462-solar-flare-diagram-dixon– This technical diagram illustrates the physics of magnetic reconnection driving a solar flare. The top graphic details the Sweet-Parker mechanism, where opposing magnetic field lines (purple) are pushed together by plasma flows, forming a central current sheet that triggers reconnection and shoots plasma outward along newly configured field lines (blue). Below, a two-stage sequential graphic demonstrates how shearing magnetic loops anchored in the solar photosphere twist, pinch together, and sever to release massive amounts of energy and plasma into the corona.; for Scientific American
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