N
othing in the universe is safe from these deadly particles; these are far deadlier than any cosmic weapon we've discussed in CosmicWisdom because they don't grant swift death; they torment everything, whether it's rock, gas, planet, asteroid, star, white dwarf, or neutron star. Hello and welcome to our blog, where we discuss Cosmos and its various aspects like never before.
Introduction:
Have you heard about space weather or solar wind? Yeah, in this post, we'll see them deeply. These particles are an indication of galactic-level warfare, that everything in the cosmos is fighting to survive.
Let's see why we call them wind because it's not literally a wind gust as you feel on Earth. As you know, our Earth is surrounded by some gases like Nitrogen, oxygen, and ozone; all these are assemblies of particles. On Earth, these are gases because our planet doesn't have enough gravity, temperature, and other factors to keep them in liquid, solid, or plasma states.
When the atmospheric gas particles move from one point to another, of course, this is not a handful of particles; instead, it happens when thousands of trillions of such particles move, and we call it wind.
If we talk of extreme environments like Stars, neutron stars, or black
holes, their chemistry changes entirely, and a few unheard things are
involved and play their roles. Stars are huge collections of Hydrogen
Plasma; however, many other elements can form or accumulate as they evolve
because of fusion and other activities.
Many of you also know that only the central part of the stars can fuse
hydrogen and generate energy, but what about their outer regions or
envelopes? In our sun-like star's core, only one cubic cm experiences an
explosion of Thousands of Hydrogen bombs. That doesn't go unpunished,
despite the fact that gravity keeps the system tight together.
The aggressive amount of outflow of energy manifests in 2 main forms, the
larger portion of this output comes out as light and heat, or we call them
Electromagnetic radiation (EMR), 2nd group is neutrinos, which pass through the star and do
nothing. When EMR or photons (particles of light) reach outer regions of
the star or envelope, it tries to push those plasma particles towards
space; this is called radiation pressure. Just like when you blow
air on a mixture of pebbles and sand, the pebbles would remain stable
while the lighter particles would be blown away.
A similar phenomenon happens in stellar envelopes, the tightly held
particles via magnetic field don't even shake the streams of spiralling
particles, while some unlucky weakly held ones can't resist the radiation
pressure and embark on a journey to reach an eternal battlefield of
cosmos, where they'll guard us, planets, stars, and their planetary
system.
Let's track their origin, interaction, and final fate.
Origin:
Stars, accretion disks, and Jets of Black hole, white dwarfs, and
neutron stars are basically plasma in different manifestations. Matter
has basically 4 states, of which 3 are commonly known as solid, liquid
and gas.
In solids, molecules experience powerful bonding forces only formed by
charge balances. For example, the balance of 4 protons, neutrons
(nucleus), and orbiting electrons, that's an atom. Several such atoms
form molecules, and countless molecules form a tiny grain of solid, and
from now on, you can understand the assembly of solid objects.
To break their bonds, we give them energy like heat; those molecules
absorb those infrared (heat) photons and vibrate because they have more
energy than ever. If we continue this process, their vibration would
finally break the bond, and they'll start to move freely; hence, a solid
can't maintain its shape, it melts, flows, and behaves like a liquid.
That's what happens when liquid molecules move and collide with each
other. If we give them more energy (heat), their movement gets so fast
that they will fly into space. That's why we see smoke and steam from a
hot object.
If we continue to increase the heat, at a certain point, electrons that
were not directly bound with nuclei start to migrate and float freely.
Such a matter would have several free electrons and a composite particle
called nucleons, which is the combo of proton+neutron, since neutron has
no charge, only remains a positive charge due to proton, we call such a
matter plasma, which is the 4th state. The electrical spark during a short
circuit or the thin glowing thing during lightning in the sky is plasma on
Earth, while stars are totally made of this material. This is where the
wind particles begin.
Before we continue, let's be certain that our universe works with blurred
boundaries and thresholds. If we want to make a plasma from water, which
is a mix of Hydrogen and oxygen.
Around 0 °C or 273K it will be ice, around 4-100 °C or 277-373K, it acts
as a liquid, beyond 100°C or 373K, its molecules start to leave your bowl
and fly in the air but those H-O and their proton-neutron-electron remain
intact, only molecules floats and accumulates around 8-16 km in the sky,
which we call it cloud.
If extremes, like lightning or stellar plasma, at temperatures around
4000-5000°C or 4300-5300K, Hydrogen's electrons leave the nuclei, whereas
Oxygen needs much more temperature. Remember, every element of the
periodic table of chemistry has its own thresholds of remaining
solid, liquid, gas, and plasma.
Plasma Particles:
You now know a plasma has nuclei (proton-neutron) as
positive charge and electrons as negative charge, they
move freely but in a quite interesting manner. Since subatomic particles
behave like micro-magnets, their coordinated movement generates a
magnetic field; any wandering charged particle will either
deflect or be trapped within this region, based on its charge type. Same
charges repel (deflect), and opposite ones attract (trap).
The trapped particles would join the coordinated movement. If you wanna
know about this behavior, please refer to this
Article, where we have discussed plasma and fields in detail.
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| A scene of Stellar Corona |
You can easily assume that in such a chaotic motion of particles, some of
the particles might not join the movement and are expelled by the chaotic
dance, or radiation pressure can take them with it. If you throw a stone
at a cluster of berries, weakly held berries are plucked easily by the
stone, or some fall just by a gentle shake. That's how those charged
particles behave if they do not have sufficient pull from their fellow
particles.
Such ejected particles mainly come from all kinds of stars and their
Coronae because the corona has the most chances to lose plasma particles,
although the entire star loses some of its plasma in the form of charged
particles, and we call it stellar wind and Solar wind if we refer
to the sun's ejected particles.
The millions of kelvins of temperature allow these charged particles to
move aggressively, and magnetic fields are often weaker compared to
photospheric regions, which is why plasma particles of coronae can easily
be abandoned and set on their journey through space.
In addition to regular reasons, stars sometimes exhibit flares in
the form of bright flashes on their photosphere (where light comes out
from the star). The bright flares expel highly energetic photons and
charged particles in deadly amounts. Coronal mass ejections, or CMEs, also
eject massive amounts of charged particles. Their detailed mechanism is
explained in the Plasma section of this
Post.
Sun-like stars lose it in moderate amounts, about thousands of particles
at a speed of 200-700 km/s; the least massive stellar groups, like
M-types, lose very little. Massive stars tend to expel a lot; they can
lose many solar masses of material this way, and we call it
Mass loss in stellar physics terms.
This mass loss is most prominent in the final stages of sun-like stars and
the entire life cycle of massive stars. The expelled particles cause
various events when they interact.
This article is all about these expelled particles that are gonna crash at
every corner before joining the main battle. Let's see what they can do at
micro, macro, and cosmic levels. Don't underestimate them despite the fact
that they are just electrons and nuclei.
Interactions:
As we said, tiny or sub-atomic doesn't mean ineffective or weak. The
same applies here, as you know that these charged particles are
abandoned from their brotherhood and wandering in space.
The fact that equal charges repel and opposite charges attract plays a
very large role in the universe at every level and aspect. Let's divide
them into 3 distinct parts so that you can fathom how powerful they are.
Sub-atomic levels:
|
| An exposed solid surface wind particles stream |
This is where their effect begins to show up first. In atomic structure,
it must be electrically neutral to be stable; otherwise, it will tend to
get or expel an electron. For example, the Lithium-6 nucleus has 3
protons, 3 neutrons, and 3 electrons. In this case, if a proton joins
the nucleus, it will become a Beryllium-6 nucleus, which is unstable
because of its charge imbalance. The same will happen whenever a proton
or electron joins or leaves the element; its identity and properties
will also change accordingly.
If a table has four legs but any of those legs are longer or shorter, then
it will not be a perfect table. That's how elements are formed.
Instability lies on both sides, and streams of charged particles play a
significant role in destabilizing or transmuting the elements.
Therefore, a meal won't remain a meal; it will be something different or
dangerous if we eat it. If you've known the radiation or read our post on
electromagnetic radiation, there were similar effects, but those were done
by photons; this time, charged particles do. Meaning, both particles and
high-energy photons can deal similar damage, but photonic damage is
somehow slower than damage dealt by charged particles.
Human scales:
If we remain in a constant shower of these particles, our cells and
tissues start to disintegrate because there will be overwhelming numbers
of charged particles joining our own atomic assemblies and destabilizing
our chemistry. The water would break into Hydrogen and oxygen molecules.
Atmospheric gases will start to disintegrate and their molecules will
leave the chemical bonds. Rock, soil, and everything that's made with
those 3 subatomic particles, protons, neutrons, and electrons, will be
affected.
Also, notice that our satellites, internet, and electrical equipment face
severe losses. Because these infrastructures mainly exploit the radiation
and subatomic particles.
That's NASA-like institutions has dedicated departments to keep an eye on
nearby plasma particle flows that mainly come from our Sun. When these
charged particles surge into electrical grid systems, they can cause
overloads and short circuits or total grid failure. A similar thing
happens to all the electrical and internet devices. After late 2024, Earth
has faced several geomagnetic storms and radio blackouts because the Sun
is in an active phase. We have also created a post for Stellar activity
and inactivity; you can visit the
Stellar Warzone
Astronomical levels:
You might be thinking, if such a phenomenon happens to Earth, which
always happens in reality, Ozone should come to save us?
Ozone is a molecule made of 3 oxygen atoms. It's a better shield against
radiation because Ozone absorbs the UV, releases one oxygen molecule,
and becomes O₂, the oxygen, which gives us life. In the ozone layer, the
O₂ molecule again captures another O-atom and forms Ozone due to UV
photons. Again, it gets broken down into an O₂ molecule due to another
UV photon; this cycle continues, and Ozone saves us.
If charged particles reach here, then there would be no Oxygen atom to
form Ozone. Therefore, the ozone layer is futile to deal with wind
particles.
There is a different kind of shield that protects us from these dangerous
particles; it's also an unseen shield that is detected by tracking solar
wind flows.
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| An F-Star's wind and interaction with its own planet's magnetic field |
Actually, our Earth has an iron core. When it rotates along with the
planet's rotation, it creates a magnetic field, which deflects or captures
these charged particles and only lets in insignificant amounts of
particles, which are harmless. In our solar system, almost every major
planet has a magnetic field; some are weak, and some are strong. Mostly,
the asteroids are facing these particles without shields, whereas moons
that orbit outside their planet's magnetic field also face them.
We can say that these objects without shields are dying slowly, solar wind
is corroding their surfaces, but this effect is too slow. Stellar winds
don't destroy anything at a glance; instead, they deal damage slowly and
constantly.
Since every star is creating these streams, a galaxy has trillions of
stars, and they shoot these streams at each other and populate the
Interstellar medium with these particles. Space is not truly a
vacuum; it's full of interstellar winds and charged particles,
which is why it's a dangerous place.
Nebulae are examples of stellar wind interaction; these clouds can
distort, break, or combine with other clouds. Massive stars' wind can
trigger star formation or halt it, as we've discussed in this post.
But hey, it's not always deadly. If our sun feels an invader from one
perspective, but other stars are firing their particles at us, that's why
each star is both invader and defender to its surroundings.
Otherwise, we'd become prey to deadlier particles than solar wind. There
is a place called the Astrosphere's edge or Bowshock, where the outgoing
stellar particles fight against incoming particle streams from other
stars. Let's explore the Astrosphere or Heliopause for the Sun.
Astrosphere:
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| A Bowshock Nebula created by an A-type Star because ISM and Stellar wind interaction |
Every star shoots streams of charged particles, which move through
space. These tiny particles behave like micro-magnets, which means
wherever they move, their magnetic field also moves with them.
As long as they travel and aren't intercepted by incoming wind particles
from rival stars, it creates a zone where the source star's winds
dominate, which we call the Astrosphere. For the sun, we call it the
heliosphere. This sphere constantly receives damage from outside wind,
therefore it's always reshaping, reforming, and repairing.
The outflowing streams of charged particles expand the Star's magnetic
field hundreds of AU to a few light-years. For example, our Sun is not
even a single AU, yet its heliosphere extends to hundreds of AUs due to
these particles.
This is a different magnetic field that planets, white dwarfs, neutron
stars and black holes create. In planets, they have conductive material,
liquid or solid, sometimes gases containing charged particles; the planet
behaves like a large magnet extending a few million km.
Neutron stars and white dwarfs have degenerate matter whose quantum
arrangement enables extremely powerful Magnetic fields. Black holes don't
possess any magnetic fields, but when they swallow a star and collect
their plasma in an accretion disk, which is already a conductive fluid
that is capable of generating magnetic fields.
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| Different kinds of Magnetic fields around a star |
In this animation, you see the red coiled lines, which represent magnetic
field lines responsible for stellar flares and spot formation. The looping
green lines extending outside the star drive the CMEs and Coronal
activities.
The blue lines, which don't end in loops, are open and can reach several
hundred AUs to light-years. The looped lines denote the Bipolar magnetic
property, whereas opened lines represent the Stellar wind particle flows.
Neutron stars, black holes and white dwarfs usually don't possess open
lines, but their extreme properties tear those loops apart and
release massive energies. We'll see this phenomenon after this section.
When these streams collide with incoming streams of other stars, the
outgoing and incoming particles lose their speed dramatically. We call
this zone Bowshock, as always, they either deflect each other or join
because of their charge types.
Note that this sphere is just a mental construct to explain Stellar winds'
interaction with the neighborhood; it may produce some mini nebula-like
structures that are seen and observed.
To see the wind interactions, you'll need to observe some cool stuff.
There are several pieces of equipment and dedicated departments to observe
this phenomenon of the sun. By observing our star, we can apply a similar
principle to other stars, keeping an eye on their individual stellar
properties. Some are listed here:
- 1) To observe these charged particles closely, the Solar Parker Probe has Solar Probe Cup (SPC) and Solar Probe Analyzer (SPAN), which measure their electric fields and particles. This is for close observation of our star.
- 2) From the far side, about 150-200 AU from our star, Voyager 1 and 2 are equipped with Faraday cup detectors, which measure the ion and electron streams.
- 3) SOHO (Solar and Heliospheric Observatory) uses Coronagraphs for Solar flares and winds.
- 4) Solar Dynamic Observatory (SDO) continuously monitors solar activities like CMEs and flares, along with winds.
In Addition, several Orbiter satellites keep an eye on the sun and its
activities. Also, you may think we've discussed only stellar activities
thus far, whereas this cosmic battle spans every level of the physical
world. Let's see its stronger version, aka Cosmic rays.
Cosmic Rays:
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| A neutron star ejecting cosmic rays as jets |
This word is misleading if you don't know the truth. It's not a type of
classic radiation, unlike electromagnetic radiations: Radio, Microwave,
Infrared, Visible, UV, X-ray and Gamma rays; instead, it belongs to
matter waves, meaning it is just a stream of charged particles but
highly energized.
Look, The Stellar winds are basically the streams of a particle group
called Fermions. This group is responsible for creating our physical
world and Quarks, Protons, Neutrons, Electrons, and Neutrinos are
popular fermions. We call their streams winds if it comes at speeds of
less than lightspeed, excluding Neutrinos because they don't interact
easily and bear a secretive nature.
If these particles are coming towards us nearly lightspeed, then we call
them cosmic rays. Here, we use the term cosmic ray particles
because it prevents us from making mistakes with Photon streams, which are
the true radiation types.
The Cosmic ray particles are just ejected particles from stars, as we saw
in previous sections, but when they wander around neutron stars and black
holes, they sometimes accelerate them at nearly light speed and become
deadlier than ever.
Actually, extreme events like Supernovae, Neutron stars, black holes,
Accreting white dwarfs, gamma-ray bursters, quasars, and similar objects
and events can force the particles to move nearly at the speed of light.
In common plasma, such as stars, protostars, and accretion disks, the
electrons and ions move in cyclotron fashion and emit photons, which is
why plasma glows. If the environment is extremely energized by
gravitational pull, violent magnetic fields, and similar things, these
charged particles absorb some of the energy and prepare to move at light
speed.
In accretion disks bearing objects like protostars, neutron stars, black
holes, and white dwarfs, it usually happens when infalling material wants
to deposit into the source, but centrifugal force, magnetic fields, mutual
friction, and extreme heat can't let that happen.
For a little while, accumulation stops, and these charged particles follow
the magnetic lines toward the poles with Synchrotron manner, they are
being energized and expelled nearly at light speed. We call this stream
Relativistic Jets, and if it leaves the stream and arrives or mixes with
the interstellar medium (ISM), we call it cosmic rays.
Such particle streams are too common in our universe and galaxies,
although not in the form of jets, but as a common ISM ingredient. Remember
that these Cosmic ray stream particles don't lose their speeds even when
arriving around our Solar system or Earth. A large number of such
particles are intercepted by solar wind particles in the heliopause and
bowshock.
Just think that solar wind particles can be deflected by Earth's magnetic
field, but an undeflected cosmic ray particle can arrive in our homes or
even in bones and flesh; the impacts are similar, but cosmic rays have
much more pronounced effects. That's why Cosmic rays are deadlier than
Stellar winds.
That's all for today's post, we hope you enjoyed reading it, stay tuned
for the next awesome post.
Have a great day.