is at its peak since it is farthest from the sun. When some of this plasma cools down and falls back to the surface as precipitation, it results in rain, just like the earth.

rain on sun
Image Source: youtube.com

Scientists had been searching for rain on the sun for a long time but in the wrong places. When helmet streamers, the pointy, million-mile high magnetic loops sticking out of the sun during a solar eclipse gave them no answers, they started looking for rains in the magnetic loops.

Another interesting thing that the scientists found was that Corona, the uppermost layer of the sun’s atmosphere is a million degrees in temperature whereas the layer just below it is only a few thousand degrees in temperature. What makes the upper layer hotter than the lower one? It still baffles the mind of the scientists.

 

 

Featured Image: bhphotovideo.com

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