University Of Alabama In Huntsville: ESA Solar Orbiter Confirms Solar Switchback Origin Theory By UAH's Dr. Gary Zank

Huntsville AL

13 September, 2022

8:17 PM

Description

Press release from the University of Alabama in Huntsville: September 12, 2022 For the first time a solar switchback has been directly observed that confirms 2020 models by astrophysicist Dr. Gary Zank at The University of Alabama in Huntsville (UAH) that theorized how these surprising structures in the solar wind originate. The European Space Agency's Solar Orbiter spacecraft directly observed the switchback on March 25, when its Metis instrument recorded an image of the solar corona that showed a distorted S-shaped kink in the coronal plasma that piqued the interest of Dr. Daniele Telloni, National Institute for Astrophysics, Astrophysical Observatory of Torino, Italy, who thought it looked like a solar switchback. Switchbacks are large and long-duration isolated velocity spikes in the solar wind. This press release was produced by the University of Alabama in Huntsville. The views expressed here are the author's own.