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NASA To Explore "Secret Layer" of the Sun

Posted by Soulskill on from the don't-forget-your-metaphasic-shields dept.

SpaceAdmiral brings news that NASA will be launching a telescope next April, called Solar Ultraviolet Magnetograph Investigation (SUMI), which will examine what is called the "transition region" between the Sun's corona and the chromosphere. Scientists have studied characteristics of the Sun around this region before, but never within it. NASA notes: "It is a place in the sun's atmosphere, about 5000 km above the stellar surface, where magnetic fields overwhelm the pressure of matter and seize control of the sun's gases. It's where solar flares explode, where coronal mass ejections begin their journey to Earth, where the solar wind is mysteriously accelerated to a million mph. It is, in short, the birthplace of space weather."

8 of 75 comments (clear)

  1. Obligatory Weak Joke by ISoldat53 · · Score: 2, Funny

    I was going to say they should go at night.

    1. Re:Obligatory Weak Joke by philspear · · Score: 5, Funny

      I was going to say they should respect the sun's privacy. We shouldn't be investigating parts of the sun where the sun don't shine.

  2. Secret Layer? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Funny

    Sun: Welcome to my secret layer, Mr Powers, I've been expecting you.

  3. What if... by Eternal+Annoyance · · Score: 2, Funny

    They filter out all light and suddenly discover there's a gigantic EULA on the surface of the sun?

  4. Re:Solar Probe Plus by fyoder · · Score: 5, Funny

    Have we determined that the Sun is definitely not sentient?

    Spock: She has sentience, Jim, but not as we know it. I would recommend you not have sex with this one.

    Kirk: But Spock, she's so hot!

    Spock: Yes, Jim. Too hot.

    Kirk: I've yet to meet...

    Spock: Don't make me nerve pinch you, Captain.

    --
    Loose lips lose spit.
  5. Probe Me, Please by Kesch · · Score: 4, Funny

    "It is a place in the sun's atmosphere, about 5000 km above the stellar surface, where magnetic fields overwhelm the pressure of matter and seize control of the sun's gases. It's where solar flares explode, where coronal mass ejections begin their journey to Earth, where the solar wind is mysteriously accelerated to a million mph. It is, in short, the birthplace of space weather."

    Did anyone else get aroused reading the summary?

    I don't know about the rest of you, but the sun gets me pretty hot.

    --
    If this signature is witty enough, maybe somebody will like me.
    1. Re:Probe Me, Please by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Funny

      "It is a place in the sun's atmosphere, about 5000 km above the stellar surface, where magnetic fields overwhelm the pressure of matter and seize control of the sun's gases. It's where solar flares explode, where coronal mass ejections begin their journey to Earth, where the solar wind is mysteriously accelerated to a million mph. It is, in short, the birthplace of space weather."

      Did anyone else get aroused reading the summary?

      I don't know about the rest of you, but the sun gets me pretty hot.

      Did you have a coronal mass ejection?

  6. Re:Traveling to the Secret Sun Layer. by nelk · · Score: 4, Funny

    To access the Secret Sun Layer, you must first kill Baal. After you have killed Baal (making sure the quest has been completed), you can access the Secret Sun Layer.

    Or, for those of us who don't like waiting, up, up, down, down, left, right, left, right, B, A will get you there faster.

    --
    No keyboard detected. Press F1 to continue.