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Related papers: Switchback Patches Evolve into Microstreams via Ma…

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The Parker Solar Probe (PSP) mission has revealed frequent occurrences of switchbacks (SBs) and small-scale magnetic flux ropes (SMFRs) as prominent structures within the solar wind. These mesoscale features are observed across all…

Solar and Stellar Astrophysics · Physics 2025-07-02 Kyung-Eun Choi , Oleksiy V. Agapitov , Dae-Young Lee , Forrest Mozer , Jia Huang , Lucas Colomban , Jaye L. Verniero , Nour Raouafi

Switchbacks are Aflv\'enic fluctuations in the solar wind, which exhibit large rotations in the magnetic field direction. Observations from Parker Solar Probe's (PSP's) first two solar encounters have formed the basis for many of the…

Space Physics · Physics 2022-09-14 R. Laker , T. S. Horbury , L. Matteini , S. D. Bale , J. E. Stawarz , L. D. Woodham , T. Woolley

Switchbacks are discrete angular deflections in the solar wind magnetic field that have been observed throughout the heliosphere. Recent observations by Parker Solar Probe (PSP) have revealed the presence of patches of switchbacks on the…

Magnetic switchbacks, or sudden reversals in the magnetic field's radial direction, are one of the more striking observations of Parker Solar Probe (PSP) thus far in its mission. While their precise production mechanisms are still unknown,…

Parker Solar Probe (PSP) routinely observes magnetic field deflections in the solar wind at distances less than 0.3 au from the Sun. These deflections are related to structures commonly called 'switchbacks' (SBs), whose origins and…

Parker Solar Probe (PSP) observes unexpectedly prevalent switchbacks, which are rapid magnetic field reversals that last from seconds to hours, in the inner heliosphere, posing new challenges to understanding their nature, origin, and…

Context. Recent spacecraft observations in the inner heliosphere have revealed the presence of local Alfvenic reversals of the magnetic field, while the field magnitude remains almost constant. They are called magnetic switchbacks and are…

Solar and Stellar Astrophysics · Physics 2023-09-13 F. Malara , S. Perri , J. Giacalone , G. Zimbardo

In-situ measurements by several spacecraft have revealed that the solar wind is frequently perturbed by transient structures (magnetic folds, jets, waves, flux-ropes) that propagate rapidly away from the Sun over large distances. Parker…

Solar and Stellar Astrophysics · Physics 2021-09-15 R. F. Pinto , N. Poirier , A. P. Rouillard , A. Kouloumvakos , L. Griton , N. Fargette , R. Kieokaew , B. Lavraud , A. S. Brun

Magnetic switchbacks, large-amplitude, localized Alfvenic like rotations of the solar wind magnetic field, have been the subject of intensive investigation, with approximately 200 refereed papers published in the last decade. Yet,…

Solar and Stellar Astrophysics · Physics 2026-05-15 Forrest Mozer , Oleksiy Agapitov , Kyung-Eun Choi , Richard Sydora

Recent near-sun solar-wind observations from Parker Solar Probe have found a highly dynamic magnetic environment, permeated by abrupt radial-field reversals, or "switchbacks." We show that many features of the observed turbulence are…

Space Physics · Physics 2020-03-04 Jonathan Squire , Benjamin D. G. Chandran , Romain Meyrand

The Parker Solar Probe mission provides a unique opportunity to characterize several features of the solar wind at different heliocentric distances. Recent findings have shown a transition in the inertial range spectral and scaling…

Solar and Stellar Astrophysics · Physics 2022-11-30 Tommaso Alberti , Simone Benella , Giuseppe Consolini , Mirko Stumpo , Roberto Benzi

Switchbacks are sudden and large deflections in the magnetic field that Parker Solar Probe frequently observes in the inner heliosphere. Their ubiquitous occurrence has prompted numerous studies to determine their nature and origin. Our…

The recent rediscovery of magnetic field switchbacks or deflections embedded in the solar wind flow by the Parker Solar Probe mission lead to a huge interest in the modelling of the formation mechanisms and origin of these switchbacks.…

Solar and Stellar Astrophysics · Physics 2021-04-28 Norbert Magyar , Dominik Utz , Robertus Erdélyi , Valery M. Nakariakov

One of the discoveries made by Parker Solar Probe during first encounters with the Sun is the ubiquitous presence of relatively small-scale structures standing out as sudden deflections of the magnetic field. They were called switchbacks as…

Parker Solar Probe observations reveal that the near-Sun space is almost filled with magnetic switchbacks (``switchbacks'' hereinafter), which may be a major contributor to the heating and acceleration of solar wind. Here, for the first…

{Parker Solar Probe's first solar encounter has revealed the presence of sudden magnetic field deflections that are called switchbacks and are associated with proton velocity enhancements in the slow alfv\'{e}nic solar wind.} {We study…

The origin of switchbacks in the solar wind is discussed in two classes of theory that differ in the location of the source being either in the transition region near the Sun or in the solar wind, itself. The two classes of theory differ in…

Solar and Stellar Astrophysics · Physics 2021-10-04 Forrest S. Mozer , Stuart Bale , John Bonnell , James Drake , Elizabeth Hanson , Michael C. Mozer

Two states of the slow solar wind are identified from in-situ measurements by Parker Solar Probe (PSP) inside 50 solar radii from the Sun. At such distances the wind measured at PSP has not yet undergone significant transformation related…

Solar and Stellar Astrophysics · Physics 2021-04-07 Léa Griton , Alexis P. Rouillard , Nicolas Poirier , Karine Issautier , Michel Moncuquet , Rui Pinto

An outstanding gap in our knowledge of the solar wind is the relationship between switchbacks and solar wind turbulence. Switchbacks are large fluctuations, even reversals, of the background magnetic field embedded in the solar wind flow.…

Solar and Stellar Astrophysics · Physics 2024-04-05 Peter Tatum , David Malaspina , Alexandros Chasapis , Benjamin Short