Shooting Stars on the Sun? New Phenomenon Appears in its Corona, But What's It Made Of?

A team of astronomers from Northumbria University in Newcastle, United Kingdom, has recently discovered a cosmic phenomenon on the Sun's surface, where its corona was seen 'shooting stars.' These "shooting stars" are common here on the planet, particularly when space debris enter the atmosphere, but not so regular on the Sun's surface.

The study on the Sun's corona was an indirect probe of the massive star's presence using the SolO spacecraft that orbits close to its surface.

Shooting Stars on the Sun? Here's What It Is

The study that was recently presented on the Royal Astronomical Society via the National Astronomy Meeting brought the latest phenomenon present on the Sun, with seemingly 'shooting stars' appearing on its surface. However, the Sun is not shooting up stars, rather, plasma from the Sun that hits a cooler spot in its atmosphere, the corona.

This then goes on the process of condensation and is pulled back on the hot surface like precipitation or rain. The phenomenon is also known as a "coronal rain," and according to Interesting Engineering, these cooled-down plasma are then pulled back to the Sun and resembles rain.

Sun's Corona Phenomenon Ejecting 'Stars'

"The inner solar corona is so hot we may never be able to probe it in situ with a spacecraft," said Patrick Antolin, lead author of the study.

"However, SolO orbits close enough to the Sun that it can detect small-scale phenomena occurring within the corona, such as the effect of the rain on the corona, allowing us a precious indirect probe of the coronal environment that is crucial to understanding its composition and thermodynamics. Just detecting coronal rain is a huge step forward for solar physics because it gives us important clues about the major solar mysteries, such as how it is heated to millions of degrees," Antolin explained.

The Sun's Phenomena

Despite the long-time and multiple studies on the Sun, there are still a lot more to learn about the hot molten ball of plasma that sits at the center of the Milky Way Galaxy that we live in. The Sun is known to be one source of life, warming up this cold and endless part of space, but while it is special for humans, it was said to only be a normal one from previous research.

Phenomena and other events on the Sun remains a mystery for humans, but there are some observed and explained by researchers to be normal occurrences on its surface. One of the most common are the so-called Solar Flares which happen when magnetic fields cross each other on the Sun's surface, creating these wild displays on its surface.

The Sun remains as one of the most mysterious objects in our galaxy, but it gives a gravitational pull that keeps the Solar System planets in place, as well as heat. The recent coronal rain are still plasma ejections that are cooler than what the Sun has on its body, then pulled back to its extremely hot surface appearing like glowing clumps that resemble shooting stars.