News Excerpt: 

MIT and University of Edinburgh researchers published in Nature suggest the Sun's dynamo, generating its magnetic field, might be in its outermost layers, potentially improving solar cycle predictions.

Key highlights of the Study:

• The Sun undergoes an 11-year cycle, known as the solar cycle, during which its magnetic field changes. 
• This cycle is characterized by sunspots, areas with significantly stronger magnetic fields than the rest of the Sun.
• The study suggests that the Sun's magnetic field is generated about 20,000 miles below the Sun's surface, contradicting earlier studies that suggested it originated from much deeper within the Sun.
• The researchers used numerical simulations to model the Sun's magnetic fields, taking into account torsional oscillations, which are cyclical patterns in the flow of gas and plasma within and around the Sun.
• The study proposes that the torsional oscillations and magnetic cycle are driven by the same physical process, indicating that the solar cycle starts near the Sun's surface in the equatorial region.
• The researchers aim to understand how the solar cycle closes and predict whether the next solar cycle will be strong or weak, similar to how hurricanes are forecast.

Challenges:

Experts are not fully convinced by the study's findings, as it lacks rigorous observational tests and does not account for important aspects of the sunspot cycle, such as 

• First is the sunspot time series, which is the up and down motion of the sunspots.
• Second: The sunspot distribution butterfly diagram, which describes patterns formed by sunspots on the sun’s surface. 
• The sunspot moves from mid-latitudes at the beginning of the cycle and moves over time towards the equator and then at the end.

Implications:

• Space weather around Earth: The study comes as the Sun approaches its solar maximum, a period when increased solar activity can cause solar storms.
• Solar storms can cause blackouts, disable satellites, and damage cell phones and Global Positioning System or GPS networks. In the most extreme cases, it can affect the power grid.
• Scientists can forecast the probability of an eruption on the sun’s surface, but not the exact moment of the event.
• Ripple effects throughout the solar system: The change in the sun's magnetic field polarity is described as having "ripple effects throughout the solar system." This suggests it could impact various phenomena and regions within the solar system beyond just the sun itself.
• Cosmic ray shielding: The crinkly, wavy nature of the current sheet during the reversal is said to act as a better shield against cosmic rays trying to penetrate the inner solar system. 
• This could have implications for radiation exposure for astronauts, spacecraft, and potentially even atmospheric conditions on Earth.
• Heliosphere changes: The heliosphere, the vast region of the sun's magnetic influence extending beyond Pluto, will reorganize as the magnetic field flips polarity. 
• This reversal will ripple outward all the way to the Voyager probes at the edge of the heliosphere.