All articles tagged with #convection
Scientists have experimentally confirmed that solid rock in the Earth's D'' layer flows due to convection, with crystal alignment affecting seismic wave speeds, providing new insights into Earth's deep interior dynamics.
Recent observations of Betelgeuse, a red supergiant star, suggest it is spinning much faster than expected, but a new study proposes that the star's violently boiling surface may be creating an illusion of rapid rotation. The Max Planck Institute for Astrophysics team suggests that the bubbling surface could be mistaken for rotation, leading to the belief that Betelgeuse is rotating faster than possible for a star of its size. The team's research, published in the Astrophysical Journal Letters, aims to better understand how the star's boiling surface affects measurements and will use further observations to assess its rotational speed.
Recent observations of Betelgeuse's rapid rotation are being questioned by astronomers who suggest that the star's boiling surface may be mistaken for rotation due to large-scale convection. The surface of Betelgeuse, a red supergiant star, is dominated by violent convection, with boiling bubbles as large as Earth's orbit rising and falling at speeds of up to 30 km/s. An international team proposes that the dipolar velocity map observed in Betelgeuse could be a result of the boiling surface mimicking rotation, and new observations with higher spatial resolution are needed to better assess the star's rotation.
Astronomers have developed the first 3D simulations of the "twinkle" produced by the rippling waves of gas on the surface of stars, providing a potential means of exploring their interior. By converting the data into an audible sound, researchers have created a "language" of the stars. The simulations also suggest that core convection alone cannot fully explain the observed red noise effect in massive stars, indicating the need for further improvements in the simulations to account for other factors such as a star's rapid rotation.
A new computer simulation is helping scientists understand the complex process of convection within stars. Convection, the cyclic flow of material that transfers heat energy to a star's surface, is difficult to model due to factors like viscosity and turbulent vortices. By studying the flickering of light emitted by stars, astronomers can gain insights into their interior. While current telescopes are unable to observe these flickers, future advancements may allow for a better understanding of stars through their light fluctuations.
Physicists have discovered a new role for turbulence in fluid flows, shedding light on phenomena ranging from the Earth's liquid core to boiling water. The study focused on turbulent convection, the movement of fluid when heated from below, and found that turbulent convection powered flows, together with a solid, can move in two directions, with the co-rotational speed increasing with the intensity of the convection. The research confirms that turbulence can be tamed by interacting with solids and highlights the importance of thermal convection inside the Earth's core.