A new picture for the internal rotation of the sun

Thesis/Dissertation · Fri Jan 01 04:00:00 EST 1988

OSTI ID:7058443

Morrow, C A

This thesis describes a helioseismic quest to determine the angular velocity inside the Sun as a function of depth and latitude. The author analyzes rotational frequency splittings extracted from 15 days of full-disk observations of the solar acoustic oscillations (1 = 15-99) obtained with the Fourier Tachometer (a Doppler analyzing instrument design by Tim Brown). She has compared the observed frequency splittings to those generated by several different physically-motivated models for the solar internal angular velocity. She also introduces convenient preliminary analysis techniques, which require no formal computations and which guide the choices of rotation models. He analysis suggests that the differential rotation in latitude observed at the solar surface pervades the convection zone and perhaps even deeper layers. Thus, the convection zone appears to contain little or no radial gradient of angular velocity. The analysis further indicates that the angular velocity of the outer portion of the radiative interior is constant, or nearly so, at a value that is intermediate between the relatively fast equatorial rate and the slower polar rate of the surface profile. This new picture of the Sun's internal rotation implies that a significant radial gradient exists only in a transitional layer between the convection zone and the radiative interior. This model has intriguing implications for the solar dynamo, for the current distribution and transport of angular momentum, and for the current distribution and transport of angular momentum, and for the rotational and evolutionary history of the Sun.

• Research Organization: Colorado Univ., Boulder, CO (USA)
• OSTI ID: 7058443
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

640104* -- Astrophysics & Cosmology-- Solar Phenomena
71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS
GENERAL PHYSICS
ANGULAR MOMENTUM
ANGULAR VELOCITY
CALCULATION METHODS
CONVECTION
CURRENTS
ELECTRIC CURRENTS
ENERGY TRANSFER
HEAT TRANSFER
MAIN SEQUENCE STARS
MASS TRANSFER
MATHEMATICAL MODELS
MOTION
OSCILLATIONS
ROTATION
SEISMOLOGY
STAR EVOLUTION
STAR MODELS
STARS
SUN
VELOCITY