There is strong evidence that the corona is really hot due to Alfvén waves. Alfvén waves is where magnetic waves are generated deeper into the sun and then transfer their energy into the corona (the gasses above the suns surface). Lots of energy from deeper into the sun gets dumped into comparitively few particles in the corona means that each individual particle will get a lot of energy.
20 years ago this was only theoretical, but since 2009 several probes (like SOHO, Parker probe and the Wind probe) have detected evidence that supports the Alfvén wave theory.
Note though that the corona being millions of degrees hot vs the surface of the sun being just a few thousand degrees hot is kind of like a 100 C sauna (feels hot, but you can sit in there for a while) vs 60 C water which will give you burns within 3 seconds.
Latest Answers