Observation of Magnetic Switchback in the Solar Corona
arXiv:2206.03090 · doi:10.3847/2041-8213/ac8104
Abstract
Switchbacks are sudden, large radial deflections of the solar wind magnetic field, widely revealed in interplanetary space by the Parker Solar Probe. The switchbacks' formation mechanism and sources are still unresolved, although candidate mechanisms include Alfvénic turbulence, shear-driven Kelvin-Helmholtz instabilities, interchange reconnection, and geometrical effects related to the Parker spiral. This Letter presents observations from the Metis coronagraph onboard Solar Orbiter of a single large propagating S-shaped vortex, interpreted as first evidence of a switchback in the solar corona. It originated above an active region with the related loop system bounded by open-field regions to the East and West. Observations, modeling, and theory provide strong arguments in favor of the interchange reconnection origin of switchbacks. Metis measurements suggest that the initiation of the switchback may also be an indicator of the origin of slow solar wind.
References in corpus (25)
- The Solar Orbiter mission -- Science overview
- Switchbacks in the near-Sun magnetic field: long memory and impact on the turbulence cascade
- Metis: the Solar Orbiter visible light and ultraviolet coronal imager
- In-situ switchback formation in the expanding solar wind
- Establishing a Connection Between Active Region Outflows and the Solar Wind: Abundance Measurements with EIS/Hinode
- Magnetic Topology of Coronal Hole Linkages
- Switchbacks as signatures of magnetic flux ropes generated by interchange reconnection in the corona
- Shear-Driven Transition to Isotropically Turbulent Solar Wind Outside the Alfven Critical Zone
- A solar source of Alfvénic magnetic field switchbacks: {\em in situ} remnants of magnetic funnels on supergranulation scales
- Magnetic field kinks and folds in the solar wind
- Ion kinetic energy conservation and magnetic field strength constancy in multi-fluid solar wind Alfvénic turbulence
- Switchbacks Explained: Super-Parker Fields -- the Other Side of the Sub-Parker Spiral
- Coronal-Jet-Producing Minifilament Eruptions as a Possible Source of Parker Solar Probe (PSP) Switchbacks
- Characteristic scales of magnetic switchback patches near the Sun and their possible association with solar supergranulation and granulation
- Statistical analysis of orientation, shape, and size of solar wind switchbacks
- Small-scale Flux Emergence, Coronal Hole Heating, and Flux-tube Expansion: A Hybrid Solar Wind Model
- Turbulence characteristics of switchbacks and non-switchbacks intervals observed by \emph{Parker Solar Probe}
- Direct evidence for magnetic reconnection at the boundaries of magnetic switchbacks with Parker Solar Probe
- Coherent events at ion scales in the inner Heliosphere: \textit{Parker Solar Probe} observations during the first Encounter
- Multiscale Solar Wind Turbulence Properties inside and near Switchbacks measured by Parker Solar Probe
- On the origin of switchbacks observed in the solar wind
- Could switchbacks originate in the lower solar atmosphere? I. Formation mechanisms of switchbacks
- Detection of plasma fluctuations in white-light images of the outer solar corona: investigation of the spatial and temporal evolution
- The effect of a dynamo-generated field on the Parker wind
- A Simple Radial Gradient Filter for Batch-Processing of Coronagraph Images