Did Cycle 24 launch the new Grand minimum of the solar activity?
Abstract
The current weakness of the magnetic activity on the Sun is analyzed. We report that the statistical regularity in respect to the notable increase of the Schwabe cycle period before each solar Grand minimum found by Frick et al. (1997) is in progress for the pair of Cycles 23-24. Analyzing the time-latitude distributions of the radial photospheric field of the Sun, we show that poleward migration of magnetic flux originates from sunspot activity clustering (impulses). Having processed the polar faculae database from 1906 to 2011, we reveal a similarity in the variations of the polar magnetic flux over the last century and the amplitude of the previous sunspot cycle. This finding supports the idea that the strength of polar field mainly depends on solar activity, so the polar field at the minimum after the weak Cycle 24 should be less than or equal to the polar field after Cycle 23.
- Publication:
-
40th COSPAR Scientific Assembly
- Pub Date:
- 2014
- Bibcode:
- 2014cosp...40E3859Z