Abstract Spicules, the smallest observable jetlike dynamic features ubiquitous in the chromosphere, are supposedly an important potential source for small-scale solar wind transients, with supporting evidence yet needed. We studied the high-resolution Hαimages (0.″10) and magnetograms (0.″29) from the Big Bear Solar Observatory to find that spicules are an ideal candidate for the solar wind magnetic switchbacks detected by the Parker Solar Probe (PSP). It is not that spicules are a miniature of coronal jets, but that they have unique properties not found in other solar candidates in explaining solar origin of switchbacks. (1) The spicules under this study originate from filigrees, all in a single magnetic polarity. Since filigrees are known as footpoints of open fields, the spicule guiding field lines can form a unipolar funnel, which is needed to create an SB patch, a group of field lines that switch from one common base polarity to the other polarity. (2) The spicules come in a cluster lined up along a supergranulation boundary, and the simulated waiting times from their spatial intervals exhibit a number distribution continuously decreasing from a few seconds to ∼30 minutes, similar to that of switchbacks. (3) From a time–distance map for spicules, we estimate their occurrence rate as 0.55 spicules Mm−2s−1, which is sufficiently high for detection by PSP. In addition, the dissimilarity of spicules with coronal jets, including the absence of base brightening and low correlation with EUV emission, is briefly discussed.
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This content will become publicly available on October 14, 2026
Fine Structures of Tiny Quiet Sun Jets Observed by Solar Orbiter and Big Bear Solar Observatory
Abstract We present the first joint high-resolution observations of small-scale EUV jets using Solar Orbiter (SolO)’s Extreme Ultraviolet Imager and High Resolution Imager (EUI/HRIEUV) and Hαimaging from the Visible Imaging Spectrometer installed on the 1.6 m Goode Solar Telescope at the Big Bear Solar Observatory. These jets occurred on 2022 October 29 around 19:10 UT in a quiet Sun region, and their main axis aligns with the overarching magnetic structure traced by a cluster of spicules. However, they develop a helical morphology, while the Hαspicules maintain straight, linear trajectories elsewhere. Alongside the spicules, thin, elongated red- and blueshifted Hαfeatures appear to envelope the EUV jets, which we tentatively call sheath flows. The EUI jet moving upward at a speed of ∼110 km s−1is joined by a strong Hαredshift at ∼20 km s−1to form bidirectional outflows lasting ∼2 minutes. Using AI-assisted differential emission measure analysis of SolO’s Full Sun Imager, we derived total energy of the EUV jet as ∼1.9 × 1026erg with 87% in thermal energy and 13% in kinetic energy. The parameters and morphology of this small-scale EUV jet are interpreted based on a thin flux tube model that predicts Alfvénic waves driven by impulsive interchange reconnection localized as narrowly as ∼1.6 Mm with a magnetic flux of ∼5.4 × 1017Mx, belonging to the smallest magnetic features in the quiet Sun. This detection of intricate corona–chromospheric coupling highlights the power of high-resolution imaging in unraveling the mechanisms behind small-scale solar ejections across atmospheric layers.
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- Award ID(s):
- 2114201
- PAR ID:
- 10648200
- Publisher / Repository:
- American Astronomical Society
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- The Astrophysical Journal Letters
- Volume:
- 992
- Issue:
- 2
- ISSN:
- 2041-8205
- Page Range / eLocation ID:
- L23
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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