This week, APPM Department Chair Keith Julien and was听highlighted in the Colorado Arts and Sciences Magazine.听
Recent work that offers a solution to the "convective conundrum"听from Professor Julien, University of Sydney's Geoffrey Vasil, and Southwest Research Institute's (SWRI) Nicholas Featherstone provides important insight that has implications on our understanding of space weather. It has been long puzzling scientists听as to why we do not observe classically predicted giant convective flows (cells ~ 200 Mm large), but Julien's听work explains that the rotation of the sun forms cells that are actually smaller than originally predicted (cells ~ 30 Mm large).听
The solar magnetic dynamo is responsible for space weather that can harm satellites, the International Space Station (ISS), disrupt radio communcation, and more. Understanding convective flows in the convective zone of the sun听helps researchers better model the solar dynamo, helping scientists predict and understand space weather,听as explained by the research team.
To read more about this work, read the original article published in the Colorado Arts and Sciences Magazine.
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Department Chair and Professor Keith Julien