Loopholes discovered in Sun’s magnetic belt

The mystery surrounding how an electrically charged solar wind can be unleashed from around the Sun's equator - an area where strong magnetic fields should strap it to the surface - has been solved by an international team of researchers. Using data from the Hinode telescope, researchers have been studying the 'slow' solar wind, which comes from the aptly named 'equatorial belt' of the Sun where the magnetic field is strapped to the surface of our local star. The paradox has been that these equatorial regions are full of closed magnetic structures that are confined to the Sun, which should prevent gasses from escaping. Published today in the journal Solar Physics, the answer to how the slow solar wind escapes into the universe turns out to be linked to regions where the magnetic field vanishes altogether, regions called null points. Team leader, Lidia van Driel-Gesztelyi (UCL Mullard Space Science Laboratory), explained: "The Sun is a magnetic star and we have known for a long time that the magnetic field in the atmosphere controls the flow of the gases - where they can and cannot go. At the poles of the Sun the magnetic field allows the gases to escape, but around the equator the gases should be trapped.  "Our new discovery shows that that there are special configurations of the magnetic field that can undo the belt around the Sun's middle and provide the trapped gases with an escape route.