Two active zones formed on the Sun

Two active zones formed on the Sun
Two active zones formed on the Sun
Anonim

There are two sunspots in the Sun's southern hemisphere today. Their magnetic polarity reveals something interesting: they come from different solar cycles. Take a look at this magnetic map of the Sun's surface (with sunspot inset) from NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory.

One sunspot (AR2760) is from the old solar cycle 24 and the other (AR2761) is from the new solar cycle 25. We know this from Hale's law of polarity. AR2760 is + / - while AR2761 is - / +, opposite signs that mark them as belonging to different cycles.

This is generally normal. Solar cycles always overlap at their borders, splattering the solar minimum with a mixture of old and new sunspots. Sometimes, like today, they appear at the same time. We could see more such combinations in the coming months as we slowly work our way through one of the deepest solar minimums in a century.

The simultaneous appearance of two solar cycles suggests some type of temporary equilibrium. In fact, the tipping point may have already been reached. There have been 7 numbered sunspots so far this year. Five of these (71%) came from solar cycle 25. This compares to only 17% in 2019 and 0% in 2018. Slowly but surely, solar cycle 25 is coming back to life.

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