Los Alamos Instruments Propel NASA Probe to Study Solar Dynamics

Scientists at Los Alamos National Laboratory have developed two innovative instruments for a newly launched NASA mission aimed at enhancing our understanding of the sun and its surrounding heliosphere. These tools are part of the Interstellar Mapping and Acceleration Probe (IMAP), which was launched in September 2023 and is currently en route to the first Lagrange point, a gravitationally stable location between Earth and the sun.

The IMAP mission is set to provide critical data as it approaches its destination, which will take approximately four months. By mid-January 2024, all instruments aboard the probe should be operational, marking the beginning of an extensive scientific research phase. This mission builds upon earlier findings from NASA’s Interstellar Boundary Explorer (IBEX), which launched in 2008. Unlike its predecessor, the IMAP-Hi instrument is specifically designed to filter out background noise, allowing for more precise measurements and data collection.

New Insights into Solar Dynamics

According to Herb Funsten, the lead scientist for IMAP-Hi at Los Alamos, “IBEX was really a mission of discovery. We didn’t know what we were actually going to find.” The data collected from IBEX provided unexpected insights, but the IMAP-Hi instrument promises to deliver enhanced capabilities to fill in knowledge gaps from that mission.

The heliosphere, a protective bubble created by the sun, plays a crucial role in shielding the solar system from harmful cosmic rays. These galactic rays can have adverse effects on human DNA, disrupt radio communications, and damage satellites. The outer edge of the heliosphere, known as the heliosheath, reduces the intensity of these galactic rays by a factor of ten, making its study vital for understanding space weather and its implications.

Unlike other stars, the sun offers a unique opportunity for direct observation, allowing scientists to study its solar wind—streams of charged particles emanating from its surface. Ruth Skoug, a scientist involved in the project, noted, “The sun is the one star we’re close enough to study directly.”

Tracking Solar Wind and Cosmic Rays

The two instruments aboard IMAP include IMAP-Hi, which tracks energetic neutral atoms, and the Solar Wind Electron instrument. The former will help researchers map the composition of the heliosphere, while the latter focuses on measuring electrons from solar wind, which plays a crucial role in defining the size and shape of the heliosphere and its interaction with the interstellar medium.

Dan Reisenfeld, a scientist at Los Alamos, likened the function of the Solar Wind Electron instrument to a bat using sonar. “It has to figure out how far away these things are, so it sends out a sonar pulse,” he explained. This technique allows scientists to use solar wind as a pulse to measure the boundaries of the heliosphere.

Notably, the heliosphere is not static; it fluctuates in size and shape throughout the sun’s 11-year cycle, sometimes becoming more or less protective against cosmic rays. The Solar Wind Electron instrument has already tracked significant solar activity, including a major solar storm around Veterans Day in November 2023. This event resulted in the northern lights being visible at lower latitudes, including areas like Santa Fe.

Understanding solar storms is crucial, as they pose potential hazards to power systems and astronauts in space. “We’re going to do even better on the next storm, with all the instruments on,” Skoug stated, emphasizing the importance of ongoing research as the IMAP mission progresses.

The collaboration between NASA and Los Alamos National Laboratory marks a significant step forward in solar research, with the potential to reshape our understanding of the sun’s influence on the solar system and beyond.