@article{6c019ac8f79f43418b6ceaa057e72448,
title = "Magnetic Reconnection as the Driver of the Solar Wind",
abstract = "We present EUV solar observations showing evidence for omnipresent jetting activity driven by small-scale magnetic reconnection at the base of the solar corona. We argue that the physical mechanism that heats and drives the solar wind at its source is ubiquitous magnetic reconnection in the form of small-scale jetting activity (a.k.a. jetlets). This jetting activity, like the solar wind and the heating of the coronal plasma, is ubiquitous regardless of the solar cycle phase. Each event arises from small-scale reconnection of opposite-polarity magnetic fields producing a short-lived jet of hot plasma and Alfv{\'e}n waves into the corona. The discrete nature of these jetlet events leads to intermittent outflows from the corona, which homogenize as they propagate away from the Sun and form the solar wind. This discovery establishes the importance of small-scale magnetic reconnection in solar and stellar atmospheres in understanding ubiquitous phenomena such as coronal heating and solar wind acceleration. Based on previous analyses linking the switchbacks to the magnetic network, we also argue that these new observations might provide the link between the magnetic activity at the base of the corona and the switchback solar wind phenomenon. These new observations need to be put in the bigger picture of the role of magnetic reconnection and the diverse form of jetting in the solar atmosphere.",
author = "Raouafi, {Nour E.} and G. Stenborg and Seaton, {D. B.} and H. Wang and J. Wang and DeForest, {C. E.} and Bale, {S. D.} and Drake, {J. F.} and Uritsky, {V. M.} and Karpen, {J. T.} and DeVore, {C. R.} and Sterling, {A. C.} and Horbury, {T. S.} and Harra, {L. K.} and S. Bourouaine and Kasper, {J. C.} and P. Kumar and Phan, {T. D.} and M. Velli",
note = "Funding Information: We gratefully acknowledge the use of data from the GST of the BBSO. BBSO operation is supported by US NSF AGS-1821294 grant and New Jersey Institute of Technology. GST operation is partly supported by the Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute and the Seoul National University. Funding Information: SUVI product development, analysis, calibration, validation, and data stewardship was completed at the Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences at the University of Colorado, in partnership with the National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI), and supported by National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration cooperative agreement no. NA17OAR4320101. Funding Information: N.E.R. and G.S. was suported by Parker Solar Probe under contract NNN06AA01C and NASA grants 80NSSC20K1098 and 90120NAPR09JHU. H.W. and J.W. acknowledge the support of NASA grants 80NSSC20K1282, 80NSSC20K0025 and NSF grant AGS- 2229064. J.F.D. was supported by NSF grant PHY2109083. J.T.K. and C.R.D. acknowledge support from NASA{\textquoteright}s H-ISFM program at GSFC. A.C.S. was supported by NASA's Heliophysics Supporting Research (HSR) and Heliophysics System Observatory Connect (HSOC) programs. We thank the International Space Science Institute (ISSI) for support for the team “Exploring The Solar Wind In Regions Closer Than Ever Observed Before.” Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2023. The Author(s). Published by the American Astronomical Society.",
year = "2023",
month = mar,
day = "1",
doi = "10.3847/1538-4357/acaf6c",
language = "English (US)",
volume = "945",
journal = "Astrophysical Journal",
issn = "0004-637X",
publisher = "IOP Publishing Ltd.",
number = "1",
}