New Jersey Institute of Technology physicists have traced the Sun's magnetic engine to a depth of roughly 200,000 kilometers beneath the surface, nearly the length of stacking 16 Earths end to end. Using three decades of solar acoustic data from NASA's SOHO and SDO satellites, researchers identified the likely location of the solar dynamo where the Sun's 11-year magnetic cycles originate.

This discovery points to the tachocline, a thin transition layer separating the Sun's turbulent outer convection zone from its stable radiative interior. Across this boundary, the Sun's rotation changes abruptly, generating powerful shearing flows capable of powering the Sun's magnetic fields. The findings, published in Nature Scientific Reports, provide one of the clearest observational windows yet into the hidden forces shaping space weather patterns.

The research team analyzed billions of measurements from instruments recording sound waves through the Sun's interior every 45 to 60 seconds since the mid-1990s. These internal flow patterns form a butterfly-shaped structure mirroring the sunspot migration visible at the surface. Understanding where the dynamo operates could help scientists refine models used to forecast solar activity, including powerful eruptions that can disrupt satellites, communications systems, and power grids on Earth.