Solar 'Current of Fire' Speeds Up

In today's issue of Science, NASA solar physicist David Hathaway reports that the top of the sun's Great Conveyor Belt has been running at record-high speeds for the past five years.


The speed-up was surprising on two levels.

First, it coincided with the deepest solar minimum in nearly 100 years, contradicting models that say a fast-moving belt should boost sunspot production. The basic idea is that the belt sweeps up magnetic fields from the sun's surface and drags them down to the sun' [...]

Full story at http://spacefellowship.com/news/art19070/solar-current-of-fire-speeds-up.html