"Magnetic reconnection" is a process in which magnetic field lines from different regions come together and merge. This causes a release of energy and can lead to explosions or the formation of auroras. Full definition
Cluster has provided the first 3D observation of magnetic reconnection in space — a phenomenon that reconfigures the magnetic field and releases high amounts of energy. (esa.int)
Solar physicist Steven Cranmer of the University of Colorado Boulder, who has made simulations of magnetic reconnection in the outer corona, finds the results exciting. (sciencenews.org)
In a separate study, a team from the University of Warwick has observed the first evidence that loop oscillations are driven directly by magnetic reconnection processes. (sciencedaily.com)