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Chitta LP, Zhukov AN, Berghmans D, Peter H, Parenti S, Mandal S, Aznar Cuadrado R, Schühle U, Teriaca L, Auchère F, Barczynski K, Buchlin É, Harra L, Kraaikamp E, Long DM, Rodriguez L, Schwanitz C, Smith PJ, Verbeeck C, Seaton DB. Picoflare jets power the solar wind emerging from a coronal hole on the Sun. Science 2023; 381:867-872. [PMID: 37616348 DOI: 10.1126/science.ade5801] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/25/2022] [Accepted: 07/14/2023] [Indexed: 08/26/2023]
Abstract
Coronal holes are areas on the Sun with open magnetic field lines. They are a source region of the solar wind, but how the wind emerges from coronal holes is not known. We observed a coronal hole using the Extreme Ultraviolet Imager on the Solar Orbiter spacecraft. We identified jets on scales of a few hundred kilometers, which last 20 to 100 seconds and reach speeds of ~100 kilometers per second. The jets are powered by magnetic reconnection and have kinetic energy in the picoflare range. They are intermittent but widespread within the observed coronal hole. We suggest that such picoflare jets could produce enough high-temperature plasma to sustain the solar wind and that the wind emerges from coronal holes as a highly intermittent outflow at small scales.
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Affiliation(s)
- L P Chitta
- Max-Planck-Institut für Sonnensystemforschung, 37077 Göttingen, Germany
| | - A N Zhukov
- Solar-Terrestrial Centre of Excellence, Solar Influences Data Analysis Centre, Royal Observatory of Belgium, 1180 Brussels, Belgium
- Skobeltsyn Institute of Nuclear Physics, Moscow State University, Moscow 119991, Russia
| | - D Berghmans
- Solar-Terrestrial Centre of Excellence, Solar Influences Data Analysis Centre, Royal Observatory of Belgium, 1180 Brussels, Belgium
| | - H Peter
- Max-Planck-Institut für Sonnensystemforschung, 37077 Göttingen, Germany
| | - S Parenti
- Institut d'Astrophysique Spatiale, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Université Paris-Saclay, 91405 Orsay, France
| | - S Mandal
- Max-Planck-Institut für Sonnensystemforschung, 37077 Göttingen, Germany
| | - R Aznar Cuadrado
- Max-Planck-Institut für Sonnensystemforschung, 37077 Göttingen, Germany
| | - U Schühle
- Max-Planck-Institut für Sonnensystemforschung, 37077 Göttingen, Germany
| | - L Teriaca
- Max-Planck-Institut für Sonnensystemforschung, 37077 Göttingen, Germany
| | - F Auchère
- Institut d'Astrophysique Spatiale, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Université Paris-Saclay, 91405 Orsay, France
| | - K Barczynski
- Physikalisch-Meteorologisches Observatorium Davos, World Radiation Center, 7260 Davos Dorf, Switzerland
- Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule Zürich, 8093 Zürich, Switzerland
| | - É Buchlin
- Institut d'Astrophysique Spatiale, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Université Paris-Saclay, 91405 Orsay, France
| | - L Harra
- Physikalisch-Meteorologisches Observatorium Davos, World Radiation Center, 7260 Davos Dorf, Switzerland
- Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule Zürich, 8093 Zürich, Switzerland
| | - E Kraaikamp
- Solar-Terrestrial Centre of Excellence, Solar Influences Data Analysis Centre, Royal Observatory of Belgium, 1180 Brussels, Belgium
| | - D M Long
- Mullard Space Science Laboratory, University College London, Dorking, Surrey RH5 6NT, UK
- Astrophysics Research Centre, School of Mathematics and Physics, Queen's University Belfast, Belfast BT7 1NN, Northern Ireland, UK
| | - L Rodriguez
- Solar-Terrestrial Centre of Excellence, Solar Influences Data Analysis Centre, Royal Observatory of Belgium, 1180 Brussels, Belgium
| | - C Schwanitz
- Physikalisch-Meteorologisches Observatorium Davos, World Radiation Center, 7260 Davos Dorf, Switzerland
- Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule Zürich, 8093 Zürich, Switzerland
| | - P J Smith
- Mullard Space Science Laboratory, University College London, Dorking, Surrey RH5 6NT, UK
| | - C Verbeeck
- Solar-Terrestrial Centre of Excellence, Solar Influences Data Analysis Centre, Royal Observatory of Belgium, 1180 Brussels, Belgium
| | - D B Seaton
- Southwest Research Institute, Boulder, CO 80302, USA
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