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The sun is a beautifully magnetically driven
star, but we can't actually see magnetic field lines.
They are essentially invisible, and so we have to turn to models
in order for us to see the global magnetic structure of the
sun. What we are looking at here is one such model.
The color coding represents what we call open magnetic field lines,
which means that they extend from within the sun, all the way out to
really far out in space.
The green and the purple have a north and a south polarity. The white lines are closed magnetic field
lines. They come out of the surface of the sun, and they loop around and close
near the solar surface.
You can see how dynamic the sun is as well. Magnetic field lines interact with each other
They cause big explosions to occur on the sun, and that's one reason
it's extremely important to study the magnetic structure of the sun, especially
on a global scale. And again, models are one way we can do this, especially on a global scale.
because they allow us to model where the field lines are, how
they are going to interact with each other when the sun rotates, and then
how that causes solar storms, like coronal mass ejections and solar flares.
Sometimes the sun is quiet, sometimes magnetic field lines aren't
doing a whole lot, but other times, you see these bright regions on the sun
where you have closed loops. That's where activity can occur,
where the flares can occur. The whole thing is really magnetically connected.
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