An international team of researchers, including engineers from Northwestern University (USA), is even approaching famous astronomer Galileo Galilei to solve a 400-year-old solar mystery.
Since they first observed the magnetic activity of the Sun, Astronomers have struggled to figure out where this process begins. Now, after performing a series of complex calculations on a NASA supercomputer, researchers have discovered that the magnetic field is generated about 20,000 miles below the Sun’s surface.
discovery contradicts previous theories, says the phenomenon has deep origins: It begins more than 130,000 miles from the surface of the Sun. The study has been published in the journal ‘Nature’.
Not only does innovation help us A better understanding of the dynamic processes of our Sun, but could help scientists more accurately predict powerful solar storms. While strong solar storms this month will release beautiful, expansive displays of the Northern Lights, similar storms can cause serious damage, damaging satellites, power grids and radio communications in Earth orbit.
“Understanding the origin of the Sun’s magnetic field a Open question from Galileo This is important for predicting future solar activity, such as flares that could affect Earth,” says study co-author Daniel Legonnet. “This work proposes a new hypothesis about how the Sun’s magnetic field is generated, which can be used to make better predictions of solar activity.
The research team developed new sophisticated numerical simulations to model the Sun’s magnetic field. Unlike previous models, the new model takes into account torsional oscillations, a cyclical pattern of how gas and plasma flow around the Sun. Since the Sun is not solid like the Earth and the Moon, it does not rotate as a single body. On the contrary, Its rotation varies with latitude. Like the 11-year solar magnetic cycle, torsional oscillations also undergo an 11-year cycle.
“Since the oscillating magnetic field has the same period, These events are thought to be related“, says Lecoanet. “However, the traditional ‘deep theory’ of the solar magnetic field does not explain where these torsional oscillations come from. An intriguing clue is that torsional oscillations occur only near the Sun’s surface. “Our hypothesis is that magnetic rotation and torsional oscillation are different manifestations of the same physical process.”
With a better understanding of the Sun’s dynamo, researchers hope to improve solar storm forecasts. When solar flares and coronal mass ejections hit Earth, Severely damaging power and telecommunication infrastructure, including GPS navigation tools. For example, recent solar storms this month disabled the navigation systems of farm equipment in the midst of peak planting season.
“Although recent solar storms have been powerful, we are concerned Even more powerful storms like the Carrington event“, says Lecoanet. “If a storm of similar intensity were to hit the United States today, it would cause an estimated damage of between 1 and 2 trillion dollars. “Although many aspects of solar dynamics remain a mystery, our work makes great strides in solving one of the oldest unsolved problems in theoretical physics and opens the way to better predictions of critical solar activity,” he concludes.
