Solar Orbiter traces the origin of magnetic switchbacks in the solar wind
8 October 2026
The European Space Agency announced on 8 October 2026 that its Solar Orbiter spacecraft has traced where magnetic switchbacks in the solar wind are formed.
Switchbacks are S-shaped kinks in the magnetic field carried by the solar wind.
Solar Orbiter flew through a large switchback while roughly halfway between the Earth and the Sun and sampled its plasma with the Solar Wind Analyser instrument.
The plasma held a mix of charged oxygen and carbon particles that could only have formed inside hot magnetic loops at the Sun's surface.
The team says this is evidence for interchange reconnection, in which open and closed magnetic regions interact and let trapped plasma escape.
Signs of waves and turbulence were also seen, but only after the switchback had left the Sun, so both processes act at different stages of its life.
The study was published in Nature Astronomy, with Jesse T. Coburn of CNRS/LPP in France as lead author, and used data from NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory alongside Solar Orbiter.
Daniel Mueller, ESA's project scientist for Solar Orbiter, said better knowledge of the solar wind improves preparation for solar storms.
In plain words
Solar wind Stream of charged particles from the Sun — A continuous flow of plasma from the Sun's corona that carries the Sun's magnetic field outward.
SDO Solar Dynamics Observatory — A NASA spacecraft that images the Sun continuously from Earth orbit.