Chapter 3: Seismic view of the sun

Abstract

The Sun has played a major role in the development of mathematics and physics over the past centuries and has been widely described as the Rosetta Stone of Astronomy. This is undoubtebly an apt description of a celestial object whose internal and external layers provide an ideal laboratory for testing atomic and nuclear physics, high-temperature plasma physics and magnetohydrodynamics, neutrino physics and general theory of relativity. The proximity of our star to Earth has enabled us to make a close scrutiny of its surface regions and the overlying atmosphere. It has provided a wealth of information of high spatial resolution about its surface features which is evidently not possible for other stars. Indeed, from very ancient times the Chinese and Greek astronomers had not failed to notice the dark spots on the otherwise immaculate surface of the Sun. Solar astronomers have, in fact, maintained systematic records of the appearance of these vivid regions on the visible disk of the Sun, hoping to understand the processes that drive the solar cycle and possibly shed some light on its role in influencing the terrestrial climate. © 2008 World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd.