A Statistical Analysis of Sunspot Active Longitudes

TL;DR

This study analyzes the longitudinal distribution and movement of sunspot active longitudes over 12 solar cycles, identifying key active longitudes, their lifetimes, and their evolution during solar cycles, with differences observed between hemispheres.

Contribution

It provides a detailed statistical analysis of sunspot active longitudes, identifying their main locations, lifetimes, and latitudinal movement patterns across multiple solar cycles.

Findings

Six active longitudes identified, with three most frequent.

Hemispheric differences in sunspot behavior observed.

Active longitudes have a lifetime of 3-5 Carrington rotations.

Abstract

This research work is based on the study of the longitudinal distribution of the most active sunspot zones on the photosphere. Sunspot data has been analyzed for 12 solar cycles (cycles 12-23) separately for northern and southern hemisphere, and the entire solar sphere. The timelongitude diagrams and their corresponding histograms have been plotted to probe the formation, location, longitudinal spread, and lifetime of the most active sunspot longitudes. By the analysis and comparison of the time- longitude diagrams and histograms six active longitudes (>0, ~90, ~135, ~180, ~270 and <360 degrees) have been identified out of which three (~90, ~180 and ~270 degrees) are observed to be most frequent for the whole dataset analyzed. The comparison of the northern and southern hemisphere revealed that the hemispheres do not exhibit very similar kind of behavior. The lifetime and longitudinal spread of sunspot active longitudes is found to be 3-5 Carrington rotations and 20-30 degrees Carrington longitude respectively. This research work also includes the study of the movement of most active sunspot longitudes from higher to lower latitudes in northern hemispheres for six solar cycles (cycles 18-23). For this purpose the formation of sunspot active longitudes has been investigated in four latitudinal belts (40-30, 30-20, 20-10 and 10-0 degrees)). It is found that the sunspot active longitudes follow a certain longitudinal pattern during the evolution of the 11-year solar cycle. In the beginning of a solar cycle they seem to appear mostly around two longitudes ~0 degree and ~270 degrees in the latitudinal belt 40-30 degrees. As the solar cycle proceeds they tend to be stable around two longitudes ~90 degrees and ~270 degrees which are antipodal.