Laser-blasted plasma reveals how instabilities could heat the Sun's corona

Researchers used laser-produced plasma to reproduce instabilities that may explain why the Sun's corona reaches millions of degrees while its surface stays at about 5,800 K. The lab setup offers a model for a long-standing solar physics puzzle.

• Sun's surface is about 5,800 K, while the corona reaches millions of degrees
• Laser plasma reproduced instabilities that accelerate electrons
• The coronal heating mechanism remains unexplained