Deciphering Solar Magnetic Activity: On the Relationship between the Sunspot Cycle and the Evolution of Small Magnetic Features
Date
2014Author
McIntosh, Scott W.
Wang, Xin
Leamon, Robert
Davey, Alisdair
Howe, Rachel
Krista, Larisza
Malanushenko, Anna
Markel, Robert
Cirtain, Jonathan
Gurman, Joseph
Pesnell, William
Thompson, Michael
Metadata
Show full item recordAbstract
Sunspots are a canonical marker of the Sun’s internal magnetic field which flips polarity every ∼22 yr. The principal variation of sunspots, an ∼11 yr variation, modulates the amount of the magnetic field that pierces the solar surface and drives significant variations in our star’s radiative, particulate, and eruptive output over that period. This paper presents observations from the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory and Solar Dynamics Observatory indicating that the 11 yr sunspot variation is intrinsically tied to the spatio-temporal overlap of the activity bands belonging to the 22 yr magnetic activity cycle. Using a systematic analysis of ubiquitous coronal brightpoints and the magnetic scale on which they appear to form, we show that the landmarks of sunspot cycle 23 can be explained by considering the evolution and interaction of the overlapping activity bands of the longer-scale variability.
URI
http://dx.doi.org/10.1088/0004-637X/792/1/12https://scholarworks.montana.edu/xmlui/handle/1/8739
Citation
McIntosh, Scott W. , Xin Wang, Robert J. Leamon, Alisdair R. Davey, Rachel Howe, Larisza D. Krista, Anna V. Malanushenko, Robert S. Markel, Jonathan W. Cirtain, Joseph B. Gurman, William D. Pesnell, and Michael J. Thompson. “Deciphering Solar Magnetic Activity: On the Relationship between the Sunspot Cycle and the Evolution of Small Magnetic Features." Astrophysical Journal 792, no. 1 (2014) http://dx.doi.org/10.1088/0004-637X/792/1/12