{"id":42601,"date":"2025-05-02T20:45:49","date_gmt":"2025-05-02T15:15:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/?p=42601"},"modified":"2025-05-02T20:46:01","modified_gmt":"2025-05-02T15:16:01","slug":"sun-subsurface-weather-tied-to-11-year-activity-cycle","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/current-affairs\/02-05-2025\/sun-subsurface-weather-tied-to-11-year-activity-cycle","title":{"rendered":"Sun&#8217;s Subsurface Weather Tied to Its 11-Year Activity Cycle"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><strong>Syllabus: GS3\/ Science and Technology<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Context<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>A study led by astronomers from the Indian Institute of Astrophysics (IIA)\u00a0 have probed the dynamic \u201cinner weather\u201d of the Sun &#8211; plasma currents just beneath its surface that pulse in step with its 11-year sunspot cycle.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>About<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>The researchers have traced giant tides of plasma beneath the Sun\u2019s surface at a region called <strong>near-surface shear layer (NSSL).<\/strong>\u00a0<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The plasma currents shift with the Sun\u2019s magnetic heartbeat and could have a far-reaching influence on space weather and Earth.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The methodology employed was <strong>helioseismology,<\/strong> an advanced technique that tracks sound waves as they travel through the Sun, to observe changes in the movement of solar material.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Near-surface shear layer (NSSL)<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>The NSSL extending to about <strong>35,000 km<\/strong> in depth is a critical region beneath the Sun\u2019s surface.\u00a0<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>It is marked by <strong>distinct rotational behaviours<\/strong> that vary with depth and by changes, over space and time, that relate to active region magnetic fields and the solar cycle.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Patterns beneath the Sun\u2019s surface<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>It was found that plasma on the Sun\u2019s surface moves <strong>toward areas where sunspots<\/strong> appear (sunspots latitudes).<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>However the direction of the plasma flow reverses midway through the NSSL, i.e. instead of moving toward the sunspot zones, the plasma starts moving outward, away from them.\u00a0<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>These changes in flow direction create circular patterns called <strong>circulation cells, <\/strong>which are strongly influenced by the Sun\u2019s rotation and the Coriolis force.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-full is-resized\"><img data-dominant-color=\"f2ecdf\" data-has-transparency=\"false\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"508\" height=\"541\" src=\"https:\/\/wp-images.nextias.com\/cdn-cgi\/image\/format=auto\/ca\/uploads\/2025\/05\/Patterns-beneath-the-Suns-surface.png\" alt=\"Patterns beneath the Suns surface\" class=\"not-transparent wp-image-42602\" style=\"--dominant-color: #f2ecdf; width:386px;height:auto\" srcset=\"https:\/\/wp-images.nextias.com\/cdn-cgi\/image\/format=auto\/ca\/uploads\/2025\/05\/Patterns-beneath-the-Suns-surface.png 508w, https:\/\/wp-images.nextias.com\/cdn-cgi\/image\/format=auto\/ca\/uploads\/2025\/05\/Patterns-beneath-the-Suns-surface-282x300.png 282w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 508px) 100vw, 508px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Way Ahead<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>The spinning flows change the way the Sun rotates at different depths. This is called <strong>rotational shear<\/strong> (the gradient of rotation with depth).<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>However these local flows, near the surface, don\u2019t explain the Sun\u2019s larger, deeper flows also known as <strong>torsional oscillations.<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Hence it suggests that these global flows, which ripple through the Sun\u2019s vast interior, must be powered by something deeper and more mysterious.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Concluding remarks<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Solar activity directly affects space weather, which can disrupt satellites, power grids, and communication systems on Earth.\u00a0<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>This study takes a step closer to building accurate models that can predict the Sun\u2019s behaviour more reliably.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-table\"><table class=\"has-background\" style=\"background-color:#fff2cc\"><tbody><tr><td><strong>What is the solar cycle?<\/strong><br>&#8211; The Sun, like a bar magnet, possesses a magnetic field with north and south poles.\u00a0<br>&#8211; This magnetic field is generated by the movement of electrically charged particles within the Sun.\u00a0<br>&#8211; Approximately every <strong>11 years,<\/strong> the <strong>Sun\u2019s magnetic field completely flips<\/strong>, switching its north and south poles\u2014a phenomenon known as the <strong>solar cycle<\/strong>.<br><strong>Solar Maximum and Solar Minimum<\/strong><br>&#8211; <strong>Solar maximum<\/strong> is the peak<strong> phase of the Sun\u2019s 11-year cycle<\/strong>, characterized by heightened solar activity.\u00a0<br>1. During this period, the Sun emits more <strong>energy, radiation, and light <\/strong>and experiences an increased number of <strong>sunspots.<\/strong>\u00a0<br>&#8211; <strong>Solar Minimum:<\/strong> The lowest point of the cycle, when the Sun is relatively calm and there are fewer sunspots, is called solar minimum.<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Source: <\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.thehindu.com\/sci-tech\/science\/iia-researchers-chart-the-suns-subsurface-weather\/article69522295.ece\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><strong>TH<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<h3><strong>Context<\/strong><\/h3>\n<li class=\"ms-5\">A study led by astronomers from the Indian Institute of Astrophysics (IIA)\u00a0 have probed the dynamic \u201cinner weather\u201d of the Sun &#8211; plasma currents just beneath its surface that pulse in step with its 11-year sunspot cycle.<\/li>\n<p><\/p>\n<h3><strong>About<\/strong><\/h3>\n<li class=\"ms-5\">The researchers have traced giant tides of plasma beneath the Sun\u2019s surface at a region called near-surface shear layer (NSSL).\u00a0<\/li>\n<li class=\"ms-5\">The plasma currents shift with the Sun\u2019s magnetic heartbeat and could have a far-reaching influence on space weather and Earth.<\/li>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/current-affairs\/02-05-2025\/sun-subsurface-weather-tied-to-11-year-activity-cycle\" class=\"btn btn-primary btn-sm float-end\">Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[21],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-42601","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-current-affairs"],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42601","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/15"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=42601"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42601\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":42613,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42601\/revisions\/42613"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=42601"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=42601"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=42601"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}