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Small-scale and global dynamos and the area and flux distributions of active regions, sunspot groups, and sunspots : a multi-database study

Muñoz-Jaramillo, A.; Senkpeil, R.R.; Windmueller, J.C.; Amouzou, E.C.; Longcope, D.W.; Tlatov, A.G.; Nagovitsyn, Y.A.; Pevtsov, A.A.; Chapman, G.A.; Cookson, A.M.; Yeates, A.R.; Watson, F.T.; Balmaceda, L.A.; DeLuca, E.E.; Martens, P.C.H.

Small-scale and global dynamos and the area and flux distributions of active regions, sunspot groups, and sunspots : a multi-database study Thumbnail


Authors

A. Muñoz-Jaramillo

R.R. Senkpeil

J.C. Windmueller

E.C. Amouzou

D.W. Longcope

A.G. Tlatov

Y.A. Nagovitsyn

A.A. Pevtsov

G.A. Chapman

A.M. Cookson

F.T. Watson

L.A. Balmaceda

E.E. DeLuca

P.C.H. Martens



Abstract

In this work, we take advantage of 11 different sunspot group, sunspot, and active region databases to characterize the area and flux distributions of photospheric magnetic structures. We find that, when taken separately, different databases are better fitted by different distributions (as has been reported previously in the literature). However, we find that all our databases can be reconciled by the simple application of a proportionality constant, and that, in reality, different databases are sampling different parts of a composite distribution. This composite distribution is made up by linear combination of Weibull and log-normal distributions—where a pure Weibull (log-normal) characterizes the distribution of structures with fluxes below (above) 1021Mx (1022Mx). Additionally, we demonstrate that the Weibull distribution shows the expected linear behavior of a power-law distribution (when extended to smaller fluxes), making our results compatible with the results of Parnell et al. We propose that this is evidence of two separate mechanisms giving rise to visible structures on the photosphere: one directly connected to the global component of the dynamo (and the generation of bipolar active regions), and the other with the small-scale component of the dynamo (and the fragmentation of magnetic structures due to their interaction with turbulent convection).

Citation

Muñoz-Jaramillo, A., Senkpeil, R., Windmueller, J., Amouzou, E., Longcope, D., Tlatov, A., …Martens, P. (2015). Small-scale and global dynamos and the area and flux distributions of active regions, sunspot groups, and sunspots : a multi-database study. Astrophysical Journal, 800(1), Article 48. https://doi.org/10.1088/0004-637x/800/1/48

Journal Article Type Article
Publication Date Feb 1, 2015
Deposit Date Jan 5, 2015
Publicly Available Date Mar 29, 2024
Journal Astrophysical Journal
Print ISSN 0004-637X
Electronic ISSN 1538-4357
Publisher American Astronomical Society
Peer Reviewed Peer Reviewed
Volume 800
Issue 1
Article Number 48
DOI https://doi.org/10.1088/0004-637x/800/1/48
Keywords Sun: activity, Sun: magnetic fields, Sun: photosphere, Sunspots.
Related Public URLs http://arxiv.org/abs/1410.6281

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Copyright Statement
© 2015. The American Astronomical Society. All rights reserved.




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