The Effect of Latitudinal Averaging of Surface Tracers on Patterns of Torsional Oscillations
Abstract
Latitudinal bands of faster/slower (relative to average) rate of rotation of solar plasma (also known as the solar torsional oscillations) are considered to be a fundamental property of the Sun, and are believed to be important for the solar dynamo. Torsional oscillations are derived from the measurements of the solar rotation at the photosphere and (indirectly, via methods of helioseismology) in the convection zone. Here, we raise a possibility that the pattern of the torsional oscillations could be a spurious feature resulting from a combination of the differential rotation, the latitudinal drift of tracers, and a weighted contribution of tracers within an averaging window used to determine the solar rotation rate. This spurious feature may have an effect on both the observations taken in the solar photosphere (e.g., Doppler velocity measurements and feature tracking techniques) and the helioseismic measurements.
- Publication:
-
Fifty Years of Seismology of the Sun and Stars
- Pub Date:
- December 2013
- Bibcode:
- 2013ASPC..478..297T