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Shape of the 11-Year Cycle of Solar Activity and the Evolution of Latitude Characteristics of the Sunspot Distribution

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Abstract

The solar activity index and parameters of the spatial distribution of sunspots are known to be related. Using these relationships, we propose interrelated approximations for the sunspot number (SN) and the two key latitude characteristics of their distribution in the cycle: the mean latitude of sunspots and the standard deviation of their latitudes. The two parameters of these approximations are the cycle amplitude SNmax and the drift of its downward branch relative to the cycle beginning t0. These approximations specifically take into account the relationship between amplitudinal and spatial properties of the 11-year solar cycle, as well as the universality of the behavior of the activity and mean latitude of sunspots in the declining phase of the cycle. We demonstrate that the pair of parameters SNmax and t0 allows approximation of both the shape of the cyclic curve and the latitude–time diagram for sunspots of this cycle (“Maunder’s butterfly”).

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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

This study was supported by the Russian Foundation for Basic Research, project no. 16-02-00090 and by the Presidium of the Russian Academy of Sciences, program nos. 21 and 22.

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Correspondence to V. G. Ivanov.

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Translated by V. Arutyunyan

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Ivanov, V.G. Shape of the 11-Year Cycle of Solar Activity and the Evolution of Latitude Characteristics of the Sunspot Distribution. Geomagn. Aeron. 58, 930–936 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1134/S0016793218070083

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