Using magnetograms from the SOHO/MDI and SDO/HMI instruments, it is possible to examine possible configurations of the magnetic field above the photosphere. These magnetic configurations are important in understanding potential conditions of severe space weather.
The magnetic field in this animation is constructed using the Potential Field Source Surface (PFSS) model. The PFSS model is one of the simplest yet realistic models we can explore. Using the solar magnetograms as the 'source surface' of the field, it builds the field structure from the photosphere out to about two solar radii (an altitude of 1 solar radius). These visuals were generated using the SolarSoft package.
In this visualization, the white magnetic field lines are considered 'closed'. The move up, and then return to the solar surface. The green and violet lines represenent field lines that are considered 'open'. Green represents positive magnetic polarity, and violet represents negative polarity. These field lines do not connect back to the Sun but with more distant magnetic fields in space. These field lines act as easy 'roads' for the high-speed solar wind.", "items": [], "extra_data": {} }, { "id": 342206, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/4124/#media_group_342206", "widget": "Video player", "title": "", "caption": "", "description": "Evolution of the solar magnetic field from 1997 to 2013. 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The comparison to a simple bar magnet ends there, however, as the sun's magnetic fields are on the move. In fact, approximately every 11 years the polarity of the sun’s northern and southern hemisphere flips. This change is part of a regular cycle called the solar cycle. Each cycle is defined by periods of high and low solar activity caused by the movement of magnetic field lines that extend out from the sun. Now, a new animation created from data collected by the ESA/NASA SOHO spacecraft shows how migrating magnetic field lines result in a reversal of the sun’s polarity. Watch the video to see the evolution of the sun’s magnetic field from January 1997 to December 2013. || ", "release_date": "2014-01-07T00:00:00-05:00", "update_date": "2023-05-03T13:51:19.737167-04:00", "main_image": { "id": 459553, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a010000/a011400/a011419/cover-1024.jpg", "filename": "cover-1024.jpg", "media_type": "Image", "alt_text": "See the sun’s magnetic field do a flip.", "width": 1024, "height": 576, "pixels": 589824 } }, { "id": 11429, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/11429/", "page_type": "Produced Video", "title": "Sun Magnetic Field Flip Live Shots and Media Resources", "description": "On Dec. 6, 2013, NASA scientists Alex Young and Holly Gilbert discussed how the sun's magnetic field is in the process of flipping. || ", "release_date": "2013-12-05T17:00:00-05:00", "update_date": "2023-05-03T13:51:23.098561-04:00", "main_image": { "id": 460278, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a010000/a011400/a011429/polethumb.jpg", "filename": "polethumb.jpg", "media_type": "Image", "alt_text": "Watch this video on the NASA Goddard YouTube channel.This visualization shows the position of the sun's magnetic fields from January 1997 to December 2013. The field lines swarm with activity: The magenta lines show where the sun's overall field is negative and the green lines show where it is positive. Additional gray lines represent areas of local magnetic variation. \r\rThe entire sun's magnetic polarity, flips approximately every 11 years – though sometimes it takes quite a bit longer – and defines what's known as the solar cycle. The visualization shows how in 1997, the sun shows the positive polarity on the top, and the negative polarity on the bottom. Over the next 16 years, each set of lines is seen to creep toward the opposite pole. By the end of the movie, the flip is almost complete. \r\rAt the height of each magnetic flip, the sun goes through periods of more solar activity, during which there are more sunspots, and more eruptive events such as solar flares and coronal mass ejections, or CMEs. The point in time with the most sunspots is called solar maximum. \r", "width": 1920, "height": 1080, "pixels": 2073600 } } ], "sources": [], "products": [ { "id": 13527, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/13527/", "page_type": "Produced Video", "title": "New Mission Will Take First Peek at Sun’s Poles", "description": "A new spacecraft is journeying to the Sun to snap the first pictures of the Sun’s north and south poles. Solar Orbiter, a collaboration between ESA (the European Space Agency) and NASA will have its first opportunity to launch from Cape Canaveral on Feb. 7, 2020, at 11:15 p.m. EST. Launching on a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket, the spacecraft will use Venus’ and Earth’s gravity to swing itself out of the ecliptic plane — the swath of space, roughly aligned with the Sun’s equator, where all planets orbit. From there, Solar Orbiter's bird’s eye view will give it the first-ever look at the Sun's poles.Read more: https://www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2020/new-mission-will-take-first-peek-at-sun-s-poles || ", "release_date": "2020-01-27T12:00:00-05:00", "update_date": "2023-05-03T13:45:15.119552-04:00", "main_image": { "id": 387931, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a010000/a013500/a013527/13537_SolarOrbiterOverview_YouTube.00725_print.jpg", "filename": "13537_SolarOrbiterOverview_YouTube.00725_print.jpg", "media_type": "Image", "alt_text": "VideoWatch this video on the NASA Goddard YouTube channel.Music credits: “Oxide” and “Virtual Tidings” by Andrew Michael Britton [PRS], David Stephen Goldsmith [PRS]; “Progressive Practice” by Emmanuel David Lipszc [SACEM], Franck Lascombes [SACEM], Sebastien Lipszyc [SACEM]; “Political Spectrum” by Laurent Dury [SACEM} from Universal Production MusicComplete transcript available.", "width": 1024, "height": 576, "pixels": 589824 } } ], "newer_versions": [], "older_versions": [], "alternate_versions": [] }