Quantcast
ZME Science
  • CoronavirusNEW
  • News
  • Environment
    • Climate
    • Animals
    • Renewable Energy
    • Eco tips
    • Environmental Issues
    • Green Living
  • Health
    • Alternative Medicine
    • Anatomy
    • Diseases
    • Genetics
    • Mind & Brain
    • Nutrition
  • Future
  • Space
  • Feature
    • Feature Post
    • Art
    • Great Pics
    • Design
    • Fossil Friday
    • AstroPicture
    • GeoPicture
    • Did you know?
    • Offbeat
  • More
    • About
    • The Team
    • Advertise
    • Contribute
    • Our stance on climate change
    • Privacy Policy
    • Contact
No Result
View All Result
ZME Science

No Result
View All Result
ZME Science
No Result
View All Result
Home Space Remote sensing

The sun has the closest geometry to the perfect sphere found in nature

Tibi Puiu by Tibi Puiu
November 22, 2012
in Remote sensing, Space

The sun has been extensively studied by astronomers for the last 50 years. While previous research suggested that the the sun is slightly  sun bulged a bit around the middle , making it very slightly flying-saucer shaped,  new measurements however taken by a satellite  suggest that its shape is the closest to that of a perfect sphere in nature.

Previously, a variety of different instruments and techniques have been used to measure the shape of the sun. Mainly, previous attempts to fully describe the sun were mainly concentrated on its period of rotation, which is of 28 days. However,  rotation that occurs beneath the visible surface of the sun wasn’t that well taken into account, so estimates had the sun  with a very slight bulge. In reality, this bulge is non-existent.

ADVERTISEMENT

The new research from University of Hawaii astronomers uses data gathered by the Helioseismic and Magnetic Imager (HMI) instrument onboard the Solar Dynamics Observatory satellite (SDA), which is currently on a five-year long mission of studying how the sun and its magnetic field influences Earth. Since the sun doesn’t have any atmosphere, the SDA was able to take remarkably detailed and precise photographs of the surface of the sun from all angles.

Get more science news like this...

Join the ZME newsletter for amazing science news, features, and exclusive scoops. More than 40,000 subscribers can't be wrong.

   

Previous measurements suggested that the exact measurements of the sun may fluctuate with conditions such as its sunspot cycle and solar turbulence or magnetism. However, the SDA has found that this ins’t true. While solar conditions are susceptible to variable change, its size is not!

“For years we’ve believed our fluctuating measurements were telling us that the sun varies, but these new results say something different. While just about everything else in the sun changes along with its 11-year sunspot cycle, the shape doesn’t,” said team leader and first author of the study Jeffrey Kuhn.

More precisely, were the sun the size of a 1-meter in diameter ball, precise measurements have concluded that  its equatorial (horizontal) diameter would only be 17 millionths of a meter longer than its north-south. That’s less than the width of a human hair. This makes the sun the closest natural form to the perfect sphere, discovered thus far.

ADVERTISEMENT

Findings were reported in the journal  Science Express. 

source: University of Hawaii

Tags: satellitespheresun
Tibi Puiu

Tibi Puiu

Tibi is a science journalist and co-founder of ZME Science. He writes mainly about emerging tech, physics, climate, and space. In his spare time, Tibi likes to make weird music on his computer and groom felines.

Follow ZME on social media

ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
  • Coronavirus
  • News
  • Environment
  • Health
  • Future
  • Space
  • Feature
  • More

© 2007-2019 ZME Science - Not exactly rocket science. All Rights Reserved.

No Result
View All Result
  • Coronavirus
  • News
  • Environment
    • Climate
    • Animals
    • Renewable Energy
    • Eco tips
    • Environmental Issues
    • Green Living
  • Health
    • Alternative Medicine
    • Anatomy
    • Diseases
    • Genetics
    • Mind & Brain
    • Nutrition
  • Future
  • Space
  • Feature
    • Feature Post
    • Art
    • Great Pics
    • Design
    • Fossil Friday
    • AstroPicture
    • GeoPicture
    • Did you know?
    • Offbeat
  • More
    • About
    • The Team
    • Advertise
    • Contribute
    • Our stance on climate change
    • Privacy Policy
    • Contact

© 2007-2019 ZME Science - Not exactly rocket science. All Rights Reserved.