This statement brings up an interesting question in my mind. If we assume that the magnetic field lines are the source of the energy that activates the solar corona, then what do we expect to happen in the event that there are few of these visible or just below the surface? It is apparent that the sun has an 11 year cycle in sun spot activity and that in the past there have been dry spells for these events. I recall that a period in history around 1670 had an almost total lack of spots.
Someone suggested that a fairly large portion of the energy from the sun was due to the corona so should we be concerned when there are few spots? Does the fact that the output from the sun has been relatively consistent tend to negate the magnetic lines argument for corona drive? I had always thought that the time changing fields associated with these lines behaved like a particle accelerator of immense size. That may be the reason for the mass discharges that we dodge every so often, but now I have a question as to whether or not they are the source for the corona heating. They just seem to fall short on energy and time frame. Dave -----Original Message----- From: Harry Veeder <hveeder...@gmail.com> To: vortex-l <vortex-l@eskimo.com> Sent: Wed, Aug 15, 2012 12:56 pm Subject: Re: [Vo]:The faint young Sun paradox On Wed, Aug 15, 2012 at 2:16 AM, Axil Axil <janap...@gmail.com> wrote: > http://physics.aps.org/articles/v5/90 > > > > It is now universally accepted that the reservoir of energy stored in the > sun’s atmospheric magnetic field is what heats the localized plasma in the > corona. In simplified terms, the field is generated in the solar interior as > a result of large-scale rotational and convective motions of the charged > plasma, which serve to produce a strong magnetic field some below the solar > surface. At this depth, the field is in the form of a concentrated tube that > encircles the sun, but as it makes its way to the surface, it can emerge as > a pair, or group, of sunspots connected by arches of magnetic field that > extend hundreds of thousands of kilometers into the solar atmosphere. > The next paragraph says "What is not known, and remains under considerable debate even now, is how the energy stored in the magnetic fields is converted into heating the corona [4]" In other words what is "universally" accepte" is the hope that it can explained by magnetic fields by members of this "universal" club. Harry
