Recently, Professor Yuan Ding from the Space Science and Application Technology Institute at Harbin Institute of Technology, Shenzhen Campus, and collaborators used the advanced global space solar telescope, the Solar Dynamics Observatory, to observe the dynamic propagation of electromagnetic waves. The related findings have been published in Nature Communications. The research team confirmed that the unique structure of the solar corona can serve as an amplifier for electromagnetic signals, allowing for interstellar communication or energy transmission between celestial bodies such as the Sun and planets.
For a long time, humans have used glass or ice to control beams of light (i.e., electromagnetic waves), such as focusing sunlight with convex lenses for fire starting, capturing moments with cameras using lenses, or observing space with telescopes using lenses or mirrors to collect light from the cosmos. When light passes through large celestial bodies, it undergoes deflection, creating the gravitational lensing effect, which can be used to detect black holes and dark matter in the universe.
In this study, the research team discovered that solar flares triggered large-scale magnetohydrodynamic waves, which propagated outward from the solar flares as the center. These waves passed through a giant coronal hole.
"Regions in the solar corona with low temperature, low plasma density, and low magnetic field intensity emit weak radiation in the extreme ultraviolet band of the space solar telescope, hence they are called coronal holes," explained Yuan Ding. The coronal hole acts as a "convex lens," causing the magnetohydrodynamic waves to transition from spreading outwards from all directions to gradually focusing towards the focal point.
According to measurements, after passing through the focus, the amplitude of the magnetohydrodynamic waves increased by three times, and the energy flux carried by them increased by seven times, indicating that this phenomenon exhibits an energy-focusing effect.
It is understood that the research team utilized high-definition observational data from the Atmospheric Imaging Assembly of the Solar Dynamics Observatory telescope in the United States, one of the largest operational space-based solar telescopes in the world. Additionally, the research team employed the most advanced and comprehensive magnetohydrodynamic numerical simulation programs in the world to fully reproduce the propagation process of the lensing effect of magnetohydrodynamic waves.
For more information on the related paper, please visit: Nature Communications
