Astronomers explain Sun's spinning plasma jets as an optical illusion

Researchers from Newcastle University, the Indian Institute of Astrophysics and the University of Sheffield used the Pencil Code simulation to show that solar spicules are not individual spinning plasma jets but a projection of folded magnetic "curtains". IRIS and Hinode data matched the model, which also revealed CoSCos vortices hundreds of kilometers wide rotating at up to 20 km/s.

• Spicules are projections of 3D folded plasma curtains, not separate jets
• Pencil Code modeled coronal heating via magnetohydrodynamic waves and bow shocks
• CoSCos vortices span hundreds of km and rotate at up to 20 km/s
• IRIS (2013) and Hinode (2006) data matched the simulation