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RandomFactor writes:

According to new reasearch from Queen's and Aberystwyth Universities, the Sun's magnetic field is 10 times stronger than previously believed.

Studying a particularly strong solar flare allowed researchers to quantify the sun's magnetic field more precisely than in the past.

Speaking about the accuracy of the results, Dr. Kuridze, a Research Fellow at Aberystwyth, stated:

"This is the first time we have been able to measure accurately the magnetic field of the coronal loops, the building blocks of the sun's magnetic corona, which such a level of accuracy."

The weak signal reaching Earth and limitations of equipment have hindered previous measurements.

There was also serendipity involved:

Over a 10-day period in September 2017, Dr. Kuridze studied an active area on the sun's surface which the team knew to be particularly volatile.

However, the telescope used can only focus on 1% of the sun's surface at any given time. As luck would have it, Dr. Kuridze was focused on exactly the right area and at the right time when the solar flare erupted.

Now I'm not saying what caused this increase in measured magnetism, but some might say there was some field filching going on. It has been reported that the Earth's magnetic field is weakening 10 times faster than previously estimated.

Original Submission