Solar Waves Now Move Three Times Faster Than Previously Thought

A new set of waves in the sun has been identified by scientists, and they appear to travel more quickly than previously thought.

The newly discovered waves, known as "high-frequency retrograde (HFR) waves," go in the opposite direction of the sun's rotation and appear as a pattern of vortices on the sun's surface, traveling at three times the speed predicted by existing solar theories.

Researchers published the study, "Discovery of high-frequency-retrograde vorticity waves in the Sun," in the journal Nature Astronomy.

Chris Hanson, a New York University Abu Dhabi research associate, served as the lead study author.

Scientists rely on deciphering the surface characteristics of a variety of waves to generate an image of what transpires below the surface because the interior of the sun and stars can't be viewed by traditional techniques.

The Sun in high resolution — The Sun as seen by Solar Orbiter in extreme ultraviolet light from a distance of roughly 75 million kilometres. The image is a mosaic of 25 individual images taken on 7 March by the high resolution telescope of the Extreme Ultraviolet Imager (EUI) instrument. ESA & NASA/Solar Orbiter/EUI team

Solar Waves Moving Faster Because Of Coriolis Effect

The remarkable speed of the HFR waves, discovered in 25 years of data from space and ground-based observatories, has led experts to believe that they are overlooking something significant.

Study co-author Shravan Hanasoge, an astrophysicist at New York University Abu Dhabi's Center for Space Science, said in a statement: "The very existence of HFR modes and their origin is a true mystery and may allude to exciting physics at play. It [can] shed insight on the otherwise unobservable interior of the sun."

Experts previously assumed that the Coriolis effect caused the acoustic solar waves to form near the sun's surface.

According to National Geographic, the Coriolis effect shows how items that aren't securely attached to the ground deflect when they travel large distances around the Earth.

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Once the waves are formed, experts believe one of three mechanisms might speed the waves up into HFR waves.

The sun's magnetic field or gravity may be accelerating the Coriolis waves, or superhot convection currents traveling beneath and across its surface may be pulling them at hitherto unheard-of speeds. However, none of these possibilities fit the facts.

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The scientists looked into whether interactions with the sun's tremendous forces, such as its magnetic fields, gravity, and compressibility, may amplify the waves, but their models fell short.

Scientists hope to understand more about the mechanisms at work inside the star by utilizing those waves and others.

It might provide insight into how the sun affects the Earth and other planets in the solar system.

The presence of HFR modes and their development, according to Hanasoge, is a major mystery.

Hanasoge said per Independent that the findings might point to intriguing physics at work and give insight into the sun's previously inaccessible inner workings.

As a result, the researchers want to investigate other possible sources of the waves using complex models of the sun's enigmatic core, which cannot be directly spotted with regular telescopes.

Solving this solar mystery might provide answers to a plethora of unsolved questions about the structure, spin, and physics of the Sun-and, by implication, other stars.