scholarly journals The Sun's global magnetic field

Author(s):  
Duncan H. Mackay

Our present-day understanding of solar and stellar magnetic fields is discussed from both an observational and theoretical viewpoint. To begin with, observations of the Sun's large-scale magnetic field are described, along with recent advances in measuring the spatial distribution of magnetic fields on other stars. Following this, magnetic flux transport models used to simulate photospheric magnetic fields and the wide variety of techniques used to deduce global coronal magnetic fields are considered. The application and comparison of these models to the Sun's open flux, hemispheric pattern of solar filaments and coronal mass ejections are then discussed. Finally, recent developments in the construction of steady-state global magnetohydrodynamic models are considered, along with key areas of future research.

2010 ◽  
Vol 6 (S273) ◽  
pp. 290-297
Author(s):  
Duncan H. Mackay

AbstractThis review will discuss both observational and theoretical aspects of the Sun's global magnetic field. First recent observations will be described, along with the main physical processes leading to the time evolution and structure of the global field. Following this, recent theoretical models of both the global surface and coronal magnetic field will be presented. The application of these models to the structure of the corona, formation of solar filaments, the onset of CMEs and finally the origin and variation of the Sun's open flux will be discussed.


Author(s):  
L.J Silvers

Magnetic fields are known to reside in many astrophysical objects and are now believed to be crucially important for the creation of phenomena on a wide variety of scales. However, the role of the magnetic field in the bodies that we observe has not always been clear. In certain situations, the importance of a magnetic field has been overlooked on the grounds that the large-scale magnetic field was believed to be too weak to play an important role in the dynamics. In this article I discuss some of the recent developments concerning magnetic fields in stars, planets and accretion discs. I choose to emphasize some of the situations where it has been suggested that weak magnetic fields may play a more significant role than previously thought. At the end of the article, I list some of the questions to be answered in the future.


1990 ◽  
Vol 138 ◽  
pp. 281-295
Author(s):  
V. I. Makarov ◽  
K. R. Sivaraman

The main features concerning the evolution of the large scale photospheric magnetic fields derived from synoptic maps as well as from H-alpha synoptic charts are reviewed. The significance of a variety of observations that indicate the presence of a high latitude component as a counterpart to the sunspot phenomenon at lower latitudes is reviewed. It is argued that these two components describe the global magnetic field on the sun. It is demonstrated that this scenario is able to link many phenomena observed on the sun (coronal emission, ephemeral active regions, geomagnetic activity, torsional oscillations, polar faculae and global modes in the magnetic field pattern) with the global magnetic activity.


2013 ◽  
Vol 8 (S300) ◽  
pp. 172-175
Author(s):  
Duncan H. Mackay ◽  
Anthony R. Yeates

AbstractSolar filaments are known to exhibit a hemispheric pattern in their chirality, where dextral/sinistral filaments dominate in the northern/southern hemisphere. We show that this pattern may be explained through data driven 3D global magnetic field simulations of the Sun's large-scale magnetic field. Through a detailed comparison with 109 filaments over a 6 month period, the model correctly reproduces the filament chirality and helicity with a 96% agreement. The data driven simulation is extended to run over a full solar cycle, where predictions are made for the spatial and temporal dependence of the hemispheric pattern over the solar cycle.


2010 ◽  
Vol 6 (S274) ◽  
pp. 355-360 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Hanasz ◽  
D. Wóltanski ◽  
K. Kowalik ◽  
H. Kotarba

AbstractWe present recent developments of global galactic-scale numerical models of the Cosmic Ray (CR) driven dynamo, which was originally proposed by Parker (1992). We conduct a series of direct CR+MHD numerical simulations of the dynamics of the interstellar medium (ISM), composed of gas, magnetic fields and CR components. We take into account CRs accelerated in randomly distributed supernova (SN) remnants, and assume that SNe deposit small-scale, randomly oriented, dipolar magnetic fields into the ISM. The amplification timescale of the large-scale magnetic field resulting from the CR-driven dynamo is comparable to the galactic rotation period. The process efficiently converts small-scale magnetic fields of SN-remnants into galactic-scale magnetic fields. The resulting magnetic field structure resembles the X-shaped magnetic fields observed in edge-on galaxies.


2008 ◽  
Vol 4 (S254) ◽  
pp. 95-96
Author(s):  
Arthur M. Wolfe ◽  
Regina A. Jorgenson ◽  
Timothy Robishaw ◽  
Carl Heiles ◽  
Jason X. Prochaska

AbstractThe magnetic field pervading our Galaxy is a crucial constituent of the interstellar medium: it mediates the dynamics of interstellar clouds, the energy density of cosmic rays, and the formation of stars (Beck 2005). The field associated with ionized interstellar gas has been determined through observations of pulsars in our Galaxy. Radio-frequency measurements of pulse dispersion and the rotation of the plane of linear polarization, i.e., Faraday rotation, yield an average value B ≈ 3 μG (Han et al. 2006). The possible detection of Faraday rotation of linearly polarized photons emitted by high-redshift quasars (Kronberg et al. 2008) suggests similar magnetic fields are present in foreground galaxies with redshifts z > 1. As Faraday rotation alone, however, determines neither the magnitude nor the redshift of the magnetic field, the strength of galactic magnetic fields at redshifts z > 0 remains uncertain.Here we report a measurement of a magnetic field of B ≈ 84 μG in a galaxy at z =0.692, using the same Zeeman-splitting technique that revealed an average value of B = 6 μG in the neutral interstellar gas of our Galaxy (Heiles et al. 2004). This is unexpected, as the leading theory of magnetic field generation, the mean-field dynamo model, predicts large-scale magnetic fields to be weaker in the past, rather than stronger (Parker 1970).The full text of this paper was published in Nature (Wolfe et al. 2008).


Data ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 4
Author(s):  
Evgeny Mikhailov ◽  
Daniela Boneva ◽  
Maria Pashentseva

A wide range of astrophysical objects, such as the Sun, galaxies, stars, planets, accretion discs etc., have large-scale magnetic fields. Their generation is often based on the dynamo mechanism, which is connected with joint action of the alpha-effect and differential rotation. They compete with the turbulent diffusion. If the dynamo is intensive enough, the magnetic field grows, else it decays. The magnetic field evolution is described by Steenbeck—Krause—Raedler equations, which are quite difficult to be solved. So, for different objects, specific two-dimensional models are used. As for thin discs (this shape corresponds to galaxies and accretion discs), usually, no-z approximation is used. Some of the partial derivatives are changed by the algebraic expressions, and the solenoidality condition is taken into account as well. The field generation is restricted by the equipartition value and saturates if the field becomes comparable with it. From the point of view of mathematical physics, they can be characterized as stable points of the equations. The field can come to these values monotonously or have oscillations. It depends on the type of the stability of these points, whether it is a node or focus. Here, we study the stability of such points and give examples for astrophysical applications.


1994 ◽  
Vol 154 ◽  
pp. 437-447 ◽  
Author(s):  
Steven H. Saar

I review the advantages, techniques, and results of measurement of magnetic fields on cool stars in the infrared (IR). These measurements have generated several important results, including the following: the first data on the magnetic parameters of dMe and RS CVn variables; evidence for field strength confinement by photospheric gas pressure; support for the correlation between magnetic flux and rotation, with possible saturation at high rotation rates; indications of horizontal and/or vertical magnetic field structure; and evidence of spatial variations in B over a stellar surface. I discuss these results in detail, and suggest future directions for IR magnetic field research.


2013 ◽  
Vol 440 (1) ◽  
pp. 2-9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yannick J. L. Michaux ◽  
Anthony F. J. Moffat ◽  
André-Nicolas Chené ◽  
Nicole St-Louis

Abstract Examination of the temporal variability properties of several strong optical recombination lines in a large sample of Galactic Wolf–Rayet (WR) stars reveals possible trends, especially in the more homogeneous WC than the diverse WN subtypes, of increasing wind variability with cooler subtypes. This could imply that a serious contender for the driver of the variations is stochastic, magnetic subsurface convection associated with the 170 kK partial-ionization zone of iron, which should occupy a deeper and larger zone of greater mass in cooler WR subtypes. This empirical evidence suggests that the heretofore proposed ubiquitous driver of wind variability, radiative instabilities, may not be the only mechanism playing a role in the stochastic multiple small-scaled structures seen in the winds of hot luminous stars. In addition to small-scale stochastic behaviour, subsurface convection guided by a global magnetic field with localized emerging loops may also be at the origin of the large-scale corotating interaction regions as seen frequently in O stars and occasionally in the winds of their descendant WR stars.


1975 ◽  
Vol 67 (3) ◽  
pp. 417-443 ◽  
Author(s):  
W. V. R. Maekus ◽  
M. R. E. Proctor

Past study of the large-scale consequences of forced small-scale motions in electrically conducting fluids has led to the ‘α-effect’ dynamos. Various linear kinematic aspects of these dynamos have been explored, suggesting their value in the interpretation of observed planetary and stellar magnetic fields. However, large-scale magnetic fields with global boundary conditions can not be force free and in general will cause large-scale motions as they grow. I n this paper the finite amplitude behaviour of global magnetic fields and the large-scale flows induced by them in rotating systems is investigated. In general, viscous and ohmic dissipative mechanisms both play a role in determining the amplitude and structure of the flows and magnetic fields which evolve. In circumstances where ohmic loss is the principal dissipation, it is found that determination of a geo- strophic flow is an essential part of the solution of the basic stability problem. Nonlinear aspects of the theory include flow amplitudes which are independent of the rotation and a total magnetic energy which is directly proportional to the rotation. Constant a is the simplest example exhibiting the various dynamic balances of this stabilizing mechanism for planetary dynamos. A detailed analysis is made for this case to determine the initial equilibrium of fields and flows in a rotating sphere.


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