article_snippet: For some reason, the corona of the sun - the aura of plasma that surrounds it - is a lot hotter than the surface, and no one is sure why.
article_snippet: Why is the sun’s corona - the aura of plasma that surrounds it - so much hotter than its surface?
article_snippet: The temperature of the sun is known to be around 6,000°C (10,800°F), but for some reason the corona is around 1,000,000°C (1,800,000°F), and even reaches 2,000,000°C (3,600,000°F) in some areas.
article_snippet: This factor of 300 difference would be akin to the flame of a fire being 300 times colder than the air around it - but why this is occurring is unknown.
article_snippet: One potential reason could be magnetic forces on the sun, with superheated gas creating a strong magnetic field and funnelling energy into the corona, but this has not yet been confirmed.
article_snippet: The difference between the temperature of the sun and that of the sun
article_snippet: The temperature of the sun's surface (shown ion this Nasa image) is known to be around 6,000°C (10,800°F), but for some reason ’s corona is around 1,000,000°C (1,800,000°F), and even reaches 2,000,000°C (3,600,000°F) in some areas, a factor of about 300 .