For decades, scientists have been puzzled by one of the most mysterious aspects of our sun: why is the solar corona, the outermost layer of the sun’s atmosphere, more than 200 times hotter than its surface? While the surface of the sun burns at a scorching 10,000 degrees Fahrenheit, the corona reaches temperatures of about 2 million degrees Fahrenheit. This counterintuitive temperature difference has perplexed researchers since it was first identified in 1939. Now, groundbreaking research from the Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (PPPL) may offer the most compelling answer yet to this solar…