Are Active Regions as Relevant for the Solar Cycle as we Think?
Abstract
The long and short term variability of the Sun is strongly determined by the evolution of the solar magnetic cycle, which is sustained through the action of a magneto-hydrodynamic dynamo. In our current understanding of the dynamo, the poloidal field (which acts as a starting point for the cycle) is recreated through the emergence and decay of active regions subjected to the collective effect of meridional circulation and turbulent diffusion; a process commonly referred to as the Babcock-Leighton mechanism. Dynamo models based on this mechanism have been quite successful in reproducing the different properties of the solar cycle and have also been used to make predictions of cycle 24. However, the question of whether the BL mechanism is enough to sustain the solar cycle has not yet been addressed quantitatively. By including real active region data in our state of the art kinematic dynamo model we are able to take the first steps into answering this question.
This work is funded by NASA Living With a Star grant NNG05GE47G.- Publication:
-
American Astronomical Society Meeting Abstracts #216
- Pub Date:
- May 2010
- Bibcode:
- 2010AAS...21640108M