Dark Matter Heats Crown, Cools Spots, and Drives Wind

Axions from the local dark matter halo of the galaxy convert infrared light emerging from the surface of the Sun into radio waves that resonate with the cyclotron motion of electrons within coronal loops. Dark matter-driven electron cyclotron resonance heating of the coronal plasma works best in times and places where the solar magnetic field points radially and varies slowly in both space and time. During the maximum of solar activity, dark matter-driven transfer of energy from the photosphere to the active corona and the fast solar wind takes place in the large regions of stable radial magnetic field found within sunspots. Acceleration of the slow solar wind and heating of the quiet corona derive from the same mechanism throughout the solar cycle of activity and over almost all of the solar surface.