Related papers: Does a low solar cycle minimum hint at a weak upco…
Recent research has demonstrated that the number of sunspots per group ('active region') has been decreasing over the last two or three solar cycles and that the classical Relative Sunspot Number (SSN) no longer is a good representation of…
It has recently been discovered that the time phases (time-varying delays) of the irregular periodicities observed in the Sunspot series, consisting of the approximate 27-day latitude-averaged plasma rotation and approximate 11-yr magnetic…
We have measured the meridional motions of the magnetic elements in the Sun's surface layers since 1996 and find systematic and substantial variations. In general the meridional flow speed is fast at cycle minima and slow at cycle maxima.…
The Schwabe (~11 yr) value for the annual sunspot number is sometimes uncritically applied to other measures of solar activity, direct and indirect, including the 10.7 cm radio flux, the inflow of galactic cosmic rays, solar flare…
The dynamic activity of the Sun, governed by its cycle of sunspots -- strongly magnetized regions that are observed on its surface -- modulate our solar system space environment creating space weather. Severe space weather leads to…
The last solar minimum was, by recent standards, unusually deep and long. We are now close to the maximum of the subsequent solar cycle, which is relatively weak. In this article we make comparisons between different global (unresolved)…
Prediction of the solar cycle is challenging but essential because it drives space weather. Several predictions with varying amplitudes of the ongoing Cycle~25 have been made. We show that an aspect of the Waldmeier effect (WE2), i.e., a…
Recently, we analyzed the combined Greenwich and Solar Optical Observing Network (SOON) sunspot group data during the period 1874-2011 and studied variations in the annual numbers of small, large and big sunspot groups. Here that analysis…
The solar minimum 23/24 is considered to be unusual because it exhibits features that differ notably from those commonly seen in pervious minima. In this letter, we analyze the solar polar magnetic field, the potential-field solution of the…
Based on the data from the Kodaikanal and Mount Wilson observatories, we investigate the relationships of the tilt angle of sunspot group (SG), including the mean tilt angle and the tilt-angle scatter, during the declining phase with the…
Using the sunspot numbers reported during the Maunder minimum and the empirical relations between the mode frequencies and solar activity indices, the variations in the total solar irradiance and 10.7 cm radio flux for the period 1645 to…
The solar cycle is a complex phenomenon. To comprehensively understand it, we have to study various tracers. The most important component of this complex is the solar dynamo, which is understood as self-excitation of the solar magnetic…
We analyze solar, geomagnetic and cosmic ray flux data along with rainfall and temperature data for almost five solar cycles. We provide evidence of significant influence of solar variability on climate. Specifically, we demonstrate…
We describe the defining observations of the solar cycle that provide constraints for the dynamo processes operating within the Sun. Specifically, we report on the following topics: historical sunspot numbers and revisions; active region…
Using magnetic and microwave butterfly diagrams, we compare the behavior of solar polar regions to show that (i) the polar magnetic field and the microwave brightness temperature during the solar minimum substantially diminished during the…
We report on a study that compares the properties of magnetic clouds (MCs) during the first 73 months of solar cycles 23 and 24 in order to understand the weak geomagnetic activity in cycle 24. We find that the number of MCs did not decline…
Sunspot activity is highly variable and challenging to forecast. Yet forecasts are important, since peak activity has profound effects on major geophysical phenomena including space weather (satellite drag, telecommunications outages) and…
It has been suggested that the deficit in the number of spots on the surface of the Sun between 1790 and 1830, known as the Dalton minimum, contained an extra cycle that was not identified in the original sunspot record by Wolf. Though this…
Synoptic magnetograms provide us with knowledge about the evolution of magnetic fields on the solar surface and present important information for forecasting future solar activity. In this work, poloidal and toroidal magnetic field…
The occurrence of grand minima like the Maunder minimum is an intriguing aspect of the sunspot cycle. We use the flux transport dynamo model to explain the grand minima, showing that they arise when either the poloidal field or the…