Touching the Interior Structure and Dynamics of Our Nearest Star

Michael Thompson has had a pivotal and continuing role in developing and refining inversion techniques to be applied to the great blossoming of helioseismic data forthcoming from the GONG, MDI (on SOHO) and HMI (on SDO) observational projects. This has enabled major discoveries about the internal differential rotation of the Sun, revealing both a tachocline of shear at the base of its convection zone and a near-surface shear layer near its surface, and of its temporal variations. It has also guided efforts to map subsurface flows of many scales in the convection zone. In parallel with his abiding interests in helioseismology, Michael was very enthusiastic about recent efforts in solar convection and dynamo theory to address what he saw as the outstanding questions about the dynamics proceeding deep within our nearest star, and thus we touch briefly upon some of these here.