The action of buoyant magnetic structures inside the Sun

Our current research focuses on the formation of coherent magnetic structures deep within the solar interior that is responsible for fuelling extreme features on the Sun's surface, and can affect the Earth and all satellites in drastic ways. The solar tachocline region, within the solar interior, is regarded as the seat of intense radial shear and is believed to play a vital role in the generation of the solar magnetic field. Yet in order to produce strong structured magnetic features, as displayed on the solar photospheric layer, magnetic fields must pass through the distortion and shredding of the turbulent convection zone. The displayed image highlights the evolution of buoyant magnetic tubes as they interact with the overlying turbulent convective motion, using an idealised three-dimensional compressible magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) model.