Discovery of Thermal Rossby Waves and Evidence for Weak Large-scale Convection in the Solar Interior
Abstract
Abstract Compressible Rossby waves—long predicted by theories of rotating stratified convection—offer a unique window into the dynamical structure of the solar interior. Despite their foundational status in astrophysical convection theory, they have evaded unambiguous detection for more than half a century. Analyzing nearly 15 yr of space- and ground-based helioseismic observations using normal-mode coupling, we report the discovery of a coherent, dispersive family of prograde inertial vorticity waves confined to depths below r / R ⊙ < 0.98, with amplitudes
Fields of Study & Subjects
Solar and Space Plasma Dynamics
Stellar
planetary
and galactic studies
Adaptive optics and wavefront sensing
Publication details
- Journal / source
- The Astrophysical Journal Letters
- Publisher
- American Astronomical Society
- Volume
- 997
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- L22–L22
- Publication date
- 15 January 2026
- Language
- EN