Sun's plasma loops studied in laboratory

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PASADENA, Calif., Aug. 22 (UPI) -- U.S. researchers say reproducing solar plasma loops in the lab is helping them understand solar physics and the sun's effects on Earth.

Large solar flares, consisting of plasma that erupts from the sun's surface, can cause widespread damage, both in space to satellites and on Earth to communications and power grids, researchers at the California Institute of Technology said.

Plasma loops on the sun's surface, thought to be precursors to solar flares, are being created here on earth in controlled laboratory experiments, a Caltech release reported.

"We're studying how these solar loops work, which contributes to the knowledge of space weather," Caltech physics Professor Paul Bellan said.

"It takes some time for the plasma to get to Earth from the sun, so it's possible that with more research, we could have up to a two-day warning period for massive solar flares."

The experiments, using a pulse-powered, magnetized plasma gun inside a vacuum chamber, have shown magnetic forces control the behavior of the arching loops of plasma, or hot, ionized gas.

The small plasma arcs "happen in just a flash of light inside the chamber," researcher Eve Stenson said. "We use high-speed cameras with optical filters to capture the behavior of the plasmas."

The researchers said their nest step is to test how two loops interact with each other.

"We want to see if they can merge and form one big loop," Bellan said. "Some people believe that this is how larger plasma loops on the sun are formed."