<p>As <a href="https://astronomy.stackexchange.com/a/34116/14094">someone already answered</a>, the Earth part is due to the fact that the north magnetic pole is actually the one situated near the south geographic pole.</p>
<p>As for the Sun on the other hand, it's simply that image which is wrong, and not following convention; the convention is for positive spots to be labeled north, i.e. for field lines to go from north to south, just like is the convention in magnetism in general.</p>
<p>The reason for this confusion is that sunspots aren't typically actually labeled &quot;north&quot; or &quot;south&quot; at all like on a bar magnet, but rather as &quot;positive&quot; (&quot;outward&quot;) and &quot;negative&quot; (&quot;inward&quot;). In many texts you can however indeed see references to the spots as &quot;north-seeking&quot; or &quot;south-seeking&quot;, such as <a href="https://pressbooks.bccampus.ca/astronomy1105/chapter/15-2-the-solar-cycle/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">here</a>:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Bear in mind that magnets always have a north pole and a south pole.
Whenever sunspots are observed in pairs, or in groups containing two
principal spots, one of the spots usually has the magnetic polarity of
a north-seeking magnetic pole and the other has the opposite polarity.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>This is ironically because &quot;north-seeking&quot; means &quot;seeking geographic north here on Earth&quot;, which as mentioned above is actually the south magnetic pole; this is defined as the north pole of a magnet, and as such the north pole of a magnet is uniquely determined by which polarity is &quot;north-seeking&quot;, which is the one where field lines are positive and extend outward, just like on a bar magnet.</p>
<p>Of course, just like you can technically say the field lines go from south to north inside a bar magnet, you could also look at sunspots from underneath the surface and see that it'd be flipped (since magnetic field lines always form loops due to Gauss's law for magnetism), but since we as humans always observe bar magnets and the Solar surface from the outside, what is north and south is thus uniquely defined by looking at the direction of the field lines on this side of the closed surface (the outside).</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2024-01-25T23:35:39.910Z
Thanks Outis for posting this addition. However, without any references, we can only take this information at face value; as you yourself note in a comment on the other answer, people can get their facts wrong. This would be a [much better answer](https://astronomy.stackexchange.com/help/how-to-answer) if you [edit](https://astronomy.stackexchange.com/posts/55813/edit) it to add a link to an authoritative source that supports your statement about the convention for direction of field lines. I'd be happy to upvote your answer if it included such a reference.
Chappo Hasn't Forgotten
CC BY-SA 4.0
2024-01-26T13:29:11.763Z
Sure thing; I added a reference and explained in a bit more detail now.
Outis Nemo
CC BY-SA 4.0
2024-01-24T10:18:41.777Z
2024-01-27T02:54:15.557Z
2024-01-27T02:54:15.557Z
Outis Nemo
<p>That was a curiosity that I also had once. 
The reason for that is that the magnetic pole near earth's geographic north pole is actually the south magnetic pole.
You can find a more detailed answer on <a href="https://wtamu.edu/~cbaird/sq/2013/11/15/why-does-a-magnetic-compass-point-to-the-geographic-north-pole/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https://wtamu.edu/~cbaird/sq/2013/11/15/why-does-a-magnetic-compass-point-to-the-geographic-north-pole/</a></p>

<p>Happy Thanksgiving!</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-11-28T23:21:43.497Z
This is only half the answer, given that the question also asks about the *Sun*. The full answer is (presumably - I’m not an expert on this) that the convention is to show the direction of magnetic flux from the nominated south magnetic pole to nominated north magnetic pole.
Chappo Hasn't Forgotten
CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-11-28T23:35:50.113Z
@ChappoSaysReinstateMonica lol, I actually forgot that part of the question... Thanks for pointning out.
muyustan
CC BY-SA 4.0
2024-01-24T10:16:11.217Z
@ChappoHasn'tForgottenMonica: That's not the convention at all. The convention is north to south, like everywhere else. That image simply has gotten that convention wrong, and sadly has been reused in a ton of different places since it was published.
Outis Nemo
CC BY-SA 4.0
2024-01-27T02:49:36.790Z
@OutisNemo yes, you're absolutely correct. If I'd spent a few seconds looking up [magnetic polarity](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magnet#Polarity), I'd have learnt that the "magnetic field lines of a magnet are considered *by convention* to emerge from the magnet's north pole and reenter at the south pole" (my italics). Your [own answer](https://astronomy.stackexchange.com/a/55813/14094) now provides the missing half of the clarification the OP was  seeking. :-)
Chappo Hasn't Forgotten
CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-11-28T20:08:30.797Z
2019-11-28T20:08:30.797Z
Tau Ckra
<p>I saw these figures and could not get why the magnetic field lines are not pointing from the north pole towards the south pole but they do the opposite.</p>

<p><a href="https://i.sstatic.net/scUd3.png" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/scUd3.png" alt="enter image description here"></a></p>

<p>Or also this picture which is about magnetic characteristics of the sun says the same thing:</p>

<p><a href="https://i.sstatic.net/U33AF.png" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/U33AF.png" alt="enter image description here"></a></p>

<the-sun><earth><magnetic-field><pole>
Why do the magnetic field lines of the earth go from south pole to north pole?
muyustan
# Why do the magnetic field lines of the earth go from south pole to north pole?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2019-11-28)

I saw these figures and could not get why the magnetic field lines are not pointing from the north pole towards the south pole but they do the opposite.

[![enter image description here](https://i.sstatic.net/scUd3.png)](https://i.sstatic.net/scUd3.png)

Or also this picture which is about magnetic characteristics of the sun says the same thing:

[![enter image description here](https://i.sstatic.net/U33AF.png)](https://i.sstatic.net/U33AF.png)

**Tags:** the-sun, earth, magnetic-field, pole


---

## 2 answers

### Answer by username_3 on 2019-11-28. Score: 4 | Accepted answer

That was a curiosity that I also had once.
The reason for that is that the magnetic pole near earth's geographic north pole is actually the south magnetic pole.
You can find a more detailed answer on <https://wtamu.edu/~cbaird/sq/2013/11/15/why-does-a-magnetic-compass-point-to-the-geographic-north-pole/>

Happy Thanksgiving!

> **Comments:**
> **username_2**: This is only half the answer, given that the question also asks about the *Sun*. The full answer is (presumably - I’m not an expert on this) that the convention is to show the direction of magnetic flux from the nominated south magnetic pole to nominated north magnetic pole.  
> **username_0**: @ChappoSaysReinstateMonica lol, I actually forgot that part of the question... Thanks for pointning out.  
> **username_1**: @ChappoHasn'tForgottenMonica: That's not the convention at all. The convention is north to south, like everywhere else. That image simply has gotten that convention wrong, and sadly has been reused in a ton of different places since it was published.  
> **username_2**: @OutisNemo yes, you're absolutely correct. If I'd spent a few seconds looking up [magnetic polarity](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magnet#Polarity), I'd have learnt that the "magnetic field lines of a magnet are considered *by convention* to emerge from the magnet's north pole and reenter at the south pole" (my italics). Your [own answer](https://astronomy.stackexchange.com/a/55813/14094) now provides the missing half of the clarification the OP was  seeking. :-)  

---

### Answer by username_1 on 2024-01-24. Score: 3

As [someone already answered](https://astronomy.stackexchange.com/a/34116/14094), the Earth part is due to the fact that the north magnetic pole is actually the one situated near the south geographic pole.

As for the Sun on the other hand, it's simply that image which is wrong, and not following convention; the convention is for positive spots to be labeled north, i.e. for field lines to go from north to south, just like is the convention in magnetism in general.

The reason for this confusion is that sunspots aren't typically actually labeled "north" or "south" at all like on a bar magnet, but rather as "positive" ("outward") and "negative" ("inward"). In many texts you can however indeed see references to the spots as "north-seeking" or "south-seeking", such as [here](https://pressbooks.bccampus.ca/astronomy1105/chapter/15-2-the-solar-cycle/):

> Bear in mind that magnets always have a north pole and a south pole.
> Whenever sunspots are observed in pairs, or in groups containing two
> principal spots, one of the spots usually has the magnetic polarity of
> a north-seeking magnetic pole and the other has the opposite polarity.

This is ironically because "north-seeking" means "seeking geographic north here on Earth", which as mentioned above is actually the south magnetic pole; this is defined as the north pole of a magnet, and as such the north pole of a magnet is uniquely determined by which polarity is "north-seeking", which is the one where field lines are positive and extend outward, just like on a bar magnet.

Of course, just like you can technically say the field lines go from south to north inside a bar magnet, you could also look at sunspots from underneath the surface and see that it'd be flipped (since magnetic field lines always form loops due to Gauss's law for magnetism), but since we as humans always observe bar magnets and the Solar surface from the outside, what is north and south is thus uniquely defined by looking at the direction of the field lines on this side of the closed surface (the outside).

> **Comments:**
> **username_2**: Thanks Outis for posting this addition. However, without any references, we can only take this information at face value; as you yourself note in a comment on the other answer, people can get their facts wrong. This would be a [much better answer](https://astronomy.stackexchange.com/help/how-to-answer) if you [edit](https://astronomy.stackexchange.com/posts/55813/edit) it to add a link to an authoritative source that supports your statement about the convention for direction of field lines. I'd be happy to upvote your answer if it included such a reference.  
> **username_1**: Sure thing; I added a reference and explained in a bit more detail now.  

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