Deeply Penetrating Banded Zonal Flows in the Solar Convection Zone
Thompson, M. J.; Howe, R.; Hill, F.; Christensen-Dalsgaard, J.; Schou, J.; Toomre, J.; Komm, R. W.; Larsen, R. M.
United States, Denmark, United Kingdom
Abstract
Helioseismic observations have detected small temporal variations of the rotation rate below the solar surface that correspond to the so-called ``torsional oscillations'' known from Doppler measurements of the surface. These appear as bands of slower- and faster-than-average rotation moving equatorward. Here we establish, using complementary helioseismic observations over 4 yr from the GONG network and from the MDI instrument on board SOHO, that the banded flows are not merely a near-surface phenomenon: rather, they extend downward at least 60 Mm (some 8% of the total solar radius) and thus are evident over a significant fraction of the nearly 200 Mm depth of the solar convection zone.