Whirlpools just 20 kilometres wide found on the Sun — the corona's secret may be here

Scientists have discovered incredibly tiny plasma whirlpools swirling across the Sun's surface. Some of the structures identified are just 20 kilometres wide.

Being able to observe motion at this scale is a consequence of rising resolution in solar observation technology. Magnetic and fluid processes at the star's surface can be modelled in far greater detail once they can be watched directly at this scale.

The role of small-scale vortices in carrying energy into the Sun's atmosphere has long been under investigation. The findings may contribute to open questions such as the heating of the corona.

MHA Analysis

This is a resolution story rather than a new-physics one: being able to see 20-kilometre structures shows where the scale limit in solar observation now sits. The role of small-scale vortices in carrying energy into the atmosphere has been argued theoretically for years; it now becomes testable against observation. Why the corona is hotter than the surface is the longest-standing open problem in solar physics, and answering it would directly improve space-weather forecasting.