New vortical Sun waves detected with unexplained speed

Researchers from New York University, Abu Dhabi and the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research have discovered a set of new vorticity (spinning) waves coming from the Sun that move much faster than can be predicted with existing theories.

About the new waves:

• The high-frequency retrograde (HFR) waves detected after 25 analysing 25 years of space and ground-based data moves in the opposite direction of the Sun’s rotation and appears as a pattern of vortices (fluid-like revolving motions) on the surface of the Sun and move at three times the speed predicted by current theory.
• The unknown nature of these HFR waves makes it difficult to interpret and place them within the current context of solar dynamics and makes them difficult to explain.
• The researchers tested three hypotheses that try to explain the waves:
• that they are caused by magnetic fields within the sun;
• that they come from gravity waves in the sun; and
• That they occur due to the compression of plasma.

But none of the three hypotheses held up well against the data on the HFR waves.

• But curiously enough, the behaviour of these waves is very similar to a type of wave found in Earth’s oceans known as Rossby Waves, which also travel much quicker than researchers can explain.
• These waves move in the opposite direction to the rotation of the sun, three times faster than what should be allowed by hydrodynamics alone.