Study challenges prevailing view of solar spicules as individual plasma jets
Researchers propose spicules are an optical illusion from plasma 'curtains' and identify giant swirling conduits that may heat the corona
A new study suggests that the Sun’s spicules, spike-like geysers of plasma, may not be individual jets but an optical illusion created by complex three-dimensional curtains of plasma, while also identifying giant plasma tornadoes that could help explain why the corona is much hotter than the surface.