8 June 2011 Last updated at 06:16

Audio slideshow: Probing plasma

Aside from the three commonly known states of matter - solid, liquid and gas - there is another state, called plasma. The Sun emits vast amounts of the magnetically charged substance - and a great deal of it arrives around the Earth's atmosphere.

A team of scientists at UCL's Mullard Space Science Laboratory in Surrey is working to find out more about how the Sun's plasma behaves and affects our planet. Dr Lucie Green from the team - who is revealing her research at this year's Cheltenham Science Festival - explains the properties of plasma.

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The Times Cheltenham Science Festival runs between the 7-12 June 2011.

Images subject to copyright - click 'show captions' for details. Music courtesy KPM Music.

Slideshow production by Paul Kerley. Publication date 8 June 2011.

Related:

Sun clips and facts from BBC Science

Nasa - Solar Dynamics Observatory

Mullard Space Science Laboratory

The Times Cheltenham Science Festival 2011

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