Antolin, PatrickPatrickAntolinPAGANO, PaoloPaoloPAGANOTesta, PaolaPaolaTestaPETRALIA, AntoninoAntoninoPETRALIAREALE, FabioFabioREALE2025-03-132025-03-1320212397-3366http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12386/36762The solar corona is shaped and mysteriously heated to millions of degrees by the Sun's magnetic field. It has long been hypothesized that the heating results from a myriad of tiny magnetic energy outbursts called nanoflares, driven by the fundamental process of magnetic reconnection. Misaligned magnetic field lines can break and reconnect, producing nanoflares in avalanche-like processes. However, no direct and unique observations of such nanoflares exist to date, and the lack of a smoking gun has cast doubt on the possibility of solving the coronal heating problem. From coordinated multi-band high-resolution observations, we report on the discovery of very fast and bursty nanojets, the telltale signature of reconnection-based nanoflares resulting in coronal heating. Using state-of-the-art numerical simulations, we demonstrate that the nanojet is a consequence of the slingshot effect from the magnetically tensed, curved magnetic field lines reconnecting at small angles. Nanojets are therefore the key signature of reconnection-based coronal heating in action....ELETTRONICOenArticle10.1038/s41550-020-1199-82-s2.0-85091177008https://www.nature.com/articles/s41550-020-1199-8https://api.elsevier.com/content/abstract/scopus_id/85091177008FIS/05 - ASTRONOMIA E ASTROFISICA