The Corona Paradox of the Sun
Scientists have long wondered why the hot charged particles in our sun’s atmosphere get hotter as they move away from the sun’s surface. A new study may provide an answer, finding that the super-hot nature of the sun’s outer atmosphere, or “corona,” may be linked to the intriguing behavior of small-scale waves in this hazy plasma. These waves, known to scientists as “kinetic Alfvén waves,” or “KAWs,” are wave-like oscillations of magnetic fields that manifest themselves in motions in the sun’s photosphere.