2 spacecraft caught the waves that might heat and accelerate the solar wind
Some lucky timing let the probes gather data that could explain longstanding solar riddles
![solar wind](https://i0.wp.com/www.sciencenews.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/082924_am_solar-wind_feat.gif?fit=1440%2C810&ssl=1)
The sun’s fiery corona, seen here in images captured by NASA’s Solar and Terrestrial Relations Observatory in 2017, exudes a stream of charged particles known as the solar wind. Recent observations appear to explain why this solar wind is so much faster and hotter than expected. A comet (circled) can be seen making a close approach to the sun.
Joy Ng, Bill Thompson/STEREO/NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center