Wave-like properties of solar supergranulation

L. Gizon (), T. L. Duvall and J. Schou
Additional contact information
L. Gizon: W. W. Hansen Experimental Physics Laboratory, Stanford University
T. L. Duvall: NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
J. Schou: W. W. Hansen Experimental Physics Laboratory, Stanford University

Nature, 2003, vol. 421, issue 6918, 43-44

Abstract: Abstract Supergranulation1,2 on the surface of the Sun is a pattern of horizontal outflows, outlined by a network of small magnetic features, with a distinct scale of 30 million metres and an apparent lifetime of one day. It is generally believed that supergranulation corresponds to a preferred ‘cellular’ scale of thermal convection; rising magnetic fields are dragged by the outflows and concentrated into ‘ropes’ at the ‘cell’ boundaries3. But as the convection zone is highly turbulent and stratified, numerical modelling has proved to be difficult and the dynamics remain poorly understood. Moreover, there is as yet no explanation for the observation that the pattern appears4,5 to rotate faster around the Sun than the magnetic features. Here we report observations showing that supergranulation undergoes oscillations and supports waves with periods of 6–9 days. The waves are predominantly prograde, which explains the apparent super-rotation of the pattern. The rotation of the plasma through which the pattern propagates is consistent with the motion of the magnetic network.

Date: 2003
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.nature.com/articles/nature01287 Abstract (text/html)
Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:nat:nature:v:421:y:2003:i:6918:d:10.1038_nature01287

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
https://www.nature.com/

DOI: 10.1038/nature01287

Access Statistics for this article

Nature is currently edited by Magdalena Skipper

More articles in Nature from Nature
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Sonal Shukla () and Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing ().