suns magnetic polarity

sculptor

sculptor

Valued Senior Member
Why is the sun changing polarity every 11 years?

and
Does the sun’s magnetic field create the dip in the gamma-ray spectrum at 10 trillion trillion hertz?
if so
How?
 
picture the @11 yr schwabe cycle as 1/2 of a sine wave
3.3_Characteristics_of_Sinusoidal_Signals1_.jpg

1/2 above the neutral 1/2 below
the sun's magnetic poles switch in a periodic manner @every 11 years

and...............
why? remains a mystery
 
sculptor:

Thanks!

I've learned something new today. I was aware of the 11 year cycle, with the variation in sunspot activity etc. However, previously I was under the impression that this was related to the magnetic field of the sun fluctuating in magnitude. Apparently, though, you are right: the magnetic field actually undergoes a complete reversal, or "flip". The reasons are a bit complicated...
wikipedia said:
The 11-year sunspot cycle is thought to be one-half of a 22-year Babcock–Leighton solar dynamo cycle, which corresponds to an oscillatory exchange of energy between toroidal and poloidal solar magnetic fields which is mediated by solar plasma flows which also provides energy to the dynamo system at every step. At solar-cycle maximum, the external poloidal dipolar magnetic field is near its dynamo-cycle minimum strength, but an internal toroidal quadrupolar field, generated through differential rotation within the tachocline, is near its maximum strength. At this point in the dynamo cycle, buoyant upwelling within the Convection zone forces emergence of the toroidal magnetic field through the photosphere, giving rise to pairs of sunspots, roughly aligned east–west with opposite magnetic polarities. The magnetic polarity of sunspot pairs alternates every solar cycle, a phenomenon known as the Hale cycle.[93][94]

During the solar cycle's declining phase, energy shifts from the internal toroidal magnetic field to the external poloidal field, and sunspots diminish in number. At solar minimum, the toroidal field is, correspondingly, at minimum strength, sunspots are relatively rare and the poloidal field is at maximum strength. During the next cycle, differential rotation converts magnetic energy back from the poloidal to the toroidal field, with a polarity that is opposite to the previous cycle. The process carries on continuously, and in an idealized, simplified scenario, each 11-year sunspot cycle corresponds to a change in the polarity of the Sun's large-scale magnetic field.[95][96]

Solar dynamo models indicate that plasma flux transport processes in the solar interior such as differential rotation, meridional circulation and turbulent pumping play an important role in the recycling of the toroidal and poloidal components of the solar magnetic field (Hazra and Nandy 2016). The relative strengths of these flux transport processes also determine the "memory" of the solar cycle that plays an important role in physics-based predictions of the solar cycle. Yeates, Nandy and Mackay (2008) and Karak and Nandy (2012), in particular, utilized stochastically forced non-linear solar dynamo simulations to establish that the solar cycle memory is short, lasting over one cycle, thus implying accurate predictions are possible only for the next sunspot cycle and not beyond. This postulate of a short one cycle memory in the solar dynamo mechanism was later observationally verified by Muñoz-Jaramillo et al. (2013).

Although the tachocline has long been thought to be the key to generating the Sun's large-scale magnetic field, recent research has questioned this assumption. Radio observations of brown dwarfs have indicated that they also maintain large-scale magnetic fields and may display cycles of magnetic activity. The Sun has a radiative core surrounded by a convective envelope, and at the boundary of these two is the tachocline. However, brown dwarfs lack radiative cores and tachoclines. Their structure consists of a solar-like convective envelope that exists from core to surface. Since they lack a tachocline yet still display solar-like magnetic activity, it has been suggested that solar magnetic activity is only generated in the convective envelope.
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sculptor said:
It's really basic common knowledge
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Really? Basic common knowledge, eh? Shame on me, then.

I'd like to hear your simplified explanation of the above, in terms of the basic common knowledge you have, because the above explanation seems quite dense to me - and that's just the wikipedia condensed version!

If you need confirmation from authority
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It's always a good idea to confirm things with reference to expert, reliable sources.

I wouldn't trust you as a sole authority on anything to do with the science of global warming, for instance, because we have already established that your understanding of that topic is woeful.
 
James R said:
sculptor:

Thanks!
I've learned something new today. ...

I wouldn't trust you as a sole authority on anything to do with the science of global warming, for instance, because we have already established that your understanding of that topic is woeful.
Click to expand...

Gee
Thanks for the vote of confidence dad
really makes me feel better
 
James R said:
I've learned something new today. I was aware of the 11 year cycle, with the variation in sunspot activity etc.

Really? Basic common knowledge, eh? Shame on me, then.
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Indeed. I was as shocked - and mortified - as you to find this out after almost six decades. :(

It's a lot like "Oh. There's a group of mammals that are rodents? News to me!"
 
Michael 345 said:
...I forgot a lot :)

:)
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and
that is just the beginning

....................................
My great uncle Charlie couldn't remember how to get home.
He knew how to get to the home where he grew up
but not to the home where he had farmed for over 50 years
poor old Charlie---big strong hands and really old memories
that were as fresh as though they had happened yesterday
 
sculptor said:
and
that is just the beginning

....................................
My great uncle Charlie couldn't remember how to get home.
He knew how to get to the home where he grew up
but not to the home where he had farmed for over 50 years
poor old Charlie---big strong hands and really old memories
that were as fresh as though they had happened yesterday
Click to expand...

Old memories have had more time in the brain to create stronger links between neurons

:)
 
It is a bit surprising to me that we have not been able to understand why the magnetic field is changing, considering it has been known for 60 years that the polarity switching goes in a 22 year cycle.
 
origin said:
It is a bit surprising to me that we have not been able to understand why the magnetic field is changing, considering it has been known for 60 years that the polarity switching goes in a 22 year cycle.
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When it comes to that, we aren't even sure what causes the Earth's magnetic field to shift around and flip over every now and then. And the Earth's a lot closer to us than the Sun.
 
origin said:
It is a bit surprising to me that we have not been able to understand why the magnetic field is changing, considering it has been known for 60 years that the polarity switching goes in a 22 year cycle.
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To truly understand why it flips, you'd have to know the exact mechanism which creates the magnetic field in the first place, and the exact conditions in the interior of the Sun. This is not something we can go out and directly measure, and while we can garner some information about these things, it isn't enough to point us in a definite direction.
 
Janus58 said:
To truly understand why it flips, you'd have to know the exact mechanism which creates the magnetic field in the first place, and the exact conditions in the interior of the Sun. This is not something we can go out and directly measure, and while we can garner some information about these things, it isn't enough to point us in a definite direction.
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It just seems like the short cycles and the regularity of the flips would provide opportunity to reveal some mechanism. Clearly, not however.
 
origin said:
It just seems like the short cycles and the regularity of the flips would provide opportunity to reveal some mechanism. Clearly, not however.
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it's a time thing
1st notice the phenomenon
develop the instrumentation
get it funded and scheduled
see what you can see
refine the instrumentation
get it funded and scheduled
see what you can see
refine....................................................
 
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