Solar jets are transient, collimated flows of plasma in the Sun's atmosphere. They occur at many different scales, temperatures, and locations, and are driven by the release of

magnetic energy The potential magnetic energy of a magnet or magnetic moment \mathbf in a magnetic field \mathbf is defined as the mechanical work of the magnetic force on the re-alignment of the vector of the magnetic dipole moment and is equal to: E_\text = ...

via

magnetic reconnection Magnetic reconnection is a physical process occurring in electrically conducting Plasma (physics), plasmas, in which the magnetic topology is rearranged and magnetic energy is converted to kinetic energy, thermal energy, and particle accelerati ...

. The plasma ejected by a solar jet travels away from the Sun along straight or oblique paths, tracing the local

magnetic field A magnetic field (sometimes called B-field) is a physical field that describes the magnetic influence on moving electric charges, electric currents, and magnetic materials. A moving charge in a magnetic field experiences a force perpendicular ...

. Due to the wide range of temperatures and regions of the solar atmosphere in which jet-like phenomena are observed, solar jets are referred to by many different names. For example, jetting phenomena observed in coronal and chromospheric temperatures are sometimes referred to as coronal jets and chromospheric jets (or chromospheric surges), respectively, and when observed in

X-ray An X-ray (also known in many languages as Röntgen radiation) is a form of high-energy electromagnetic radiation with a wavelength shorter than those of ultraviolet rays and longer than those of gamma rays. Roughly, X-rays have a wavelength ran ...

extreme ultraviolet Extreme ultraviolet radiation (EUV or XUV) or high-energy ultraviolet radiation is electromagnetic radiation in the part of the electromagnetic spectrum spanning wavelengths shorter than the hydrogen Lyman-alpha line from 121 nm down to ...

, white light, and Hα are sometimes referred to as X-ray jets, EUV jets, white-light jets, and Hα jets (or Hα surges), respectively. Since ejected plasma from a single event may have a wide range of temperatures, any one event may be referred to by one or more names depending on the waveband or wavebands observed. Additionally, when located in an active region, a quiet-Sun region, a coronal hole, or the Sun's poles, they are sometimes known as active region jets, quiet-Sun jets, coronal hole jets, or polar jets, respectively. Furthermore, some solar jets are classified as macrospicules due to their similarities with the much smaller chromospheric spicules. Solar jets are sometimes associated with other transient, eruptive phenomena in the Sun's atmosphere—such as

solar flare A solar flare is a relatively intense, localized emission of electromagnetic radiation in the Sun's atmosphere. Flares occur in active regions and are often, but not always, accompanied by coronal mass ejections, solar particle events, and ot ...

s and

coronal mass ejection A coronal mass ejection (CME) is a significant ejection of plasma mass from the Sun's corona into the heliosphere. CMEs are often associated with solar flares and other forms of solar activity, but a broadly accepted theoretical understandin ...

s—and have also been associated with impulsive

solar particle event In solar physics, a solar particle event (SPE), also known as a solar energetic particle event or solar radiation storm, is a solar phenomenon which occurs when particles emitted by the Sun, mostly protons, become accelerated either in the Sun's ...

References

{{Reflist Solar phenomena