Twisted flux ropes as the key to solar flares and atmospheric heating

A study published in The Astrophysical Journal Letters by an international team* coordinated by Tahar Amari, CNRS research director at the Center for Theoretical Physics (CPHT**) at École Polytechnique, shows that twisted flux ropes (TFRs) are omnipresent in the Sun, even in its quietest regions. Their work, combining high-resolution observations and advanced simulations, explains how those TFRs help to heat the solar atmosphere to extreme temperatures.