The new graphic marks the 100th anniversary since a solar eclipse demonstrated Albert Einstein’s theory of general relativity. Before that Einstein had also developed the theory of special relativity which showed that light particles travel through a vacuum at a constant pace. Thanks to that theory, it has now revolutionised how we view the course of light and its three ways of acceleration.
In the new graphic NASA scientists showed light accelerates due to electromagnetic fields, magnetic explosions and wave-particle interactions.
They said: “Scientists suspect magnetic reconnection is one way that particles are accelerated to nearly light speed.
“This illustration depicts the magnetic fields around Earth, which snap and realign, causing charged particles to be flung away at high speeds.”
NASA scientists, however, also have warned that “huge” solar explosions will become more common in the coming years.
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NASA warned: “After our Sun passes the current Solar Minimum, solar activity prominences are expected to become more common over the next few years.”
The gigantic explosions known as prominences will become more common over the next few years and will shoot super hot gas into the atmosphere.
The eruptions are set to become more common as the Sun reaches its solar minimum but following that period, the number of solar explosions will dramatically increase.
Although it will be in its minimum for around a decade, the Sun will spring back to its normal level which will see a dramatic rise in the prominences.
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The US space agency recently released pictures of a “monster” solar explosions captured by the Solar Dynamic Observatory in 2011.
NASA added: “The dramatic explosion was captured in ultraviolet light in the featured time-lapse video covering 90 minutes, where a new frame was taken every 24 seconds.
“The scale of the prominence is huge – the entire Earth would easily fit under the flowing curtain of hot gas.
“A solar prominence is channelled and sometimes held above the Sun’s surface by the Sun’s magnetic field.