Chromospheric Alfvénic Waves Strong Enough to Power the Solar Wind
@article{DePontieu2007ChromosphericAW, title={Chromospheric Alfvénic Waves Strong Enough to Power the Solar Wind}, author={Bart De Pontieu and Scott W. McIntosh and Mats Carlsson and Viggo H. Hansteen and Theodore D. Tarbell and Carolus J. Schrijver and Alan M. Title and Richard A. Shine and Saku Tsuneta and Yukio Katsukawa and Kiyoshi Ichimoto and Yoshinori Suematsu and T. Taro Shimizu and S. Nagata}, journal={Science}, year={2007}, volume={318}, pages={1574 - 1577} }
Alfvén waves have been invoked as a possible mechanism for the heating of the Sun's outer atmosphere, or corona, to millions of degrees and for the acceleration of the solar wind to hundreds of kilometers per second. However, Alfvén waves of sufficient strength have not been unambiguously observed in the solar atmosphere. We used images of high temporal and spatial resolution obtained with the Solar Optical Telescope onboard the Japanese Hinode satellite to reveal that the chromosphere, the…
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