SCIENTISTS from a Scottish university have solved key details of a centuries-old mystery concerning the sun's magnetic field, it has been announced.

Researchers from the University of Edinburgh have unlocked a vital clue in a solar mystery that has intrigued astronomers for more than 400 years and the findings could help forecast solar storms behind auroral displays such as the northern lights.

Using mathematical modelling on a NASA supercomputer, a team led by the Scottish university has discovered evidence to suggest that the process that generates the sun's magnetic field, known as the solar dynamo, begins much nearer the star's surface than previously thought.

Pinpointing the starting of the location of the process and understanding its evolution could help improve solar storm forecasting according to the researchers.

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These explosive eruptions from the magnetic field can trigger auroral displays, like the Northern Lights, and can even damage satellites and electricity grids.

Previously, research suggested the process begins at the bottom of a deep ocean of churning gasses more than 130,000 miles below the surface.

However, new research suggests the process originates relatively nearer to the surface, some 20,000 miles below.

Lead author, Dr Geoffrey Vasil, of the University of Edinburgh’s School of Mathematics, says he’s very satisfied seeing his research comeback with these results after spending 20 years working on the details of the project.

He said: “The solar dynamo is the oldest unsolved problem in theoretical physics; it's absolutely fascinating. We know the dynamo acts like a giant clock with many complex interacting parts, but we don't know all the pieces or how they fit together.

“Knowing how something starts is essential to understanding and predicting it.

“My colleagues and I have been working out the details of these ideas for 20 years, it’s very satisfying to see the model fit nicely with observational data.

“We found a new idea about how the sun’s dynamo happens, which was quite unexpected but makes a lot of sense in the context.”

Astronomers have spent centuries studying tell-tale signs of the sun's magnetic activity.

Galileo Galilei, one of the earliest Renaissance developers of the thermoscope, made the first detailed observations of sunspots, the dark patches caused by changes in the sun's magnetic field, in 1612.

While it is understood the sun is known to go through 11-year cycles during which solar activity grows increasingly intense, nearly all the details about what happens below the surface have remained unclear for centuries.

However, with the new research, scientists hope to get a better understanding of the sun's magnetic field.