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Split image of observations by the NASA space mission SDO\/AIA, 171 A channel, showing the Sun at solar minimum (left, December 7, 2019, the start of the current Solar Cycle 25) and the cycle maximum (right, March 8, 2026). Credit: NASA<\/p>\n
In an analysis of nearly three decades of solar acoustic data, NJIT physicists report evidence that the solar dynamo \u2014 the magnetic engine powering the Sun\u2019s 11-year cycles and eruptive events \u2014 operates nearly 200,000 kilometers beneath the Sun\u2019s surface.<\/p>\n
Every eleven years, the Sun\u2019s magnetic field flips. Sunspots \u2014 dark, cooler regions on the Sun\u2019s surface that mark intense magnetic activity and often trigger solar eruptions \u2014appear at mid-latitudes and migrate toward the star\u2019s equator in a butterfly-shape pattern before fading as the cycle resets.<\/p>\n
While this spectacle on the star\u2019s surface has long been visible to astronomers, where this powerful cycle begins inside the star has remained hidden \u2014 until now.<\/p>\n
Researchers at the New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT) analyzed nearly three decades of solar oscillation data to trace the Sun\u2019s interior dynamics, and have now pointed to the likely location of the star\u2019s magnetic engine deep beneath its surface \u2014 roughly 200,000 kilometers down, about the length of stacking 16 Earths end to end.<\/p>\n
The findings<\/a>, published in\u00a0Nature Scientific Reports, provide one of the clearest observational windows yet into the Sun\u2019s magnetic engine \u2014 the solar dynamo \u2014 shedding light on hidden forces shaping space weather patterns linked to the solar cycle, not only on Earth\u2019s nearest star but potentially on other stars across the galaxy.<\/p>\n \u201cUntil now, we simply hadn\u2019t heard enough from inside the star to be certain where the Sun\u2019s intense magnetic fields are organized,\u201d said Krishnendu Mandal, lead author and NJIT research professor of physics<\/a>. \u201cSunspots are the visible footprints of magnetic fields that drive space weather on the Sun\u2019s surface, but what solar oscillation data tells us is that the actual \u2018engine room\u2019 responsible for generating them originates much deeper.\u201d<\/p>\n Sounding the Sun\u2019s Interior Across Solar Cycles<\/p>\n To tune into the Sun\u2019s interior, the team bridged roughly 30 years of observations from the Michelson Doppler Imager (MDI)<\/a> on board NASA\u2019s\u00a0Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO)<\/a>\u00a0satellite, the Helioseismic and Magnetic Imager (HMI)<\/a> on board the Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO)<\/a>, and the ground-based\u00a0Global Oscillation Network Group (GONG)<\/a>.<\/p>\n The instruments have been recording sound waves generated by turbulent plasma motions within the star every 45 to 60 seconds since the mid-1990s.<\/p>\n By combining these observations, researchers analyzed billions of individual measurements, creating one of the longest and most detailed records of the Sun\u2019s internal vibrations.<\/p>\n \u201cHelioseismology is still a young field \u2026 reliable observations only began in the mid-1990s when GONG first came online,\u201d Mandal explained. \u201cNow, with nearly three 11-year solar cycles of data, we\u2019re finally seeing clear patterns take shape that give us a window inside the star.\u201d<\/p>\n Much like seismologists studying earthquakes on Earth, the researchers analyzed sound waves rippling through the Sun \u2014 measuring shifts in the waves\u2019 travel times through the solar interior that reveal how hot plasma inside the star moves and rotates, exposing bands of faster and slower rotation beneath the surface.<\/p>\n The team’s analysis revealed that these migrating rotation bands in the deep solar interior form a butterfly-shaped flow pattern, mirroring the sunspot migration that later emerges at the surface.<\/p>\n Analyzing these flow patterns through the interior pointed the team toward a critical transition layer nearly 200,000 kilometers beneath the surface \u2014 called the tachocline.<\/p>\n This thin boundary separates the Sun\u2019s turbulent outer convection zone \u2014 where plasma churns and rises \u2014 from its stable radiative interior below. Across the tachocline, the Sun\u2019s rotation changes abruptly, generating powerful shearing flows capable of powering the Sun\u2019s magnetic fields.<\/p>\n \u201cRotation bands originating from magnetic structural changes near the Sun’s tachocline can take several years to propagate to the surface,\u201d Mandal said. \u201cTracking these internal changes gives us a clearer picture of how the solar cycle unfolds.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Above: Diagram of the Sun\u2019s interior and outer atmosphere, showing the core, radiative and convection zones \u2014 separated by the tachocline \u2014 and surface features such as sunspots, flares, the chromosphere and corona. Credit: NASA<\/p>\n The revealed correlation between the flow patterns across all three instruments and the degree to which they match the surface sunspot migration shows a clear connection between dynamics in the deep solar interior and solar activity on a global scale.<\/p>\n \u201cFor years, we suspected the tachocline was important for the solar dynamo, but now we have clear observational evidence,\u201d Mandal said.<\/p>\n Above: Animation showing bands of faster and slower rotation evolving inside the Sun. Red regions mark plasma rotating slightly slower than average, while blue regions mark plasma rotating faster than average. The velocity patterns originate near the tachocline (dashed line) and gradually propagate toward the surface. These internal flows are linked to the migration of sunspots seen during the solar cycle. Credit: K. Mandal\/NJIT<\/p>\n Clarifying where the dynamo operates could help scientists refine models used to forecast solar activity. Powerful solar eruptions \u2014 including flares and coronal mass ejections \u2014 can disrupt satellites, communications systems, navigation signals and power grids on Earth.<\/p>\n \u201cWhile our findings do not yet enable precise predictions of future solar cycles, they highlight the importance of including the tachocline in space weather prediction models,\u201d Mandal said. \u201cMany current simulations account for processes only on near-surface layers, but our results show the entire convection zone, especially the tachocline, must be considered.\u201d<\/p>\n The findings may also have implications beyond the Sun.<\/p>\n \u201cMany stars exhibit magnetic cycles similar to the Sun’s, but the high-resolution data achievable for the Sun due to its proximity to Earth is unattainable for others,\u201d Mandal said. \u201cUnderstanding the solar dynamo gives us a framework to study magnetic activity in other stars across the galaxy.\u201d<\/p>\n The team at NJIT\u2019s Center for Computational Heliophysics<\/a>, led by study co-author and NJIT Distinguished Professor Alexander Kosovichev, plans to extend the team\u2019s analysis and numerical simulations to refine their understanding of how the dynamo evolves and drives solar activity.<\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s still much we don\u2019t know about how the Sun\u2019s internal magnetism evolves,\u201d Mandal said. \u201cWith longer datasets and better observations, we hope to track these patterns across this and future solar cycles, potentially giving us better forecasts of space weather that can affect our daily life.\u201d<\/p>\n The study, Helioseismic Evidence that the Solar Dynamo Originates Near the Tachocline, was supported by funding from NASA, including a grant \u201cConsequences Of Fields and Flows in the Interior and Exterior of the Sun\u201d from the NASA DRIVE Science Center<\/a> \u2014 a collaboration of 13 U.S. universities and research centers that includes NJIT among its contributing institutions.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Split image of observations by the NASA space mission SDO\/AIA, 171 A channel, showing the Sun at solar…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":549836,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[24],"tags":[49,48,314,66],"class_list":{"0":"post-549835","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-physics","8":"tag-ca","9":"tag-canada","10":"tag-physics","11":"tag-science"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/549835","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=549835"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/549835\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/549836"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=549835"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=549835"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=549835"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/NASA_sun_layers_edit.jpg.jpeg\")
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