Observation of a Magnetic Switchback in the Solar Corona

Telloni, Daniele; Zank, G. P.; Stangalini, M.; Downs, Cooper; Liang, Haoming; Nakanotani, M.; Andretta, V.; Antonucci, E.; Sorriso‐Valvo, L.; Adhikari, L.; Zhao, Lingling; Marino, Raffaele; Susino, Roberto; Grimani, C.; Fabi, Michele; D’Amicis, R.; Perrone, D.; Bruno, R.; Carbone, Francesco; Mancuso, Salvatore; Romoli, M.; Deppo, Vania Da; Fineschi, Silvano; Heinzel, P.; Moses, J. D.; Naletto, G.; Nicolini, G.; Spadaro, D.; Teriaca, L.; Frassati, Federica; Jerse, G.; Landini, F.; Pancrazzi, M.; Russano, G.; Sasso, C.; Biondo, Ruggero; Burtovoi, A.; Capuano, G.; Casini, C.; Casti, Marta; Chioetto, Paolo; Leo, Y. De; Giarrusso, M.; Liberatore, Alessandro; Berghmans, D.; Auchère, F.; Cuadrado, R. Aznar; Chitta, L. P.; Harra, L. K.; Kraaikamp, E.; Long, David M.; Mandal, Sudip; Parenti, S.; Pelouze, Gabriel; Peter, Hardi; Rodriguez, L.; Schühle, U.; Schwanitz, Conrad; Smith, Phil; Verbeeck, C.; Zhukov, A. N.

doi:10.3847/2041-8213/ac8104

Cited by 38 publications

(19 citation statements)

References 62 publications

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“…Although the origin of switchbacks still remains elusive, our SUVI observations and MHD model hint that the S-web interchange reconnection could play a role in the process. Recent observations do hint at such a close link between interchange reconnection and switchbacks 40,41 .…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Direct observations of a complex coronal web driving highly structured slow solar wind

et al. 2022

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The solar wind consists of continuous streams of charged particles that escape into the heliosphere from the Sun, and is split into fast and slow components, with the fast wind emerging from the interiors of coronal holes. Near the ecliptic plane, the fast wind from low-latitude coronal holes is interspersed with a highly structured slow solar wind, the source regions and drivers of which are poorly understood. Here we report extreme-ultraviolet observations that reveal a spatially complex web of magnetized plasma structures that persistently interact and reconnect in the middle corona. Coronagraphic white-light images show concurrent emergence of slow wind streams over these coronal web structures. With advanced global magnetohydrodynamics coronal models, we demonstrate that the observed coronal web is a direct imprint of the magnetic separatrix web (S-web). By revealing a highly dynamic portion of the S-web, our observations open a window into important middle-coronal processes that appear to play a key role in driving the structured slow solar wind.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Direct observations of a complex coronal web driving highly structured slow solar wind

et al. 2022

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“…Additionally, the scientific importance for multispacecraft measurements and remote -sensing and in situ quadrature observational geometries to establish the solar-heliospheric connection for specific plasma features of well-observed interchange reconnection events has been recently demonstrated by Telloni et al (2022), with the first direct imaging of a "switchback" with Solar Orbiterʼs Metis coronagraph (Antonucci et al 2020). This switchback event's likely origin from the complex S-Web configuration of a small PS S-Web arc coming off the main HS belt/HCS and a null-point spinefan curtain topology where the PS and HS flux systems intersect strongly motivates continued theoretical development, data analysis, and numerical simulations of the dynamic S-Web model for the slow solar wind.…”

Section: Summary and Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The S-Web Origin of Composition Enhancement in the Slow-to-moderate Speed Solar Wind

Lynch

Viall

Higginson

et al. 2023

ApJ

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Connecting the solar wind observed throughout the heliosphere to its origins in the solar corona is one of the central aims of heliophysics. The variability in the magnetic field, bulk plasma, and heavy ion composition properties of the slow wind are thought to result from magnetic reconnection processes in the solar corona. We identify regions of enhanced variability and composition in the solar wind from 2003 April 15 to May 13 (Carrington Rotation 2002), observed by the Wind and Advanced Composition Explorer spacecraft, and demonstrate their relationship to the separatrix–web (hereafter, S-Web) structures describing the corona’s large-scale magnetic topology. There are four pseudostreamer (PS) wind intervals and two helmet streamer (HS) heliospheric current sheet/plasma sheet crossings (and an interplanetary coronal mass ejection), which all exhibit enhanced alpha-to-proton ratios and/or elevated ionic charge states of carbon, oxygen, and iron. We apply the magnetic helicity–partial variance of increments (H m –PVI) procedure to identify coherent magnetic structures and quantify their properties during each interval. The mean duration of these structures are ∼1 hr in both the HS and PS wind. We find a modest enhancement above the power-law fit to the PVI waiting-time distribution in the HS-associated wind at the 1.5–2 hr timescales that is absent from the PS intervals. We discuss our results in the context of previous observations of the ∼90 minutes periodic density structures in the slow solar wind, further development of the dynamic S-Web model, and future Parker Solar Probe and Solar Orbiter joint observational campaigns.

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“…The reduction of switchbacks in the sub-Alfvénic solar wind, which is first reported as the PSP entered the solar corona on 2021 April 28, may also correlate with lower magnetic reconnection rates on the surface of the Sun (Kasper et al 2021). Furthermore, Telloni et al (2022) report possible direct evidence of switchback in the solar corona by using the Metis coronagraph onboard Solar Orbiter, and they suggest that this switchback is favorably produced by an interchange reconnection process. In addition, the widespread kink/Alfvén waves in the corona (Tomczyk et al 2007;Tian et al 2012) provides another possibility that the Alfvénic switchbacks could be highly kinked Alfvén waves that generated in the corona and survived out to PSP distances, as shown by the latest simulations on Alfvénic fluctuations (Tenerani et al 2020;He et al 2021;Shoda et al 2021).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 84%

The Structure and Origin of Switchbacks: Parker Solar Probe Observations

Huang

Kasper

Fisk

et al. 2023

ApJ

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Switchbacks are rapid magnetic field reversals that last from seconds to hours. Current Parker Solar Probe (PSP) observations pose many open questions in regard to the nature of switchbacks. For example, are they stable as they propagate through the inner heliosphere, and how are they formed? In this work, we aim to investigate the structure and origin of switchbacks. In order to study the stability of switchbacks, we suppose the small-scale current sheets therein are generated by magnetic braiding, and they should work to stabilize the switchbacks. With more than 1000 switchbacks identified with PSP observations in seven encounters, we find many more current sheets inside than outside switchbacks, indicating that these microstructures should work to stabilize the S-shape structures of switchbacks. Additionally, we study the helium variations to trace the switchbacks to their origins. We find both helium-rich and helium-poor populations in switchbacks, implying that the switchbacks could originate from both closed and open magnetic field regions in the Sun. Moreover, we observe that the alpha-proton differential speeds also show complex variations as compared to the local Alfvén speed. The joint distributions of both parameters show that low helium abundance together with low differential speed is the dominant state in switchbacks. The presence of small-scale current sheets in switchbacks along with the helium features are in line with the hypothesis that switchbacks could originate from the Sun via interchange reconnection process. However, other formation mechanisms are not excluded.

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Observation of a Magnetic Switchback in the Solar Corona

Cited by 38 publications

References 62 publications

Direct observations of a complex coronal web driving highly structured slow solar wind

Direct observations of a complex coronal web driving highly structured slow solar wind

The S-Web Origin of Composition Enhancement in the Slow-to-moderate Speed Solar Wind

The Structure and Origin of Switchbacks: Parker Solar Probe Observations

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