Alfvén waves accelerate and heat the solar wind

An international team of astrophysicists has found that Alfvén waves are responsible for the acceleration and heating of the solar wind, based on data from NASA's Parker Solar Probe and ESA's Solar Orbiter. Their study, published in *Science*, revealed that large-amplitude Alfvén waves influence the solar wind's energy, matching observations of temperature increases and acceleration. The solar wind struck the second probe 40 hours after the first, allowing for comparative analysis.