Parker Solar Probe and Solar Orbiter team up to tackle 65-year-old sun mystery

Solar Orbiter , operated by the European Space Agency , performed some space-based gymnastics.

These maneuvers allowed the spacecraft to observe the sun and NASA ’s Parker Solar Probe at the same time.

This team-up could finally solve the so-called "coronal heating mystery," which revolves around that heat discrepancy between the corona, made of wispy and nebulous electrically charged gas called plasma, and the solar surface.

Solar scientists still need to confirm the mechanism that has been hinted at by these results and by the collaboration between the Parker Solar Probe and the Solar Orbiter .

The team’s research was published on Thursday ( Sept. 14 ) in the Astrophysical Journal Letters .

"This work represents a significant step forward in solving the coronal heating problem," says project scientist.