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Photospheric subrotations, differential rotation and zonal wind bands - A reverse pirouetteIt is noted that on the sun the core is assumed to be rotating with a period of about 12 days while the overlying 'mantle' convection zone has a solid body component of about 27 days. It is proposed that this phenomenon could simply be understood as a 'reverse pirouette'. It is noted that while previously proposed models provide solutions of valid equations and computer analyses, they lack a simple physical picture to explain the phenomenon. In the model proposed here, the solar oblateness is conventionally providing added heat input at the poles. The result is the large scale transport of material toward the equator, causing subrotation. The model is thus seen as facilitating an understanding of the formation of a slowly rotating convection zone above the more rapidly rotating core. The latitudinal photospheric differential rotation is interpreted as a 'second order' effect associated with the horizontal transport of momentum.
Document ID
19810050364
Acquisition Source
Legacy CDMS
Document Type
Reprint (Version printed in journal)
External Source(s)
Authors
Schatten, K. H.
(NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Greenbelt, MD, United States)
Mayr, H. G.
(NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Laboratory for Planetary Atmospheres, Greenbelt, Md., United States)
Levine, R. H.
(Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics Cambridge, Mass., United States)
Date Acquired
August 11, 2013
Publication Date
May 1, 1981
Publication Information
Publication: Solar Physics
Volume: 71
Subject Category
Solar Physics
Accession Number
81A34768
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Other

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