College of Science

Physical, Biological, Mathematical and Computational Sciences

Twisted Roots for Solar Jets

2008/05/16
Publication: 
Science News
"Using NASA's twin STEREO spacecraft like a pair of eyes, each staring at the sun from a different perspective, researchers have constructed the first 3-D image of a jet of gas zooming out of the sun's outer atmosphere. The jet's helical shape provides strong evidence that the outburst was generated by twisted magnetic fields anchored in the sun's visible surface, or photosphere, Spiros Patsourakos of George Mason University in Fairfax, Va., and his colleagues report ...."