Solar Orbiter traces magnetic switchback origin to Sun's surface
The ESA-led Solar Orbiter spacecraft flew through a large S-shaped magnetic kink called a switchback in the solar wind and traced it back to the Sun's surface by analyzing particle signatures. Using the Solar Wind Analyser instrument, researchers found a specific mix of charged oxygen and carbon particles that could only have formed in hot magnetic field loops at the Sun's surface, providing evidence for a formation process called interchange reconnection. The study, published in Nature Astronomy, shows that both interchange reconnection and waves and turbulence are involved in switchback formation, operating at different stages in a switchback's lifetime.
