Why is the Sun’s outer layer hotter than its surface? 80

NEW DELHI: Researchers have made a landmark discovery in solar physics by directly observing small-scale waves in the Sun’s corona, elusive magnetic waves that have baffled scientists for more than 80 years.

The breakthrough, published in Nature Astronomy, was achieved using the Daniel K. Inouye Solar Telescope (DKIST) in Hawaii, the world’s most powerful solar observatory.

The phenomena, termed the torsional Alfven waves, could finally unravel the mystery of the Sun’s super-hot outer atmosphere, offering vital clues to how the corona reaches temperatures of millions of degrees while the solar surface remains comparatively cool at about 5,500°C.

Alfven waves, named after the 1942 Nobel laureate Hannes Alfven, are magnetic disturbances that travel through plasma, the electrically charged