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"Discovery Files" Features from the National Science Foundation
"Sun Sounds"
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SUNNY SOUND UP; SOLAR SOUND FOUNTAINS... THE "DISCOVERY FILES": NEW ADVANCES IN SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING, FROM THE NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION. A NEW PROJECT IS GIVING US IMPORTANT CLUES TO A MYSTERY THAT HAS LONG FASCINATED AND BAFFLED ASTRONOMERS: WHY IS THE SUN HOTTER AT THE OUTER CORONA, THAN CLOSER TO THE SURFACE? TO GET TO THE BOTTOM, OR TOP, OF THIS, THE RESEARCH TEAM RELIED ON DATA FROM SPACECRAFT, GROUND-BASED TELESCOPES, AND COMPUTER SIMULATIONS. IF YOU COULD LISTEN TO THE VIBRATIONS GOING ON INSIDE THE SUN, SCIENTISTS SAY THAT IT WOULD BE LIKE THE SOUND OF MILLIONS OF BELLS--ALL RINGING INSIDE A BUILDING. THE NOISE WOULD CONTINUE TO BUILD--AND EVENTUALLY ESCAPE TO THE SURFACE--AS A SORT OF SONIC SPRAY--A GEYSER OF NOISE--A FOUNTAIN OF SOUND. IT'S THOSE "EAR-RUPTIONS"--TRAVELING COURTESY OF THE SUN'S MAGNETIC FIELD--THAT BLAST HOT GAS AND INTENSE HEAT FROM THE SUN'S INTERIOR, OUT TO THE CORONA, OR "RING OF FIRE". MYSTERY SOLVED. THERE'S THESE KIND OF "BELL NOISES" IN THE SUN, SOME SORT OF REAL-HOT SOUNDS BELCHING OUT OF THE MAGNETIC CRACKS. THE NEXT SUNNY DAY WHEN YOU CRANK SOME TUNES, JUST REMEMBER THAT THE SUN'S THE ONE WITH THE HOTTEST BUILT-IN SURROUND-SOUND SYSTEM. THE "DISCOVERY FILES" COVERS PROJECTS FUNDED BY THE GOVERNMENT'S NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION: FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH BROUGHT TO YOU BY YOU! LEARN MORE AT "N-S-F"-DOT-GOV--OR ON THEIR PODCAST.
For additional "Discovery Files" features from the National Science Foundation, click here.
