Model simulations offer insights into the fundamental properties of the solar magnetic field.
Model simulations offer insights into the fundamental properties of the solar magnetic field.
Like the Earth, the Sun likely has swirling polar vortices, according to new research led by the U.S. National Science Foundation National Center for Atmospheric Research (NSF NCAR). But unlike on Earth, the formation and evolution of these vortices are driven by magnetic fields.
The findings, published today in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), have implications for our basic understanding of the Sun’s magnetism and the solar cycle, which could in turn improve our ability to predict disruptive space weather. The new research also paints a picture of what we might expect to see at the solar poles during future missions to the Sun and provides information that could be useful in planning the timing of such missions.
“No one can say for certain what is happening at the solar poles,” said NSF NCAR senior scientist Mausumi Dikpati, who led the new study. “But this new research gives us an intriguing look at what we might expect to find when we are able, for the first time, to observe the solar poles.”
Read more at National Center for Atmospheric Research/University Corporation for Atmospheric Research
Image: This still image from a visualization shows polar vortices forming, migrating toward the Sun's poles, and then disappearing. (Credit:Visualization: Mausumi Dikpati/NCAR)
