Evidence that solar flares drive global oscillations in the Sun

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates that solar flares are correlated with and likely drive global oscillations in the Sun, especially affecting high-frequency waves, similar to how earthquakes cause Earth's ringing.

Contribution

It provides evidence that solar flares influence global solar oscillations, revealing a new connection between magnetic activity and the Sun's internal dynamics.

Findings

Energy in the solar acoustic spectrum correlates with flare activity.

Flares have a stronger impact on high-frequency waves than on p-modes.

Flares can drive global oscillations similar to seismic events on Earth.

Abstract

Solar flares are large explosions on the Sun's surface caused by a sudden release of magnetic energy. They are known to cause local short-lived oscillations travelling away from the explosion like water rings. Here we show that the energy in the solar acoustic spectrum is correlated with flares. This means that the flares drive global oscillations in the Sun in the same way that the entire Earth is set ringing for several weeks after a major earthquake like the December 2004 Sumatra-Andaman Earthquake. The correlation between flares and energy in the acoustic spectrum of disk-integrated sunlight is stronger for high-frequency waves than for ordinary p-modes which are excited by the turbulence in the near surface convection zone immediately beneath the photosphere.