The Progress of Solar Cycle 24 at High Latitudes

TL;DR

This paper analyzes the progression of Solar Cycle 24 at high latitudes, highlighting its unusual slow migration and the delayed 'Rush to the Poles', which suggests a potential solar maximum around 2013-2014.

Contribution

It provides detailed observations of Solar Cycle 24's high-latitude features and identifies a delayed 'Rush to the Poles', indicating a peculiar cycle with a later solar maximum.

Findings

Cycle 24's migration rate is 40% slower than previous cycles.

The 'Rush to the Poles' is occurring at only 50% of the usual rate.

Solar maximum is estimated around 2013-2014.

Abstract

The "extended" solar cycle 24 began in 1999 near 70 degrees latitude, similarly to cycle 23 in 1989 and cycle 22 in 1979. The extended cycle is manifested by persistent Fe XIV coronal emission appearing near 70 degrees latitude and slowly migrating towards the equator, merging with the latitudes of sunspots and active regions (the "butterfly diagram") after several years. Cycle 24 began its migration at a rate 40% slower than the previous two solar cycles, thus indicating the possibility of a peculiar cycle. However, the onset of the "Rush to the Poles" of polar crown prominences and their associated coronal emission, which has been a precursor to solar maximum in recent cycles (cf. Altrock 2003), has just been identified in the northern hemisphere. Peculiarly, this "Rush" is leisurely, at only 50% of the rate in the previous two cycles. The properties of the current "Rush to the Poles" yields an estimate of 2013 or 2014 for solar maximum.