Scientists in new research have found the new origin of the magnetic field of the sun that creates sunspots on the stars.
According to CNN, research published in the journal Nature has denied the previous assumption that the sun's magnetic field originated deep with the celestial body and suggested that the original is much closer to the surface.
The model developed by the teacher's team behind the interdisciplinary study could help scientists better understand the 11-year solar cycle and space weather forecasting.
Daniel Lecoanet, an assistant professor and a member of the Center for Interdisciplinary Exploration and Research in Astrophysics, said, “This work proposes a new hypothesis for how the sun’s magnetic field is generated that better matches solar observations, and, we hope, could be used to make better predictions of solar activity,”
He explained, “We want to forecast if the next solar cycle will be particularly strong or maybe weaker than normal. The previous models (assuming the solar magnetic field is generated deep within the Sun) have not been able to make accurate forecasts or (determine) if the next solar cycle will be strong or weak.”
Lecoanet further added, “Because we think the number of sunspots tracks with the strength of the magnetic field within the Sun, we think the 11-year sunspot cycle is reflecting a cycle in the strength of the Sun’s interior magnetic field.”
He observed, “Solar observations have given us a good idea for how material moves around inside of the Sun. For our supercomputing calculations, we solved equations to determine how the magnetic field changes within the Sun due to the observed motions.”
Lecoanet noted, “No one had done this calculation before because no one knew how to efficiently perform the calculation.”
