Solar magnetic activity exhibits variations with periods between 1.5–4 years, the so-called quasi-biennial oscillations (QBOs), in addition to the well-known 11-year Schwabe cycles. The solar dynamo is thought to be the responsible mechanism for the generation of the QBOs.

Recently, the radiative magnetohydrodynamic (R-MHD) code MURaM was extended to include the corona. The code was used to simulate a bipolar active region with additional parasitic flux emergence near one of the sunspots that produced a flare.

The motions of small-scale magnetic flux elements in the solar photosphere can provide some measure of the Lagrangian properties of the convective flow.

There have been a number of reports in the literature of counter-Evershed flows in well developed sunspot penumbrae, i.e. flows directed towards the umbra.

Magnetic field amplification in exploding granules and the role of deep and shallow recirculation

We aim to investigate the nature and occurrence characteristics of grand solar minimum and maximum periods, which are observed in the solar proxy records such as 10Be and 14C, using a fully non-linear Babcock-Leighton type flux transport dynamo including momentum and entropy equations.

A paper was published today in Science by a team from the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR), Chiba University in Japan, and the University of Tokyo. It is titled "Large-scale magnetic fields at high Reynolds numbers in magnetohydrodynamic simulations."