Related papers: Long-term Evolution of Sunspot Magnetic Fields
Sunspots have been observed for over four centuries and the magnetic nature of sunspot cycles has been known for about a century; however, some of its underlying physics still remain elusive. It is known that the solar magnetic cycle…
We report observations of a steady 20 year decline of solar photospheric fields at latitudes $\geq$45${^{o}}$ starting from $\sim$1995. This prolonged and continuing decline, combined with the fact that Cycle 24 is already past its peak,…
We demonstrate that the radial magnetic-field component at the outer boundary of the sunspot penumbra is about 550 Mx cm$^{-2}$ independent of the sunspot area and the maximum magnetic field in the umbra. The mean magnetic-field intensity…
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.…
Sunspots are prominent manifestations of the solar cycle and provide key constraints for understanding its operation. Also, knowing internal structure of sunspots allows us to gain insights on the energy transport in strong magnetic fields…
It was empirically determined that the umbra-penumbra boundaries of stable sunspots are characterized by a constant value of the vertical magnetic field. We analyzed the evolution of the photospheric magnetic field properties of a decaying…
Detailed models of the solar cycle require information about the starting time and rise time as well as the shape and amplitude of the cycle. However, none of these models includes a discussion of the variations in the length of the cycle,…
Distribution of the positive and negative photospheric fields is studied on the base of synoptic maps of the photospheric magnetic field produced by the National Solar Observatory Kitt Peak (NSO Kitt Peak) for 1976-2016. In the analysis…
The present paper reviews results derived from statistical studies on solar activity indices. The prolonged minimum phase of cycle 23 raised the question of peculiarities inherent in cycle 23. The most important solar activity index is the…
We study the formation of a sunspot penumbra in the active region NOAA11024. We simultaneously observed the Stokes parameters of the photospheric iron lines at 1089.6 nm with the TIP and 617.3 nm with the GFPI spectropolarimeters along with…
Direct observations over the past four centuries show that the number of sunspots observed on the Sun's surface vary periodically, going through successive maxima and minima. Following sunspot cycle 23, the Sun went into a prolonged minimum…
Solar variability occurs over a broad range of spatial and temporal scales, from the Sun's brightening over its lifetime to the fluctuations commonly associated with magnetic activity over minutes to years. The latter activity includes most…
The ubiquitousness of solar inter-network horizontal magnetic field has been revealed by the space-borne observations with high spatial resolution and polarization sensitivity. However, no consensus has been achieved on the origin of the…
12 stable single sunspots were investigated in two aspects. The outer boundaries of the sunspots umbra were determined by an independent mathematical method and the vertical component of the magnetic field at these boundaries was found. We…
The data of sunspot numbers, sunspot areas and solar flare index during cycle 23 are analyzed to investigate the intermediate-term periodicities. Power spectral analysis has been performed separately for the data of the whole disk, northern…
Sunspots are dark spots on the solar surface associated with strong magnetic fields. The number, area, and brightness of sunspots are supposed to reflect the intensity of the solar magnetic fields and are often used as proxies for their…
The physical parameters of the sunspot are not fully understood, especially the height dependence of the magnetic field. So far, it is also an open question as to which heights the He I 1083 nm spectral line is formed at. Our aim is to…
This study based on longitudinal Zeeman effect magnetograms and spectral line scans investigates the dependence of solar surface magnetic fields on the spectral line used and the way the line is sampled in order to estimate the magnetic…
In addition to the `facular' brightening of active regions, the quiet Sun also contains a small scale magnetic field with associated brightenings in continuum radiation. We measure this contribution of quiet regions to the Sun's brightness…
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…