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Clear out junk files and repair common Windows errorsFree Scan →Fix the driver behind crashes, sound loss and screen glitchesFind Drivers →Repair Windows errors before they cause bigger problemsFix Now →Scientists did not build a tiny star. In a 2019 University of Wisconsin–Madison experiment, researchers used a three-meter-wide hollow sphere filled with ionized helium to model selected processes in the solar wind. The laboratory setup reproduced the spiral shape of the Sun’s magnetic field and generated recurring plasma blobs—useful results for studying how stellar winds behave, but not a fusion experiment or a source of energy.
What the “mini-sun” is
The nickname refers to the Big Red Ball, also called the Big Red Plasma Ball, at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. The hollow sphere is 3 meters wide, according to the university’s 2019 report. It is a specialized plasma physics apparatus, not a miniature Sun: it models selected magnetic-field and plasma-flow processes associated with the solar wind.
The peer-reviewed study, published in Nature Physics on 29 July 2019, describes the apparatus as a laboratory model of the Parker spiral and magnetized stellar winds. University of Wisconsin–Madison’s report and the Nature Physics paper explain the experiment and its findings.
How researchers made and measured the plasma
The team pumped helium into the sphere and ionized the gas, turning it into plasma. A strong magnet at the center and an applied electric current drove the plasma into rotating flows. Researchers used probes to measure conditions at locations within the apparatus.
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That controlled setup let the team examine how plasma flows and magnetic fields interact across the laboratory system. It did not reproduce the Sun’s size, interior, heat, or full environment.
What the experiment reproduced
The Parker spiral
The Sun’s magnetic field is carried outward by the solar wind. As the Sun rotates and the wind streams away, the field takes on a spiral shape through the heliosphere. This structure is called the Parker spiral, after astrophysicist Eugene Parker.
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The researchers reproduced this magnetic structure in the laboratory model. As the University of Wisconsin–Madison report quotes lead author Ethan Peterson, “Our experimental measurements confirm Parker’s theory of how it is created by these plasma flows.”
Recurring plasma blobs
The team also observed quasi-periodic blobs of plasma moving into the outflow. Media coverage has called them “plasma burps”; the more precise description is plasma blobs or plasmoids. The paper relates them to plasmoids associated with the slow solar wind and discusses magnetic reconnection as part of the process.
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These are laboratory observations that model processes relevant to the solar wind—not a claim that the sphere produces the Sun’s actual wind or reproduces every event in space.
Why use a laboratory model alongside spacecraft?
A laboratory experiment gives scientists a controlled system they can probe at multiple locations. Spacecraft, by contrast, measure the real solar environment. For example, NASA’s Parker Solar Probe directly samples conditions near the Sun; the laboratory work offers another way to investigate the physics that may contribute to solar-wind behavior.
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The approaches answer different parts of the problem. The study presents laboratory experiments as complementary to space missions, not replacements for them. Peterson put the value of the laboratory approach this way: “Our work shows that laboratory experiments can also get at the fundamental physics of these processes.”
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.What the “mini-sun” does not mean
- It is not a miniature star. The sphere models selected plasma and magnetic-field dynamics rather than recreating the Sun as a whole.
- It is not a fusion reactor. The reported experiment ionized helium to study solar-wind physics; the sources do not describe a fusion reaction or a demonstration of usable energy.
- It does not settle every question about solar-wind origins. The laboratory results complement direct observations and other research rather than standing in for the full solar environment.
The specific findings described here come from the 2019 study and university report. They establish what that experiment demonstrated, not the facility’s current operating schedule or later research program. Space.com’s report, published 1 August 2019, offers an accessible account of the same work.
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