Dundee University academic helps discover new form of solar cloud

A Dundee University academic has helped identify a new form of solar cloud by leading research into space weather.

Dr Miho Janvier collaborated with colleagues in Paris and Buenos Aires to study a new kind of magnetic cloud emanating from the sun.

The cloud is a smaller version of those caused by solar flares that produce aurora borealis.

Dr Janvier, a fellow in mathematics at the university, has identified a different kind of cloud emanating from the sun, distinct from those kicked up during solar flares.

He said: “Our work has been studying how solar flares are generated and the effects they cause.

“We already knew there were these large magnetic clouds generated by solar flares.

“We also knew that smaller magnetised structures existed, but what we have found is that they have a completely different origin.

“These smaller clouds have different characteristics, which means they must be generated in a different place and/or in a different way.

“They must be coming from the sun, but we are not sure yet where in the sun’s atmosphere they are being born.”