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Sun-like stars rotate differently, with the equator rotating faster than high latitudes. The blue arrows in the figure represent the speed of rotation. Differential rotation is thought to be an essential ingredient for generating magnetic activity and star points. Credit: MPI for research on the solar system / MarkGarlick.com
Sun-like stars turn up to two and a half times faster at the equator than at higher latitudes, a finding by NYU researchers Abu Dhabi, which challenges current science on rotation stars.
Until now, little was known about the precise rotation patterns of sun-like stars, but only that the equator rotates faster than at higher latitudes, similar to the sun.
Scientists at the Space Science Center in Abu Dhabi, New York, used observations from NASA's mission and asteroseismology to accurately study the rotation of Sun-like stars, no other scientific method was unable to achieve.
Their study showed that Sun-like stars, characterized by their mass and age, actually rotate in the same way as the Sun, with their equatorial regions rotating faster than at mid-high latitudes. But there is one key difference.
The sun's equator rotates about 10% faster than its mid-latitudes, while the equators of sun-like stars rotate up to two and a half times faster than their mid-latitudes.
"It's very unexpected, and challenges the current numerical simulations, which suggest that stars like these could not support a differential rotation of this magnitude," said Othman Benomar, Associate Researcher at the Abu Dhabi Center. for Science the study published in Science.
"Understanding differential rotation – the speed with which a star rotates relative to others – is not only important for understanding how a star works, but will also help us better understand their magnetic fields," says Katepalli Sreenivasan, Senior Director. investigator of NYU Abu Dhabi Center for Space Science.
We know that the magnetic fields of the Sun cause huge solar storms that frequently disrupt space satellites in orbit and destroy electrical networks on Earth.
Scientists agree that the rotation of the Sun plays a crucial role in the generation of the solar magnetic field, but the exact details are still a mystery, although the Sun has been observed and studied in detail.
Sreenivasan added, "Learning more about the rotation and generation of magnetic fields of stars could help us better understand the solar dynamo, the physical process that generates the Sun's magnetic field."
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More information:
O. Benomar el al., "Asteroseismic detection of latitudinal differential rotation in 13 Sun-like stars" Science (2018). science.sciencemag.org/cgi/doi… 1126 / science.aao6571
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