Nóbrega-Siverio, D. ; Joshi, R. ; Sola-Viladesau, E. ; Berghmans, D. ; Lim, D.

published in Solar Orbiter Science Nugget, 19/11/2025 issue #77 (2025)

Abstract: Coronal Bright Points (CBPs) are ubiquitous small-scale magnetic structures in the solar corona, consisting of million-Kelvin loops rooted in the photospheric network [1]. They radiate copious amounts of energy [2,3] and cover the Sun almost uniformly [4], making them key ingredients in the quest to understand coronal heating [1]. CBPs are also textbook sites of interchange reconnection, where closed and open magnetic field lines reconnect and release plasma and energy, often producing jet-like outflows [5,6]. Yet, their contribution to the corona and solar wind has remained difficult to quantify, largely due to the lack of observations capable of resolving their rapid evolution and fine magnetic structure, as well as the limited availability of realistic numerical models. In this work [7], we exploit the unprecedented capabilities of the High Resolution Imager at 174 Å (HRIEUV) onboard Solar Orbiter [8,9] to reveal the previously hidden jetting activity of CBPs and to identify signatures of magnetic reconnection occurring at their current sheets. We analyze eleven datasets obtained between 2021 and 2023, capturing CBPs under diverse viewing geometries and evolutionary stages. These observations are complemented with a state-of-the-art radiative-MHD simulation [10] performed with the Bifrost code [11], which provides a physical framework to interpret the observed dynamics and reconnection signatures.

Keyword(s): Solar Orbiter ; EUI ; jets
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