Solar corona and Polar cusp on the Planeterrella
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Solar corona and Polar cusp on the Planeterrella

by David Bernard

The picture shows the Planeterrella experiment, which allows to reproduce plasma configuration in stellar-planet interaction. Here, the biggest sphere in the foreground is the star, and we can see the solar corona, with coronal hole on the top left. In the background, an "aurora" is created in the polar cusp of the little sphere.