SoylentNews is people
SoylentNews
The Sun's surface mysteriously rotates more slowly than its interior. Now researchers have observed the phenomenon with high resolution and proposed an explanation for the behavior. Using a new technique that tracks waves moving through the outer layers of the Sun, the team confirmed the speed difference and attributed the slowdown to the Sun's outer, 70-km "skin." Their model proposes that photons radiated from this layer extract angular momentum, slowing down the rotation. According to the researchers, such a slowdown should occur in all stars and could have a greater effect on larger stars.
The rotation rate of the Sun's plasma varies with latitude—faster at the equator than at the poles—and with distance from the core. Solar researchers noticed the core-surface speed difference decades ago but do not yet have a widely-accepted explanation.
This rotational anomaly has been implicated in solar flares... so nice to know the cause.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday February 07 2017, @03:49PM
That makes an incredible amount of sense. I'd never quite understood contraction in the direction of motion. Thanks!