Solar Orbiter reveals how solar system's fastest electrons are created
The Solar Orbiter spacecraft, a joint ESA and NASA mission, has figured out where the fastest electrons in our solar system come from.
After tracking hundreds of energetic electron events, scientists found two main sources: quick blasts from solar flares and bigger, longer eruptions called coronal mass ejections (CMEs).
Study helps ESA missions like Smile and Vigil predict space weather
This discovery clears up years of confusion about how these high-speed electrons are launched into space.
Alexander Warmuth from Leibniz Institute for Astrophysics shared that they can now tell apart short flare bursts from steady CME emissions.
The study also explains why these electrons take hours to reach space—they get scattered by turbulence in the solar wind.
These insights will help future ESA missions like Smile and Vigil better predict space weather and keep satellites (and astronauts) safer.