Craft discovers source of elusive solar winds through sun-kissing mission.
TL;DR
The Parker Solar Probe has detected the source of the fast solar wind that blows from the Sun's corona through a hole in its atmosphere. The probe's readings suggest that a specific type of magnetic reconnection is what drives this powerful force of nature. The coronal hole is a bit like a shower head, with roughly evenly spaced jets emerging from places where magnetic field lines "funnel" into and out of the surface of the Sun. The findings provide strong evidence that it's reconnection that's providing the energy source of the fast solar wind.
- A Craft Has Flown Close Enough to The Sun to Detect The Source of Elusive Solar Winds ScienceAlert
- First mission to ‘touch’ the sun catches the solar wind CNN
- NASA's Solar Probe Solves a Longtime Mystery About the Sun Gizmodo
- NASA's sun-kissing Parker Solar Probe finds source of 'fast' solar wind Space.com
- Interchange reconnection as the source of the fast solar wind within coronal holes Nature.com
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