FIRST SYNOPTIC MAPS OF PHOTOSPHERIC VECTOR MAGNETIC FIELD FROM SOLIS/VSM: NON-RADIAL MAGNETIC FIELDS AND HEMISPHERIC PATTERN OF HELICITY
- National Solar Observatory, 950 North Cherry Avenue, Tucson, AZ 85719 (United States)
- Institute of Solar-Terrestrial Physics (ISTP), Russian Academy of Sciences, Irkutsk (Russian Federation)
We use daily full-disk vector magnetograms from Vector Spectromagnetograph on Synoptic Optical Long-term Investigations of the Sun system to synthesize the first Carrington maps of the photospheric vector magnetic field. We describe these maps and make a comparison of the observed radial field with the radial field estimate from line-of-sight magnetograms. Furthermore, we employ these maps to study the hemispheric pattern of current helicity density, H{sub c} , during the rising phase of solar cycle 24. The longitudinal average over the 23 consecutive solar rotations shows a clear signature of the hemispheric helicity rule, i.e., H{sub c} is predominantly negative in the north and positive in the south. Although our data include the early phase of cycle 24, there appears to be no evidence for a possible (systematic) reversal of the hemispheric helicity rule at the beginning of the cycle as predicted by some dynamo models. Furthermore, we compute the hemispheric pattern in active region latitudes (-30 Degree-Sign {<=} {theta} {<=} 30 Degree-Sign ) separately for weak (100 G < |B{sub r} | < 500 G) and strong (|B{sub r} | > 1000 G) radial magnetic fields. We find that while the current helicity of strong fields follows the well-known hemispheric rule (i.e., {theta} {center_dot} H{sub c} < 0), H{sub c} of weak fields exhibits an inverse hemispheric behavior (i.e., {theta} {center_dot} H{sub c} > 0), albeit with large statistical scatter. We discuss two plausible scenarios to explain the opposite hemispheric trend of helicity in weak and strong field regions.
- OSTI ID:
- 22121855
- Journal Information:
- Astrophysical Journal, Vol. 772, Issue 1; Other Information: Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 0004-637X
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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