News > Joint India-UK study deciphers physics behind solar jet streams

Joint India-UK study deciphers physics behind solar jet streams

In a joint international study led by scientists from India and the UK, researchers have deciphered the physics behind solar plasma jets through computer simulation and lab experiments.

Solar plasma jets, or spicules, are powerful plasma streams constantly ejecting from the Sun’s chromosphere (an atmospheric layer above the Sun’s visible surface). These jets rise and fall back under the influence of the Sun’s gravity, which is 20 to 30 times greater than Earth. Some jets are so energetic that they propel into the solar corona and beyond.