Scientists Finally Solve 70-Year Mystery of Sun's 'Impossible Heat'

For decades, scientists have tried to understand how the Sun's corona (outer atmosphere) gets so blisteringly hot while its surface stays relatively balmy – and now a new study has delivered a big clue.

An international team of scientists reports the first clear evidence of small-scale torsional Alfvén waves all across the corona: These waves move through magnetic fields, twisting as they go, and transporting plasma upwards.

Until now, researchers had only detected larger, isolated Alfvén waves coinciding with solar flares. The presence of smaller Alfvén waves in the corona had been hypothesized but not directly observed.

These waves help explain how super-hot plasma travels from the Sun's surface where temperatures are around 5,500 °C (10,000 °F) to the corona – which hits mill