NASA’s Parker Solar Probe Shatters Theory on Sun’s Extremely Hot Corona

NASA’s Parker Solar Probe found that S-shaped magnetic field bends are not responsible for the sun’s corona’s extreme heat.

While these switchbacks appear in the solar wind, they are absent in the corona. This discovery challenges the idea that magnetic field collisions on the sun’s surface create switchbacks, suggesting other mechanisms at play. Further data from the probe is needed to test new hypotheses.

Parker Solar Probe Unveils Mysteries
By diving into the sun’s corona, NASA’s Parker Solar Probe has ruled out S-shaped bends in the sun’s magnetic field as a cause of the corona’s searing temperatures. This is according to University of Michigan research published on July 29 in The Astrophysical Journal Letters.