3. Spots and magnetic fields
Keyword(s):
The Sun
◽
‘Spots and magnetic fields’ explores sunspot behaviour. We have known since 1908 that sunspots are magnetic, but why does the Sun form them at all? Is the Sun extraordinary in this, or is its behaviour in line with other stars? The Sun’s magnetic field is generated by a solar dynamo, which can be partly explained by magnetohydrodynamics (MHD)—the study of the magnetic properties and behaviour of electrically conducting fluids—however, there is no full consensus on the solar dynamo. In the 1960s the new science of helioseismology gave us insights into the Sun’s interior rotation, but we are unable to make truly critical observations in the solar interior.
Keyword(s):
2012 ◽
Vol 8
(S294)
◽
pp. 13-24
1993 ◽
Vol 59
(563)
◽
pp. 2165-2172
2015 ◽
Vol 11
(A29A)
◽
pp. 360-364