Artists impression of the Sun's internal acoustic waves (IMAGE)

Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy (AURA)

Artists impression of the Sun's internal acoustic waves

Caption

NSF-funded GONG network uses sound waves to measure changes inside the Sun, indicative of sunspots on the side pointing away from Earth. Artists impression of the Sun's internal acoustic waves with no sunspots (top panel) and with sunspots (bottom panel). The sunspot's magnetic field perturbs the acoustic waves, changing their signature. Measuring this change allows scientists to predict sunspots on the far side of the sun.

Credit

Credit: NSO/AURA/NSF/C.Raftery

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