Unexpectedly slow motions below the Sun's surface
(Phys.org) -- The interior motions of the Sun are much slower than predicted. Rather than moving at the speed of a jet plane (as previously understood) the plasma flows at a walking pace. The result of this new study, whose lead author is from the Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research, will be published in an upcoming issue of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS). The scientists use observations of solar oscillations from NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) to see into the Sun's interior. As Laurent Gizon and Aaron C. Birch from the Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research comment in the same issue of PNAS, these new observations demonstrate the unique capabilities of helioseismology with SDO to probe the mysteries of the deep solar interior.