SPACE/COSMOS
Discovery of elusive solar waves that could power the Sun's corona
Researchers have achieved a breakthrough in solar physics by providing the first direct evidence of small-scale torsional Alfvén waves in the Sun's corona – elusive magnetic waves that scientists have been searching for since the 1940s.
Northumbria University
image:
An artist’s representation of twisting magnetic waves (inset) revealed for the first time by the NSF Inouye Solar Telescope. These upward-traveling torsional waves coexist with other wave types and may be an essential ingredient in solving the mystery of why the Sun’s atmosphere is so hot. For more information see Morton et al. (2025). Credit: NSF/NSO/AURA/J. Williams
view moreCredit: NSF/NSO/AURA/J. Williams
Researchers have achieved a breakthrough in solar physics by providing the first direct evidence of small-scale torsional Alfvén waves in the Sun's corona – elusive magnetic waves that scientists have been searching for since the 1940s.
The discovery, published today in Nature Astronomy, was made using unprecedented observations from the world's most powerful solar telescope, the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) Daniel K. Inouye Solar Telescope in Hawaii.
The findings could finally explain one of the Sun's greatest mysteries – how its outer atmosphere the corona, reaches temperatures of millions of degrees while its surface is only around 5,500°C.
Alfvén waves, named after Nobel Prize winner Hannes Alfvén who predicted their existence in 1942, are magnetic disturbances that can carry energy through plasma.
Scientists have spotted larger, isolated versions of these waves before – normally related to solar flares. However, this is the first time that the small twisting type, that are present all the time and could power the Sun, have been directly observed.
UKRI Future Leader Fellow Professor Richard Morton, a Professor within Northumbria University’s School of Engineering, Physics and Mathematics, led the research, He said: “This discovery ends a protracted search for these waves that has its origins in the 1940s. We've finally been able to directly observe these torsional motions twisting the magnetic field lines back and forth in the corona."
The breakthrough was made possible by the unique capabilities of the Daniel K. Inouye Solar Telescope's Cryogenic Near Infrared Spectropolarimeter (Cryo-NIRSP), the most advanced coronal instrument of its kind.
This cutting-edge spectrometer can see incredibly fine details in the corona and is highly sensitive to changes in the movement of plasma.
With its four-meter-wide mirror – four times larger than previous solar telescopes – the Daniel K. Inouye Solar Telescope, built and operated by the NSF National Solar Observatory, represents two decades of international planning and development.
Northumbria University has played a crucial role in its development as part of a UK consortium that designed cameras for the telescope's Visible Broadband Imager, building on the University's established reputation in observations of the solar atmosphere.
Professor Morton won time to use the telescope while it was still being tested and used the instrument to track the movement of iron, heated to 1.6 million degrees Celsius, in the corona.
The key breakthrough came from Professor Morton developing entirely new analytical techniques to separate different types of wave motion in the data. As he explains: “The movement of plasma in the sun's corona is dominated by swaying motions. These mask the torsional motions, so I had to develop a way of removing the swaying to find the twisting.”
While the more familiar ‘kink’ waves cause entire magnetic structures to sway back and forth and are visible in film captured of the Sun, the newly detected torsional Alfvén waves cause a twisting motion that can only be detected through spectroscopic analysis – measuring how plasma moves toward and away from Earth, creating characteristic red and blue shifts on opposite sides of magnetic structures.
The discovery has profound implications for understanding how the Sun works. The corona, the Sun's outermost atmosphere visible during solar eclipses, is heated to temperatures exceeding one million degrees Celsius – hot enough to accelerate plasma away from the Sun as the solar wind that fills our entire solar system.
The research represents a major international collaboration, with co-authors from Peking University in China, KU Leuven in Belgium, Queen Mary University of London, the Chinese Academy of Sciences, and the NSF National Solar Observatory in Hawaii and Colorado.
Understanding these fundamental processes has practical importance for space weather prediction. The solar wind carries magnetic disturbances that can disrupt satellite communications, GPS systems, and power grids on Earth. Alfvén waves may also be the source of ‘magnetic switchbacks’ – significant carriers of energy in the solar wind that have been observed by NASA's Parker Solar Probe.
“This research provides essential validation for the range of theoretical models that describe how Alfvén wave turbulence powers the solar atmosphere,” added Professor Morton. “Having direct observations finally allows us to test these models against reality.”
The team anticipates this discovery will spark further investigations into how these waves propagate and dissipate energy in the corona. The ability of the Daniel K. Inouye Solar Telescope's Cryo-NIRSP instrument to provide high-quality spectra opens new possibilities for studying wave physics in the solar atmosphere.
The research was supported by UKRI Future Leaders Fellowships, the National Natural Science Foundation of China, and the European Union's Horizon Europe programme.
This is the third paper Professor Morton has published this year in relation to his research into Alfvén waves. In April 2025 the paper High-frequency Coronal Alfvénic Waves Observed with DKIST/Cryo-NIRSP was published in The Astrophysical Journal, followed by the paper On the Origins of Coronal Alfvénic Waves, published in June 2025 in The Astrophysical Journal Letters.
FURTHER INFORMATION:
- The paper Evidence for small-scale torsional Alfvén waves in the solar corona was published in Nature Astronomy on XX October 2025. DOI: 10.1038/s41550-025-02690-9
- Visit the Northumbria University Research Portal to find out more about Professor Richard Morton’s work.
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Overview of observations and findings from the study. Clockwise from left, the panels show the Sun’s corona observed by NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory using the Atmospheric Imaging Assembly in the extreme ultraviolet. This shows context for Cryo-NIRSP data—Inouye’s field of view is circled and the red dashed line shows spectrograph slit position. The upper right panel shows how the Cryo-NIRSP data evolve over time, and enhances extractions of the residual velocity signals on separate sides of thin coronal loops. The opposite signed velocities, colored blue and red in the figure, correspond to the twisting motions of the coronal feature, which is shown as well in the artist’s impression panel. Finally, these findings are corroborated using advanced 3D simulations of loops, which show the same type of signatures. (See paper for full details). Credit: Morton et al. (2025)
Credit
Morton et al. (2025)
Cryo-NIRSP (right), the Inouye’s advanced coronal spectropolarimeter, used to track twisting plasma motions in the Sun’s corona. Credit: NSF/NSO/AURA
Credit
NSF/NSO/AURA
Exterior of the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) Daniel K. Inouye Solar Telescope in Hawaii. Credit: NSF/NSO/AURA
Credit
NSF/NSO/AURA
Journal
Nature Astronomy
Method of Research
Imaging analysis
Subject of Research
Not applicable
Article Title
Evidence for small-scale torsional Alfvén waves in the solar corona
Article Publication Date
24-Oct-2025
Can yeast survive on Mars?
image:
Left: Riya Dhage (first author), Right: Purusharth I Rajyaguru (corresponding author)
view moreCredit: Swati Lamba
Baker’s yeast (Saccharomyces cerevisiae) is an indispensable ingredient in making bread, beer, and biotechnology products. But this humble organism also holds clues to something more cosmic – how life could survive in extraterrestrial conditions.
In a new study, researchers in the Department of Biochemistry (BC), Indian Institute of Science (IISc) and collaborators at the Physical Research Laboratory (PRL), Ahmedabad have found that the yeast has the resilience to withstand harsh conditions found in the Martian environment.
The team exposed yeast cells to high-intensity shock waves – similar to those produced by meteorite impacts on Mars – and perchlorate salts, which are toxic chemicals found in Martian soil. Using a High-Intensity Shock Tube for Astrochemistry (HISTA) in Bhalamurugan Sivaraman’s lab at PRL, they simulated shock waves reaching Mach 5.6 intensity. The team also treated yeast cells with 100 mM sodium perchlorate either in isolation or in combination with the shockwaves.
“One of the biggest hurdles was setting up the HISTA tube to expose live yeast cells to shock waves – something that has not been attempted before – and then recovering yeast with minimum contamination for downstream experiments,” explains lead author Riya Dhage, a project assistant in the lab of Purusharth I Rajyaguru, Associate Professor in BC.
Remarkably, the yeast cells survived when treated with shock waves and perchlorate, individually and in combination, although the cells’ growth slowed down. The likely key to their resilience lies in their ability to produce ribonucleoprotein (RNP) condensates – tiny, membrane-less structures that help protect and reorganise mRNA when the cells are under stress. Shock waves triggered the assembly of two types of RNPs called stress granules and P-bodies, while perchlorate exposure led to the generation of P-bodies alone. Yeast mutants that were unable to form these structures were far less likely to survive.
The results show how RNP condensates may act as biomarkers for cellular stress under extraterrestrial conditions.
“What makes this work unique is the integration of shock wave physics and chemical biology with molecular cell biology to probe how life might cope with such Mars-like stressors,” says Dhage.
The findings underscore how baker’s yeast could serve as an excellent model for India’s efforts in astrobiology research. Understanding how such cells reorganise their RNA and proteins under mechanical and chemical stress can provide insights into the survival of lifeforms beyond Earth. Crucially, such insights could also guide the design of stress-resilient extraterrestrial biological systems.
“We were surprised to observe yeast surviving the Mars-like stress conditions that we used in our experiments,” says Rajyaguru, the corresponding author of the study. “We hope that this study will galvanise efforts to have yeast on board in future space explorations.”
Journal
PNAS Nexus
Article Title
Ribonucleoprotein (RNP) condensates modulate survival in response to Mars-like stress conditions
Article Publication Date
24-Oct-2025
Three Earth-sized planets discovered in a compact binary system
An international team of researchers has just revealed the existence of three Earth-sized planets in the binary stellar system TOI-2267 located about 190 light-years away.
image:
Artist’s impression of TOI-2267 ©Mario Sucerquia (University of Grenoble Alpes).
view moreCredit: ©Mario Sucerquia (University of Grenoble Alpes).
An international team of researchers has just revealed the existence of three Earth-sized planets in the binary stellar system TOI-2267 located about 190 light-years away. This discovery, published in Astronomy & Astrophysics, is remarkable as it sheds new light on the formation and stability of planets in double-star environments, which have long been considered hostile to the development of complex planetary systems.
"Our analysis shows a unique planetary arrangement: two planets are transiting one star, and the third is transiting its companion star," says Sebastián Zúñiga-Fernández, researcher and member of the ExoTIC group at the University of Liège (ULiège) and first author of the study. "This makes TOI-2267 the first binary system known to host transiting planets around both of its stars."
An unusual double-star system
TOI-2267 is a compact binary: two stars orbit each other in a tight configuration, creating a gravitationally unstable environment for planet formation. Yet, researchers have identified three Earth-sized planets in short orbits, a surprising result that challenges several classical models of planetary formation.
“Our discovery breaks several records, as it is the most compact and coldest pair of stars with planets known, and it is also the first in which planets have been recorded transiting around both components,” explains Francisco J. Pozuelos, a former member of the ExoTIC group, currently researcher at the Instituto de Astrofísica de Andalucía (IAA-CSIC), and co-leader of the study.
An international, multidisciplinary effort
While NASA’s TESS space telescope provided the data, the initial identification of two of the three planets was first achieved by ULiège and IAA-CSIC astronomers using their own detection software, SHERLOCK. This early discovery allowed the team to trigger ground-based follow-up observations well in advance. The subsequent confirmation of the planetary nature of these signals required an intensive campaign with several observatories. Among them, the SPECULOOS and TRAPPIST telescopes, led by ULiège (PI: Michaël Gillon), played a central role. These robotic facilities, optimized for studying small exoplanets around faint, cool stars, were crucial in confirming the planets and characterizing the system.
A natural laboratory for planet formation
“Discovering three Earth-sized planets in such a compact binary system is a unique opportunity,” explains Sebastián Zúñiga-Fernández. “It allows us to test the limits of planet formation models in complex environments and to better understand the diversity of possible planetary architectures in our galaxy.”
Francisco J. Pozuelos adds: “This system is a true natural laboratory for understanding how rocky planets can emerge and survive under extreme dynamical conditions, where we previously thought their stability would be compromised”.
Opening the door to future research
This discovery raises many questions about planet formation in binary systems and paves the way for new observations, notably with the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) and the next generation of giant ground-based telescopes. These instruments will enable precisely measuring the masses, densities, and perhaps even the atmospheric composition of these distant worlds.
Beyond its spectacular nature, this discovery highlights the power of combining space missions with specialized ground-based telescopes, such as SPECULOOS and TRAPPIST, to push the frontiers of exoplanetary science.
Journal
Astronomy and Astrophysics
Method of Research
Meta-analysis
Subject of Research
Not applicable
Article Title
Two warm Earth-sized exoplanets and an Earth-sized candidate in the M5V-M6V binary system TOI-2267
Article Publication Date
24-Oct-2025
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