Longitudinal asymmetry in sunspot activity during the ascending and descending phase of the solar cycle

The longitudinal distribution of sunspot activity for 1917-1995 is studied using vector sums of sunspot areas. It is shown that the sunspot distributions behave differently during the Ascending phase and Maximum (AM) of the solar cycle on one hand and for the Declining phase and Minimum (DM) on the other depicting maxima around roughly opposite longitudes. While the maximum of the distribution for the AM period is found around the Carrington longitude of 180^circ, the maximum for the DM period is at the longitude of about 0^circ.