Thu May 01 15:11:09 UTC 2025: **Indian Scientists Uncover Giant Plasma Tides Beneath the Sun’s Surface**
Bengaluru, India (May 1, 2025) – An international team of solar physicists, led by the Indian Institute of Astrophysics (IIA), has made a groundbreaking discovery about the Sun’s inner workings. Using helioseismology and over a decade of data from NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory and the Global Oscillations Network Group, the researchers traced giant tides of plasma deep beneath the Sun’s surface, in a region called the near-surface shear layer (NSSL).
The study, published in the Astrophysical Journal Letters, reveals that these plasma currents shift in sync with the Sun’s 11-year magnetic cycle. This discovery has significant implications for understanding space weather and its potential impact on Earth.
The research team, which included scientists from Stanford University and the National Solar Observatory, observed fascinating patterns in the plasma flows. While surface flows converge towards active sunspot latitudes, they reverse direction deeper within the NSSL, forming circulation cells influenced by the Sun’s rotation and the Coriolis force.
Lead author Anisha Sen, a PhD student at IIA, explained that by analyzing a massive sunspot region with 3D velocity maps, the team confirmed both surface inflows and deeper outflows, validating their findings.
Professor S.P. Rajaguru of IIA and the team believe these findings provide crucial insights into the link between the Sun’s magnetic activity and its internal flows. The research suggests that deeper, yet-to-be-understood processes may be driving the Sun’s global dynamics. The discovery promises to reshape our understanding of solar dynamics and the Sun’s influence on space weather.
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