Sun-observing spacecraft sheds light on the solar wind’s origin
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The solar wind is a ubiquitous feature of our solar system. This relentless high-speed flow of charged particles from the sun fills interplanetary space. On Earth, it triggers geomagnetic storms that can disrupt satellites and it causes the dazzling auroras - the northern and southern lights - at high latitudes.But precisely how the sun generates the solar wind has remained unclear. New observations by the Solar Orbiter spacecraft may provide an answer. Researchers on Thursday said the spacecraft has detected numerous relatively small jets of charged particles expelled intermittently from the corona - the sun's outer atmosphere - at supersonic speeds for 20 to 100 seconds. The jets emanate from structures on the corona called coronal holes where the sun's magnetic field stretches...