Short-Term Periodicity in Solar Mean Magnetic Field during Activity Maximum and Minimum Periods

The short-term periodicity in the solar mean magnetic field (SMMF) observed at the Wilcox Solar Observatory during the last four activity cycles is investigated by using Lomb?CScargle periodograms. Our results show that the SMMF has main periods of about 27, 13.5, and 9 days in both the maximum and minimum years of each activity cycle. The SMMF has the most dominant period of about 27 days during the activity maxima. However, during the activity minimum years the 13.5-day periodicity is the most significant, except for the minimum of 1984??C?1986. These results indicate that the distribution of active regions in the activity maximum years is quite different from that in the minimum years.     

Periodicity in the Basal Component of Radio Emission During Maximum and Minimum Solar Activity

The basal component of radio emission is the radio intensity obtained after subtracting the sunspot-dependent (magneto-active) component from the observed flux and finally deducting the steady part from this subtracted value. The periodicity of this basal component of solar radio emission in the frequency band 0.245–15.4 GHz was studied both for the solar maximum (1980 and 1991) and minimum (1975 and 1986) periods. A constant periodicity of 35 days was observed in the entire radio band under study during the periods of maximum solar activity, whereas the periodicity fluctuates harmonically with frequency during the minimum periods, giving rise to an average time period of approximately 54 days.     

Spectrum of Fluctuations of Solar Noise Storms

The calculation of the Fourier transform of noise storm (NS) fluctuations showed that the power spectrum was adequately described by the expression G(F)∼1/F. Our results rule out the possibility that NS radiation is formed from random, short-term bursts (so-called type I bursts), since the spectrum of the sum of random short fluctuations is flat, but the real NS has a hyperbolic spectrum. This spectrum is monotonic and does not contain any components that exceed the level of the statistical fluctuations (i.e., the results of observations do not reveal the presence of periodic or resonant properties of the emission source). The hyperbolic shape of the spectrum shows that the main energy of a NS is contained in the slower temporal fluctuations.     

太阳活动极大和极小期太阳磁场周期变化研究

利用Wilcox天文台1975年到2010年间的太阳磁场数据,分析了太阳平均磁场在太阳活动极大和极小时期的短时周期性.结果显示太阳磁场主要具有9 d、13.5 d、27 d左右的周期.在太阳活动极大时期,27 d左右周期最为显著,而在太阳活动极小时期最显著的周期为13.5 d左右(1984～1986年间的太阳活动极小时期除外).这些结果说明太阳的活动区域在活动极大和极小时期具有明显不同的分布.     

The Solar Irradiance Spectrum at Solar Activity Minimum Between Solar Cycles 23 and 24

On 7 February 2008, the SOLAR payload was placed onboard the International Space Station. It is composed of three instruments, two spectrometers and a radiometer. The two spectrometers allow us to cover the 16?–?2900 nm spectral range. In this article, we first briefly present the instrumentation, its calibration and its performance in orbit. Second, the solar spectrum measured during the transition between Solar Cycles 23 to 24 at the time of the minimum is shown and compared with other data sets. Its accuracy is estimated as a function of wavelength and the solar atmosphere brightness-temperature is calculated and compared with those derived from two theoretical models.     

Variations in Oscillation Frequencies From Minimum to Maximum of Solar Activity

The temporal variation in intermediate-degree-mode frequencies is analysed using helioseismic data which cover the minimum to the maximum phase of the current solar cycle. To study the variation in detail, the measured frequency shifts of f and p modes are decomposed into two components, viz., oscillatory and non-oscillatory. The f-mode frequencies exhibit prominent oscillatory behavior in contrast to p modes where the oscillatory nature of the frequencies is not clearly seen. Also, the oscillatory part contributes significantly to the f-mode frequencies while p-mode frequencies have maximum contribution from the non-oscillatory part. The amplitude of both oscillatory and non-oscillatory parts is found to be a function of frequency. The non-oscillatory part is observed to have a strong correlation with solar activity.     

Solar Wind Speed and Expansion Rate of the Coronal Magnetic Field in Solar Maximum and Minimum Phases

Relationships between solar wind speed and expansion rate of the coronal magnetic field have been studied mainly by in-ecliptic observations of artificial satellites and some off-ecliptic data by Ulysses. In this paper, we use the solar wind speed estimated by interplanetary scintillation (IPS) observations in the whole heliosphere. Two synoptic maps of SWS estimated by IPS observations are constructed for two Carrington rotations CR 1830 and 1901; CR 1830 starting on the 11th of June, 1990 is in the maximum phase of solar activity cycle and CR 1901 starting on the 29th of September, 1995 is in the minimum phase. Each of the maps consist of 64800 (360×180) data points. Similar synoptic maps of expansion rate of the coronal magnetic field (RBR) calculated by the so-called potential model are also constructed under a radial field assumption for CR 1830 and CR1901. Highly significant correlation (r=–0.66) is found between the SWS and the RBR during CR1901 in the solar minimum phase; that is, high-speed winds emanate from photospheric areas corresponding to low expansion rate of the coronal magnetic field and low speed winds emanate from photospheric areas of high expansion rate. A similar result is found during CR 1830 in solar maximum phase, though the correlation is relatively low (r=–0.29). The correlation is improved when both the data during CR 1830 and CR 1901 are used together; the correlation coefficient becomes –0.67 in this case. These results suggest that the correlation analysis between the SWS and the RBR can be applied to estimate the solar wind speed from the expansion rate of the coronal magnetic field, though the correlation between them may depend on the solar activity cycle. We need further study of correlation analysis for the entire solar cycle to get an accurate empirical equation for the estimation of solar wind speed. If the solar wind speed is estimated successfully by an empirical equation, it can be used as an initial condition of a solar wind model for space weather forecasts.     

A Measure of the Solar Rotation During the Maunder Minimum

In this paper we present a measure of the synodic solar rotation rate derived from an analysis of a Flamsteed drawing, corroborating the decrease of the solar rotation in the deep Maunder minimum (1666–1700).     

The Association of Solar Flares with Coronal Mass Ejections During the Extended Solar Minimum

We study the association of solar flares with coronal mass ejections (CMEs) during the deep, extended solar minimum of 2007?–?2009, using extreme-ultraviolet (EUV) and white-light (coronagraph) images from the Solar Terrestrial Relations Observatory (STEREO). Although all of the fast (v>900 km?s^?1), wide (θ>100^°) CMEs are associated with a flare that is at least identified in GOES soft X-ray light curves, a majority of flares with relatively high X-ray intensity for the deep solar minimum (e.g. ?1×10^?6 W?m^?2 or C1) are not associated with CMEs. Intense flares tend to occur in active regions with a strong and complex photospheric magnetic field, but the active regions that produce CME-associated flares tend to be small, including those that have no sunspots and therefore no NOAA active-region numbers. Other factors on scales similar to and larger than active regions seem to exist that contribute to the association of flares with CMEs. We find the possible low coronal signatures of CMEs, namely eruptions, dimmings, EUV waves, and Type III bursts, in 91 %, 74 %, 57 %, and 74 %, respectively, of the 35 flares that we associate with CMEs. None of these observables can fully replace direct observations of CMEs by coronagraphs.     

Solar Sources of Interplanetary Coronal Mass Ejections During the Solar Cycle 23/24 Minimum

We examine solar sources for 20 interplanetary coronal mass ejections (ICMEs) observed in 2009 in the near-Earth solar wind. We performed a detailed analysis of coronagraph and extreme ultraviolet (EUV) observations from the Solar Terrestrial Relations Observatory (STEREO) and Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO). Our study shows that the coronagraph observations from viewpoints away from the Sun–Earth line are paramount to locate the solar sources of Earth-bound ICMEs during solar minimum. SOHO/LASCO detected only six CMEs in our sample, and only one of these CMEs was wider than 120^°. This demonstrates that observing a full or partial halo CME is not necessary to observe the ICME arrival. Although the two STEREO spacecraft had the best possible configuration for observing Earth-bound CMEs in 2009, we failed to find the associated CME for four ICMEs, and identifying the correct CME was not straightforward even for some clear ICMEs. Ten out of 16 (63 %) of the associated CMEs in our study were “stealth” CMEs, i.e. no obvious EUV on-disk activity was associated with them. Most of our stealth CMEs also lacked on-limb EUV signatures. We found that stealth CMEs generally lack the leading bright front in coronagraph images. This is in accordance with previous studies that argued that stealth CMEs form more slowly and at higher coronal altitudes than non-stealth CMEs. We suggest that at solar minimum the slow-rising CMEs do not draw enough coronal plasma around them. These CMEs are hence difficult to discern in the coronagraphic data, even when viewed close to the plane of the sky. The weak ICMEs in our study were related to both intrinsically narrow CMEs and the non-central encounters of larger CMEs. We also demonstrate that narrow CMEs (angular widths ≤?20^°) can arrive at Earth and that an unstructured CME may result in a flux rope-type ICME.     

Coronal Field Opens at Lower Height During the Solar Cycles 22 and 23 Minimum Periods: IMF Comparison Suggests the Source Surface Should Be Lowered

The solar cycle 23 minimum period has been characterized by a weaker solar and interplanetary magnetic field. This provides an ideal time to study how the strength of the photospheric field affects the interplanetary magnetic flux and, in particular, how much the observed interplanetary fields of different cycle minima can be understood simply from differences in the areas of the coronal holes, as opposed to differences in the surface fields within them. In this study, we invoke smaller source surface radii in the potential-field source-surface (PFSS) model to construct a consistent picture of the observed coronal holes and the near-Earth interplanetary field strength as well as polarity measurements for the cycles 23 and 22 minimum periods. Although the source surface value of 2.5 R _⊙ is typically used in PFSS applications, earlier studies have shown that using smaller source surface heights generates results that better match observations during low solar activity periods. We use photospheric field synoptic maps from Mount Wilson Observatory (MWO) and find that the values of ≈ 1.9 R _⊙ and ≈ 1.8 R _⊙ for the cycles 22 and 23 minimum periods, respectively, produce the best results. The larger coronal holes obtained for the smaller source surface radius of cycle 23 somewhat offsets the interplanetary consequences of the lower magnetic field at their photospheric footpoints. For comparison, we also use observations from the Michelson Doppler Imager (MDI) and find that the source surface radius of ≈ 1.5 R _⊙ produces better results for cycle 23, rather than ≈ 1.8 R _⊙ as suggested from MWO observations. Despite this difference, our results obtained from MWO and MDI observations show a qualitative consistency regarding the origins of the interplanetary field and suggest that users of PFSS models may want to consider using these smaller values for their source surface heights as long as the solar activity is low.     

太阳22周峰年若干特点

本文讨论了第２２太阳活动周的下列重要特点：１．呈现双峰，并在双峰期的槽中又突起孤立的单峰。２．黑子面积峰值滞后相对数峰值的仅占１６．６７％；黑子面积与相对数同步占５８．３３％；二者峰值不能对应占２５％。３．１９８６年１０月以后，纬度≥３０°的有半影的黑子群共出现８７群；延迟在峰年期间出现的有５３群，占６０．９２％；对应有Ｍ级以上Ｘ射线爆发的活动区１８个，占２０．６９％。这一现象与“蝴蝶图”规律不符。     

Measurements of Faraday Rotation Through the Solar Corona During the 2009 Solar Minimum with the MESSENGER Spacecraft

Measurements of Faraday rotation through the solar corona were collected using the radio beacon aboard the MESSENGER spacecraft during the longest solar minimum in a century. As MESSENGER entered superior conjunction, the plane of polarization of its radio signal was observed to rotate as it traversed the circularly birefringent plasma of the Sun’s atmosphere. On time scales of less than three hours, these uncalibrated plane of polarization observations of Faraday rotation can be used to investigate the dynamic processes in the solar plasma, such as magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) waves and coronal mass ejections (CMEs). Here we describe the MESSENGER Faraday rotation experiment, the data processing conducted to obtain the plane of polarization, and the estimation of error.     

Diffusive-Shock-Accelerated Interplanetary Ions At Several Energies During the Solar Cycle 21 Maximum

The most intense energetic particle (mainly proton) events in the energy range 36–1600 keV, during the years of maximum activity of solar cycle 21 (1978 to 1982), have been studied with regard to their spectra, temporal profiles, source location at the Sun, interplanetary plasma parameters and interplanetary magnetic field topology. In all the events, the particles were accelerated by the 'Diffusive Shock' acceleration mechanism, because all the events were 'long-duration events', shock-associated, and their spectra fitted to a power-law energetic particle spectrum dJ/dE E^-\gamma with the exponent values ranging from 1.25 up to 1.94, with a mean value of 1.60 ± 0.06. We also show that the spectral indexes are related to the shock properties by a linear expression. The solar sources were located on a wide longitudinal belt extending from 50^ W up to 73^ E. Neither the spectral indexes nor the shock parameters present any dependence on the source location at the Sun. Finally, only one event showed the complete set of properties that characterize the presence of a magnetic cloud associated with the event.     

Magnetic Flux Transport Simulations of Solar Surface Magnetic Distributions During a Grand Minimum

It is well known that magnetic activity on the Sun modulates from one cycle to the next. The most striking occurrence of this is called a grand minimum where magnetic activity all but disappears. The latest grand minimum occurred between the years 1645 and 1715 and is called the Maunder minimum. In this paper magnetic flux transport simulations are used to consider what type of surface magnetic field configurations may be produced both during and after a grand minimum depending on how the grand minimum occurs. It is shown that the surface configurations during and after a grand minimum strongly depend on the phase of the cycle in which the grand minimum starts and whether it lasts for an odd or even number of cycles. If the grand minimum starts around cycle minimum then a significant amount of large-scale magnetic flux may persist on the Sun at high latitudes during the grand minimum. In contrast, if it starts at cycle maximum during the grand minimum it is possible for there to be essentially zero large-scale magnetic flux over the entire surface of the Sun. It is shown that for a single grand minimum event the reversal of the polar fields at the presently observed time in the solar cycle is only reproduced if the event starts at cycle minimum and extends over an even number of cycles. In contrast, if the grand minimum runs for an odd number of cycles it is possible for there to be no reversal of the polar fields or for the reversals to occur at times inconsistent with our present understanding of the solar cycle. Consequences of the assumptions made in the modelling are discussed and the significance of the simulations for direct modelling of events such as the Maunder minimum are considered.