A study published in the journal Nature, led by the University of Edinburgh (UK) and with the participation of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (USA), implemented models containing a series of complex calculations on a NASA supercomputer.
This discovery, which pinpoints the origin of the magnetic field at a depth of about 30,000 kilometers below the surface, contradicts previous theories that suggest the phenomenon has deep origins, starting from more than 200,000 kilometers, Efe news agency reported on Wednesday.
This beginning very close to the surface of the Earth star could be the origin of solar spots and flares, which are generated internally through a process known as the dynamo process.
Although powerful solar storms, like the one recorded this month, can leave impressive aurorae, they also cause damage to satellites, power grids, radio communications, or GPS systems.
The team created an accurate model of the Sun’s surface and found that when they simulated some 5% to 10% perturbations or changes in the flow of plasma (ionized gas) within the upper part of the Sun, these surface changes were enough to generate a realistic field. Magnetic patterns.
However, simulations that took into account the deep layers of the star resulted in less realistic solar activity.
Over the years, astronomers have made significant progress in understanding the origins of the solar dynamo — the physical process that generates the magnetic field — but limitations remain.
In this study, the team developed new, sophisticated numerical simulations to model the solar magnetic field that take into account torsional oscillations, a periodic pattern of gas and plasma flow in and around the Sun.
The model also explains how sunspots track the patterns of the Sun’s magnetic activity, another detail missing from the deep origin theory.
Through a greater understanding of the solar dynamo, researchers hope to improve predictions of solar storms, which could also be helped by the magnetic field generated in the Sun’s outer layers.
“We know that the dynamo works like a giant clock with many complex interacting parts,” said the study’s lead author, Geoffrey Vassell, from the University of Edinburgh, but some are still unknown and others don’t know how they fit together. He stressed that this new idea is necessary to understand and predict.
