Scientists uncover the origins of the dynamic swirling jets called spicules on the sun's surface. The publication was made in Science and a summary
can be read via this link here.
Spicules show up as "grass" above the sun's surface but are in reality 7500km long jet's with a speed up to 95 km/s and lasting only 10minutes. Scientist always believed that magnetic fields and charged particles in the sun's atmosphere are responsible for creation of spicules but the mechanism of creation was unclear. Adding neutral particles into the model provides a lot of answers and solves the question on how spicules are created. The magnetic fields move more freely and the neutral particles provide the neseccary buyancy the magnetic fields (fluxtubes) need to rise through the sun's convection zone up to the chromosphere. There they snap into spicules, releasing plasma and energy. The friction between the charged and neutral particles are responsable for heating up the plasma in and around the spicules which also could explain the increased tempature from the transition region (region between chromosphere and corona).
