Astronomers uncover a mysterious magnetic web above the Sun

What happened

Using a balloon-borne telescope high above Earth, scientists discovered delicate, thread-like magnetic structures woven through the solar atmosphere, apparently shaped by twisting motions on the Sun’s surface. Using the Sunrise-III solar observatory, which traveled high into Earth's stratosphere aboard a balloon in 2024, an international research team led by the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan (NAOJ) discovered intricate, thread-like magnetic features that had previously been difficult to observe.

The findings reveal that even the Sun's seemingly quiet regions contain elaborate magnetic structures. A Hidden Web of Magnetic Threads Above the Sun Sunrise-III detected numerous thin, elongated magnetic structures woven into a larger network of magnetic fields above a quiet region of the Sun.

This network, known as the magnetic canopy, extends through the chromosphere, a layer of the solar atmosphere located above the Sun's visible surface. Rather than forming a relatively smooth, uniformly expanding structure, however, the new observations reveal that the canopy contains many narrow, thread-like features.

The Sun’s seemingly peaceful regions are hiding a surprisingly complex magnetic world. They also mapped magnetic fields inside towering jets of solar material, revealing how those fields change with height.

Science News from research organizations Astronomers uncover a mysterious magnetic web above the Sun Date: October 24, 2026 Source: National Institutes of Natural Sciences Summary: The Sun’s seemingly peaceful regions are hiding a surprisingly complex magnetic world.

They also offer new clues to how energy travels upward through the solar atmosphere and contributes to its heating.