---
title: "Scientists Built a Ball of Plasma They Call a “Mini-Sun”"
description: "Physicists built a \"mini-sun\" that's helping them study solar winds and why the Sun occasionally ejects blasts of plasma into space."
date: "2019-08-01"
modified: "2019-08-01"
authors:
  - name: "Dan Robitzski"
    link: "https://futurism.com/authors/danrobitzski"
url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/ball-plasma-mini-sun"
categories:
  - "Physics"
  - "Science & Energy"
tags:
  - "physics"
  - "Plasma"
  - "space"
  - "Sun"
  - "the digest"
---

# Scientists Built a Ball of Plasma They Call a “Mini-Sun”

![Physicists built a "mini-sun" that's helping them study solar winds and why the Sun occasionally ejects blasts of plasma into space.](<https://futurism.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/ball-plasma-mini-sun.jpg>)
*\<em\>Image: NASA/Victor Tangermann\</em\>*

## Paging Doc Ock

Physicists at the University of Wisconsin-Madison built a swirling orb of plasma they’re calling a "[miniature Sun](<https://futurism.com/solar-energy-storage>)" — so they can study how stars work up close.

The mini-sun, complete with its own powerful electromagnetic field, will help the scientists understand solar wind as well as how the real Sun occasionally blasts out plasma, [according to *Space.com*](<https://www.space.com/mini-sun-to-study-solar-winds.html>). The mini-sun has been in the works since 2012, and could help scientists gain a better understanding of some of the Sun's more mysterious behavior.

## Solar Winds

Our sun is a constantly-swirling ball of superhot plasma. Sometimes, some of that plasma gets ejected out into the cosmos. But the mechanics of how and why it happens aren't fully understood, according to [the team's research](<https://www.nature.com/articles/s41567-019-0592-7.epdf?referrer_access_token=xe9tgkjennOi910Ai5XtVdRgN0jAjWel9jnR3ZoTv0NbQ8hSv0aEL_jIsCjMeu4QT87qcZ9fHymRXx1hwp0UZ32ejHMOzRVkqHrs9DpK1KXnoxhsYwwKjrgr7ced4D3A9tw_l2y38_g6DBL7TPFlEHYxJ5Bhh6qpVSnq4j8MR_8qbfou-UyaZyupqYON8rJaaGfDkMDi3lS2wda-R_EYbX84r1gkbn-R1PVaWrgoPFM%3D&tracking_referrer=www.space.com>), published this week in the journal *Nature Physics*.

The mini-Sun recreates those ejections through what *Space.com* calls "plasma burps." The first time the Big Red Ball burped up, it came as a surprise to the physicists. But since then, the ejections have given the physicists a hands-on way to understand how the Sun behaves and why.

**READ MORE:** [Scientists Just Built a Mini-Sun in a Lab That Emits 'Plasma Burps'](<https://www.space.com/mini-sun-to-study-solar-winds.html>) \[*Space.com*\]

**More on artificial suns:** *[A White-Hot Molten Silicon “Sun” Could Power 100,000 Homes](<https://futurism.com/solar-energy-storage>)*

## Author
Dan Robitzki is a senior reporter for Futurism, where he likes to cover AI, tech ethics, and medicine. He spends his extra time fencing and streaming games from Los Angeles, California.

### Author social links  
[Twitter](<https://x.com/danrobitzski>)