25/08/2023 (Agence Europe) – The ESA/NASA Solar Orbiter probe has discovered a multitude of tiny jets of matter escaping from the Sun’s outer atmosphere, announced the European Space Agency (ESA) on Thursday 24 August. “These jets could be the long-sought-after source of the solar wind”, said the Agency, pointing out that the solar wind consists of charged particles, known as plasma, that are continually escaping from the Sun. According to the ESA, each jet lasts between 20 and 100 seconds and expels plasma at a speed of around 100 km/s. The data comes from Solar Orbiter’s EUI (Extreme Ultraviolet Imager) instrument. The solar wind propagates outwards through interplanetary space. When it collides with Earth’s magnetic field, it produces the aurorae. (CG)