Inside the Sun<\/p>\n
The Sun is a star composed of plasma: a hot, ionized gas. The plasma acts as an electrically conductive fluid<\/a>, and generates large-scale magnetic fields<\/a> that encircle the Sun. <\/p>\n The Sun is composed of several layers<\/a>, all made up of a plasma<\/a> that\u2019s about 70% hydrogen and 28% helium by mass<\/a>. <\/p>\n The Sun has a solid core at its center and a dense layer outside the core, where particles of light bounce around, transferring energy outwards. Beyond that layer is a thin line called the tachocline<\/a> that separates those inner layers from the outer layer. This outer zone is cooler and less dense, allowing plasma to move around.<\/p>\n The Sun\u2019s interior is made up of several layers. Inside the core, particles collide and release incredible amounts of energy, which radiate out from the Sun in the form of light \u2013 a process called nuclear fusion<\/a>. The light travels outward towards the radiative zone outside the core, before reaching the tachocline.<\/p>\n At the outer layer of the Sun above the tachocline, called the convective zone, the hot plasma travels from deep in the Sun to its surface. As it moves, the plasma cools and contracts, causing it to sink back down. This cyclic process is called convection<\/a>. <\/p>\n Explaining sunspots, solar cycle and solar dynamo.<\/p>\n The Sun is constantly generating magnetic fields<\/a> that grow and twist below its surface. Two processes control these magnetic fields by moving the electric charges around in the plasma. One is convection, and the other is the Sun\u2019s rotation.<\/p>\n Scientists think that together, these two processes are ultimately responsible for the Sun\u2019s magnetic activity cycle, during which the Sun shifts from an organized to a less organized magnetic field arrangement. The entire cycle, called the Schwabe Cycle<\/a>, takes roughly 11 years. Over the course of two Schwabe cycles, the Sun\u2019s magnetic poles flip, and then return to their original orientation.<\/p>\n The Schwabe cycle<\/p>\n When the Sun is in an organized state, the center of the Sun resembles a giant vertical bar magnet with positive and negative ends at the top and bottom, or vice versa \u2013 called a magnetic dipole. In the 11-year solar cycle, this phase is known as solar minimum<\/a>.<\/p>\n During the solar minimum, the Sun\u2019s magnetic field is a simple dipole, with a positive pole and a negative pole on either end. Throughout the solar cycle, the magnetic fields go from simple lines to tangled chaos. Although you cannot see the invisible magnetic field directly, the glowing plasma sticks to these field lines. The magnetic field\u2019s shape during the solar minimum is similar to Earth\u2019s magnetic field<\/a>, with open-ended magnetic field lines at the north and south poles and closed, looped fields near the equator. After the solar minimum state, the Sun\u2019s magnetic field grows tangled over time. Eventually, it reaches its solar maximum state, where the solar atmosphere resembles tangled up spaghetti.<\/p>\n Two main forces<\/a> tangle the magnetic field as the Sun rotates and plasma churns away in the convection zone: the Omega and Alpha effects. <\/p>\n Alpha and Omega effects<\/p>\n The Sun doesn\u2019t rotate as a solid body everywhere. The interior of the Sun<\/a> \u2013 the core and radiative layers \u2013 spins as a solid sphere, like a basketball. Outside these layers, the convection zone and the surface of the Sun do not spin all together. <\/p>\n By observing the Sun\u2019s visible surface, scientists found out that the solar equator in the center rotates faster than the poles, near the top and bottom of the Sun. It takes the solar equator about 25 days to make a full rotation, while the poles take longer \u2013 about 35 days. Because the equator moves faster, it overtakes the poles in a phenomenon called differential rotation. <\/p>\n Differential rotation stretches the vertical magnetic field lines around the Sun, causing them to wrap around the Sun horizontally like a belt. The field lines pull on the Sun more tightly as differential rotation continues throughout the solar cycle, in a process known as the Omega Effect<\/a>.<\/p>\n Differential rotation \u2013 where the poles of the Sun rotate more slowly than the center \u2013 leads the solar magnetic field lines to stretch as they wrap around the Sun. The second effect, called the Alpha Effect<\/a>, is thought to arise from convection taking place below the Sun\u2019s surface coupled with its rotation. Like bubbles rising to the surface in boiling water, the tangled magnetic field becomes buoyant and kinked, popping through the surface to create sunspots. <\/p>\n Sunspots look like clusters of dark spots<\/a> on the Sun\u2019s surface. Scientists can also identify active regions<\/a> of intensely strong and complex magnetic field bundles by taking images of the Sun in ultraviolet light, where the bundles appear as bright structures. <\/p>\n Solar eruptions called solar flares and coronal mass ejections<\/a> occur most frequently in these active regions. The appearance of more sunspots, active regions and solar eruptions all signal to scientists that the Sun is entering its solar maximum phase<\/a>.<\/p>\n Moving magnetic poles<\/p>\n Over the course of the solar cycle, the Sun\u2019s magnetic poles move. At solar minimum, the magnetic poles are oriented vertically through the Sun\u2019s center. But over the course of the solar cycle, the poles begin to tilt, until the pole previously at the top of the Sun is pointed roughly at its equator. <\/p>\n The Sun flipping its magnetic field.<\/p>\n But at the same time, all the tangled magnetic fields make the poles less defined. This chaotic magnetic state partially leads to sunspots and solar eruptions. After solar maximum, as the Sun\u2019s magnetic state grows more organized again, the poles reappear and continue migrating back towards the top and bottom of the Sun.<\/p>\n However, the magnetic pole previously pointed at the top now points to the bottom, and vice versa. The configuration appears upside down from what it was 11 years ago. A full magnetic cycle takes two Schwabe Cycles \u2013 during this time, the Sun\u2019s poles flip twice and return back to the original orientation. <\/p>\n Scientists have observed that several other stars, not just our Sun, have a magnetic activity cycle<\/a>, though their duration can vary. And, like our Sun, other stars also produce eruptions<\/a> like stellar flares and coronal mass ejections, likely due to their activity cycles. <\/p>\n![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/file-20260413-85-vi4tyw.png\")
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\n Kelvinsong\/Wikimedia Commons<\/a>, CC BY-SA<\/a><\/p>\n![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/file-20260512-77-n8g6ab.jpg\")
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\n NSF\/AURA\/NSO<\/a><\/p>\n![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/file-20260512-57-l4s2f.png\")
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\n CoronalMassAffection\/Wikimedia Commons<\/a>, CC BY<\/a><\/p>\n