The Butterfly Diagram Fine Structure

The present work describes the evolution of the sunspot zone in cycles 20, 21, and 22. In each cycle, and in both hemispheres, the equatorward drift of the spot zone “center of mass” results from the alternation of five or six prograde (namely, equatorward) segments, with other stationary or poleward segments. The duration of the stationary/retrograde phases (resulting from averaging data pertaining to the six semicycles examined here) amounts to ≈36% of the total duration of these semicycles. In the prograde phases, the drift rate is almost twice the “traditional” equatorward rate, resulting only from the extreme positions of the spot zone center of mass (at the beginning and at the end of the cycle). If there were no stationary/retrograde phases, the cycle duration would be half the actual one. We conclude that the retrograde phases should not be regarded as accidental; rather, they are essential features of the 11-year cycle.