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Indian Scientists Detect Giant Plasma Tides Beneath the Sun’s Surface
IIA researchers chart Sun’s subsurface weather
Context: The Indian Institute of Astrophysics (IIA) and its international partners is a major leap in understanding the Sun’s internal plasma dynamics, especially in the near-surface shear layer (NSSL) — a region just beneath the surface that significantly influences the Sun’s magnetic behaviour.
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- The team traced giant tides of plasma within the NSSL (near-surface shear layer) — a layer extending about 35,000 km beneath the surface of the Sun.
- These plasma currents oscillate with the Sun’s 11-year magnetic cycle (sunspot cycle).
What’s the NSSL?
- A transitional zone where solar rotation changes with depth.
- Crucial for understanding how surface activity (like sunspots) connects to internal flows.
What patterns did they find?
- Surface plasma flows move towards sunspot latitudes.
- Midway through the NSSL, flows reverse direction and move outward, forming circulation cells.
- These patterns are influenced by the Sun’s rotation and Coriolis forces, similar to hurricane spins on Earth.
How was this studied?
- Researchers used helioseismology — which tracks solar sound waves — to detect plasma motion beneath the surface.
- Data was collected over more than a decade from:
- NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory/Helioseismic and Magnetic Imager (SDO/HMI)
- NSO’s Global Oscillations Network Group (GONG)
Why Does It Matters?
- Improves understanding of solar magnetic fields — key for forecasting space weather that affects satellites, GPS, and power grids on Earth.
- Suggests deeper, hidden processes might exist in the Sun that are yet to be fully understood.
- Enhances our model of how internal solar dynamics drive external magnetic activity.
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The Source’s Authority and Ownership of the Article is Claimed By THE STUDY IAS BY MANIKANT SINGH
