Astronomers report the discovery of a new type of wave on the surface of the sun. This type has been called high frequency retrograde (HFR) waves because they move in the opposite direction of the sun’s rotation and appear as eddies on the surface of the sun.
Waves have several unexpected properties, but the most mysterious is their speed. As reported in Nature Astronomy mentioned, they move three times faster than Rossby-Horowitz waves – star-sized waves caused by the Sun’s rotation on its axis. How did they become so fast?
The research team suggested three possible explanations. The starting point is that these vortices are provoked by the Coriolis force – The same force that excites the fluid on the Earth counterclockwise in the northern hemisphere and clockwise in the southern hemisphere (as the air in a hurricane).
That’s not enough to speed up these waves, so the team suggested three potential modifiers. One could be magnetism. This is because the Sun is a field of glowing plasma whose strong magnetic fields can play a role. The second is another obvious explanation as well: gravity. The effect of the force can alter and amplify these vortices.
Finally, convection. Hotter plasma shines from the inner regions of the Sun, and cooler plasma sinks closer to the surface, creating crucial motions within our star. This can affect the strength and speed of these waves. So what scenario would your notes prefer? It seems nothing at the moment.
