The strength of the sun's magnetic field is typically only about twice as strong as Earth's field. However, it becomes highly concentrated in small areas, reaching up to 3,000 times stronger than usual. These kinks and twists in the magnetic field develop because the sun spins more rapidly at the equator than at the higher latitudes and because the inner parts of the sun rotate more quickly than the surface. These distortions create features ranging from sunspots to spectacular eruptions known as flares and coronal mass ejections. Flares are the most violent eruptions in the solar system, while coronal mass ejections are less violent but involve extraordinary amounts of matter — a single ejection can spout roughly 20 billion tons (18 billion metric tons) of matter into space. The above photo of our sun is really 23 pictures compiled into one to show activity on the sun for 12 months. One of the reasons much of the activity is at the equator is because of the Sun's differential rotation, the equator moves faster than the poles. Time frame: January 15 2015-January 15, 2016. After the crescendo of solar maximum peaks, the sun's global magnetic field begins to ebb, eventually reaching "solar minimum", when the sun settles into a quiet state. We are currently experiencing the downward slope to quiet since the sun hit solar maximum around 2012-2013. But as you can see from this beautiful portrait, the sun certainly isn't going quietly. If you could draw the different magnetic pull lines of the sun it might look like this. Fascinating ball of gas! I suppose it can do what it wants to, it's a star after all.....
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Mrs. TaylorI love science! Everything about the world is interesting and never boring. I love to study plants, animals, insects, and people. My favorite subjects are my students who are the most unique organisms on the planet! Categories |