Overview

• The Solar Orbiter mission has identified where the slow solar wind begins and how it escapes into space.
• Data from the spacecraft's close approach to the Sun provided new insights into the solar wind's variability and composition.
• Scientists confirmed that slow solar wind originates from the Sun's closed corona, where magnetic field lines break and reconnect.
• The findings help link solar wind activity to phenomena observed in the heliosphere, the Sun's protective plasma bubble.
• The international collaboration involved advanced instruments from multiple institutions, enhancing the study of space weather.