sunquakes

Sunquakes, also known as helioseismic events, are vibrations or oscillations on the surface of the Sun. These are not the violent, destructive earthquakes we experience on Earth, but rather rhythmic pulsations caused by the Sun's internal activity. The study of these vibrations is called helioseismology, and it allows scientists to probe the Sun's interior, much like seismologists study Earth's interior by analyzing earthquake waves.

These solar oscillations are generated by turbulent convection beneath the Sun's visible surface. As hot plasma rises and cooler plasma sinks in a process called convection, it creates sound waves that travel through the Sun's interior. These waves then reach the surface and cause it to ripple and vibrate. The patterns and frequencies of these vibrations are extremely sensitive to the conditions within the Sun, including its temperature, density, and magnetic field strength.

By observing how these waves travel and interact, scientists can infer the properties of the Sun's core, radiative zone, and convective zone. This provides invaluable information about the Sun's internal structure, its rotation rate at different depths, and the processes that drive solar activity, such as sunspots and solar flares. While not directly observable in the same way as visible sunspots, sunquakes are detected by monitoring subtle changes in the Doppler shift of light from the Sun's surface, which indicates the direction and speed of these oscillations.