magnetic lines of force
by Joshua St. Claire
radiating from the sun
contrails
The movement of the charged particles of the sun’s plasma creates a powerful and complex magnetic field. The origin and evolution of the field is still an active area of research, but it’s proven to have an impact on the Earth. The periodicity of the intensity of the sun’s magnetic field has a demonstrable impact to the climate of Earth and solar flares pose a risk to electronics, as demonstrated by the Carrington Event of 1859.
Recently, stories circulated in the media saying that “a piece of the sun has broken off.” While these headlines were sensational, these observations underscore the fact that much of what happens in the sun and, by extension, other stars remains a mystery.
Further reading:
‘A Piece of the Sun Has Broken off and Formed a Strange Crown-like Vortex over It!’, The Weather Channel: https://weather.com/en-IN/india/space/news/2023-02-10-piece-of-sun-broke-off-and-formed-crown-like-vortex-over-it
‘Understanding the Magnetic Sun’, NASA: https://www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2016/understanding-the-magnetic-sun
‘The Carrington Event: History’s greatest solar storm’, Space.com: https://www.space.com/the-carrington-event
Author bio:
Joshua St. Claire is an accountant who works as a financial executive for a large non-profit in rural Pennsylvania, USA. His work in haiku and related forms has been published broadly. He was included in the 2022 Dwarf Stars Anthology, and he is the winner of the 2022 Gerald Brady Memorial Senryu Award.