The researchers needed to learn where the switchbacks formed, as that is crucial to understanding their influence on the corona’s temperature.
After analyzing data from over a dozen laps that the probe has made around the sun, Akhavan-Tafti and his team discovered that the S-shaped bends are common in the solar wind near the sun. But, they are nowhere to be found inside the corona.
The finding suggests that the switchbacks do not begin at the sun’s surface. Previously, some scientists thought switchbacks could’ve been formed by the collision of magnetic fields at the surface of the sun.
However, that would mean they would be a common occurrence in the corona, which the study’s results have proven to be untrue. So, this hypothesis has since been ruled out.
According to Akhavan-Tafti, magnetic collisions could still play a role in the development of switchbacks and the heating of the corona.
During explosive collisions of magnetic fields at the sun’s surface, the magnetic fields vibrate like plucked guitar strings and send waves into space.
At the same time, accelerated streams of plasma are created in the solar wind, distorting magnetic waves into switchbacks in the solar wind.
If some of those waves expend all their energy before exiting the sun and becoming switchbacks, they could contribute to heating the corona.
The research has strengthened scientists’ understanding of the sun. With the help of new data, they may eventually be able to predict and detect solar storms.
The study was published in The Astrophysical Journal Letters.
