Is solar power generation related to magnetic field

Does the Sun have a magnetic field?

“The features we see when looking at the sun, like the corona that many people saw during the recent solar eclipse, sunspots, and solar flares, are all associated with the sun’s magnetic field,” says study author Keaton Burns, a research scientist in MIT’s Department of Mathematics.

How does the Sun's magnetic field work?

This illustration lays a depiction of the sun's magnetic fields over an image captured by NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory on March 12, 2016. The sun’s surface is a brilliant display of sunspots and flares driven by the solar magnetic field, which is internally generated through a process called dynamo action.

Is the magnetic field a major driver of solar activity?

Routine ultraviolet imaging of the Sun’s upper atmosphere shows the spectacular manifestation of solar activity; yet, we remain blind to its main driver, the magnetic field.

How does solar wind affect Earth's magnetic field?

The solar wind compresses the field’s shape on Earth’s Sun-facing side, and stretches it into a long tail on the night-facing side. The study of Earth’s past magnetism is called paleomagnetism. Direct observations of the magnetic field extend back just a few centuries, so scientists rely on indirect evidence.

Where do magnetic structures occur in a solar system?

When they modeled changes in the flow of plasma near the sun’s surface, the simulation produced magnetic structures in the same areas where sunspots truly occur, near the equator. Changes deeper in the sun, on the other hand, led to modeled fields near the sun’s poles, where they typically don’t occur in reality.

Could solar flares and sunspots be caused by a magnetic field?

Surprise findings suggest sunspots and solar flares could be generated by a magnetic field within the Sun’s outermost layers. If confirmed, the findings could help scientists better predict space weather. This illustration lays a depiction of the sun's magnetic fields over an image captured by NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory on March 12, 2016.