Magnetic switchback

Instead, PSP observed thousands of intervals, ranging in duration from seconds to tens of minutes where the speed of the solar wind flow suddenly jumps and the magnetic field orientation rotates by nearly 180° in the most extreme cases, before returning just as quickly to the original solar wind conditions.

[3] SolO has found compelling clues as to the origin of magnetic switchbacks during its closest pass by the sun on 25 March 2022.

Using the data of the Solar Orbiter Daniele Telloni and Gary Zank and their team came to the conclusion that the theory based on Ulysses data is correct, they "proved that switchbacks occur when there is an interaction between a region of open field lines and a region of closed field lines".

[6][7] One theory, based on the Ulysses data, suggests that switchbacks are the result of a clash between open and closed magnetic fields.

That sudden snap throws an S-shaped kink into the open magnetic field line before the loop reseals.

This process would create an outward-flowing S-shaped kink in the newly formed open magnetic field line — a shape that tracks with the switchbacks measured by Parker Solar Probe.