Scientists Surprised by ‘Unexpected’ Rotational Patterns of Sun-Like Stars
Another day, another scientific breakthrough challenging conventional thinking.Researchers determined that Sun-like stars rotate up to two-and-a-half times faster at the equator than at higher latitudes. The discovery—made by scientists at the NYU Abu Dhabi Center for Space Science—is based on observations from NASA’s Kepler mission and asteroseismology (the super-coobl-sounding study of sound waves traveling inside stars). ... “Understanding differential rotation—how fast one part of a star spins compared to the rest—is not only important for a complete understanding of how a star works,” Katepalli Sreenivasan, principal investigator of the Center for Space Science, explained. “It will help us gain deeper insights about their magnetic fields.”
