Coronal holes are regions of the Sun's corona that emit low levels of ultraviolet and X-ray radiation compared to their surroundings.
They are composed of relatively cool and tenuous plasma permeated by magnetic fields that are open to interplanetary space.
This results in decreased temperature and density of the plasma at the site of a coronal hole, as well as an increased speed in the average solar wind measured in interplanetary space.
Their true nature was recognized in the 1970s, when X-ray telescopes in the Skylab mission were flown above the Earth's atmosphere to reveal the structure of the corona.
The coronal holes then increase in size and number, extending farther from the poles as the Sun moves toward a solar minimum again.