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Motions of Magnetic Fields and Umbrae within a Spot Group

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  25 April 2016

S. I. Gopasyuk
Affiliation:
Crimean Astrophysical Observatory, Crimea, U.S.S.R.
G. E. Moreton
Affiliation:
Division of Physics, CSIRO, Sydney

Extract

Over the past years considerable information has been acquired concerning the structure and magnitude of sunspot magnetic fields; however, there is a paucity of data concerning the motions of the seats of these fields, i.e., individual umbrae within a spot group. The well-known effects of differential rotation cause sunspots to diverge with time in longitude at a daily rate of, at most, a few degrees per solar rotation. On the other hand, a limited number of investigations have shown that individual umbrae can have proper motions of up to 100 to 200 m/s, or about ten times greater than effects of differential rotation. In addition, equally limited observations have shown that umbrae sometimes rotate about an axis through their centre; in an extreme case the rotation reached 30°/day. The last large sunspot group of the last cycle, having Central Meridian Passage 20.5 September, 1963, has been studied by means of photoheliograms and magnetograms obtained four days before and four days after CMP at the Crimean Astrophysical Observatory. The magnetograms show the distribution of both the transverse and longitudinal components of the magnetic field in the activity region. In this study we have studied umbral motions and their relation to the magnetic field.

Type
Contributions
Copyright
Copyright © Astronomical Society of Australia 1967

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References

1 Bray, R. J., and Loughhead, R. E., ‘Sunspots’, Chapman and Hall Ltd., London (1964).Google Scholar
2 Gopasyuk, S. I., Izv. Krims. Astrophys. Obs., 33, 100 (1964).Google Scholar
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