MAGHEAT

The Sun’s complex structure is not evident in the visible ‘surface’ (the photosphere). Beneath the photosphere is the core, where nuclear fusion occurs, and over it are the solar chromosphere, a thin region of solar atmosphere, and the corona. The mechanisms by which heat flows from the core to the solar chromosphere and corona and that drive the solar dynamo (the plasma flows related to this heat flux and to generation of the Sun’s magnetic field) are largely unknown. Funded by the European Research Council, the MAGHEAT project will identify the separate mechanisms heating the chromosphere with very high resolution integrating observational data and newly developed 3D empirical models of the photosphere and chromosphere.

Duration: 1 July 2023 - 30 June 2028