Spacecraft Passes Through Kink in Sun's Magnetic Field, Settles Old Dispute Among Scientists

BETWEEN EARTH AND THE SUN — The European Space Agency's Solar Orbiter has flown through a sharp, S-shaped bend in the Sun's magnetic field known as a switchback, and the data it gathered may bear on the forecasting of dangerous space weather, according to a report in The Debrief.

The study, published in Nature Astronomy on October 8, 2026, under the title "On the Coronal Origin of Magnetic Switchbacks in the Solar Wind," describes how the craft sampled the structure while travelling roughly halfway between Earth and the Sun. Researchers then traced its particles back to the solar atmosphere.

Switchbacks were first observed in the 1970s by the Helios 1 and Helios 2 spacecraft, and their origins have been debated since. Solar Orbiter's Solar Wind Analyzer found a mix of highly charged oxygen and carbon ions consistent with material from the Sun's hot coronal magnetic loops. That supports one of two leading theories, called interchange reconnection, in which open and closed magnetic field lines join and let confined plasma escape into space.

The rival theory, involving waves and turbulence in the solar wind, was not dismissed. Co-author Stephanie Yardley of Northumbria University said the team saw signs of such effects "likely only after the switchback heads out into space." In her account, the two processes operate at different stages of a switchback's life.

The article notes that society's dependence on satellites, communications and power networks has made space weather a major concern. Daniel Müller, ESA Project Scientist for Solar Orbiter, said a better understanding of the solar wind will help in preparing for solar storms and protecting space-based infrastructure.