WASHINGTON, Mar 28: Large scale planetary waves that meander through the atmosphere high above Earth’s surface have been found to also exist on the Sun, scientists say.
Just as the large-scale waves that form on Earth, known as Rossby waves, influence local weather patterns, the waves discovered on the Sun may be intimately tied to solar activity, including the formation of sunspots, active regions, and the eruption of solar flares.
“The discovery of magnetised Rossby waves on the Sun offers the tantalising possibility that we can predict space weather much further in advance,” said Scott McIntosh, from the US National Centre for Atmospheric Research (NCAR).
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