Meridional flow in the Sun’s convection zone is a single cell in each hemisphere

Abstract

The flow of plasma inside the Sun The activity of the Sun, including the occurrence of sunspots, is driven by magnetic fields that originate from the motion of charged plasma beneath the surface. Helioseismology uses acoustic oscillations to probe the Sun's interior, analogous to seismology's use of earthquakes to investigate Earth's interior. Gizon et al. analyzed helioseismology data from 1996 to 2019, covering two 11-year solar cycles. They measured the latitudinal and radial flow of plasma as a function of depth within the Sun and how it varies with time. The results support magnetic flux-transport dynamo models, which can explain the distribution of sunspots over each solar cycle. Science , this issue p. 1469