Search arXivSearch

arXiv · 2504.17463

Hemispheric Distribution of Solar Active Regions During Solar Cycles 23-25

Abstract

Solar active regions (ARs) are crucial for understanding the long-term evolution of solar activities and predicting eruptive phenomena, including solar flares and coronal mass ejections. However, the cycle-dependent properties in the north-south asymmetry of ARs have not been fully understood. In this study, we investigate the hemispheric distribution of ARs from Carrington Rotation 1909 to 2278 (between 1996 May and 2023 November) by using three parameters that describe the magnetic field distribution of ARs: number, area, and flux. The main findings are as follows: (1) The three AR parameters show significant hemispheric asymmetry in cycles 23-25. The strong correlation between AR area and flux indicates that they can better reflect the intrinsic properties of solar magnetic field. (2) The correlation between sunspot activity and AR parameters varies in the two hemispheres across the different cycles. The AR parameters provide additional information for the variations in sunspot activity, which can better predict the intensity and cyclical changes of solar activity. (3) The variation in the fitting slope sign of the asymmetry index for AR parameters reflects periodic changes in hemispheric ARs, providing valuable insights into the activity of other stars. (4) Both the dominant hemisphere and the cumulative trend of AR parameters display a cycle-dependent behavior. Moreover, the trend variations of AR area and flux are similar, reflecting the long-term evolutionary characteristics of solar magnetic field. Our analysis results are relevant for understanding the hemispheric coupling of solar magnetic activity and its cyclic evolutionary patterns.

Explore related subjects

Keep this discovery

Explore connections, maps & timelines

BibTeXRIS

Yuxia Liu, Tingting Xu, Miao Wan, Linhua Deng, Xinhua Zhao, Shiyang Qi, Nanbin Xiang, Weihong Zhou. 2025-04-24. Hemispheric Distribution of Solar Active Regions During Solar Cycles 23-25. https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4365%2Fadcd60

Cite the original work for its findings. Save a collection to share your selection of sources.

KEEP EXPLORING

Related papers

Stellar characterization with photometric colors from J-PLUS and 2MASS surveys

Aims. We aim at deriving stellar atmospheric parameters based on the photometric data from the Javalambre Photometric Local Universe Survey (J-PLUS) in addition to near-infrared photometry from the Two Micron All-Sky Survey (2MASS). Methods. Our method consists of a semi-supervised machine learning approach based on the k-means method combined with a modified k-nearest neighbors algorithm. This method compares the observed photometry to a set of reference data to estimate the stellar effective temperature ($T_{\rm eff}$), surface gravity ($\log{g}$), and metallicity ([Fe/H]) of stars from J-PLUS Data Release 3 (DR3). Results. We estimated $T_{\rm eff}$, $\log{g}$, and [Fe/H], for approximately 5.6 million stars from J-PLUS DR3, along with their errors.Our results were in agreement with spectroscopic estimates from LAMOST and APOGEE.We also applied a dimension reduction method, seeking greater efficiency by reducing the computation time and minimizing the needed information for calculating the stellar parameters, resulting in a subset of 11 colors. From this approach, stellar parameters were obtained for approximately six million stars. Conclusions. Our results demonstrated the potential of using a method built from machine learning algorithms that do not require prior training. Additionally, it was shown that the proposed method allowed estimating reliable atmospheric parameters even when the available photometry did not fulfill all photometric quality criteria. We defined a neighborhood parameter, which assesses the reliability of our estimations and indicates that objects with smaller neighborhoods values have lower uncertainties.

astro-ph.SR

Population demographics of post-interaction WDMS binaries: From common envelope evolution to stable mass transfer

Close white dwarf (WD) + main-sequence (MS) binaries are end products of mass transfer (MT) that occurred prior to WD formation, making their population demographics a powerful probe of binary evolution. Several recent works have constructed samples of WD+MS binaries with well-understood selection functions using data from wide-field surveys. These include (a) AU-scale astrometric binaries from Gaia that can be shown to contain a WD on dynamical grounds, (b) AU-scale astrometric binaries in which a hot WD is detected through a GALEX UV excess, and (c) close binaries discovered through eclipses. Together, these samples probe outcomes of both stable MT and common-envelope evolution, and interactions on both the red giant branch (RGB) and asymptotic giant branch (AGB). We forward model the three observed samples simultaneously. This approach produces robust constraints on uncertain binary evolution parameters because binaries removed from one population are predicted to appear in another. Our modeling includes a realistic initial binary population and treatments of the selection effects affecting all samples. We confirm that MT from AGB donors requires a critical accretor-to-donor mass ratio of $\sim0.4$ as found in previous work, and find that this is more stable than MT from RGB donors, for which we constrain a critical ratio $\gtrsim0.65$. A common envelope efficiency of $αλ\sim0.3$ matches the relative numbers of close and wide systems and the period distribution of close systems. Most stable MT products in the sample, including those with RGB donors, retain nonzero eccentricities ($\simeq0.1$). The model does not fully reproduce the mass distribution of main-sequence stars in post-common envelope binaries, which shows a cliff below the fully convective limit, possibly pointing to missing physics that may warrant future work.

astro-ph.SR

A large shell around the hypergiant VY Canis Majoris

We report the detection of a remarkable shell around the red hypergiant VY CMa using data from the Spectro-Photometer for the History of the Universe, Epoch of Reionization, and Ices Explorer (SPHEREx). The shell, which in projection on the plane of the sky appears as a ring, is almost circular in appearance. It has an external diameter of $\sim14'$ to $15'$, and is seen most clearly in the SPHEREx 7827A spectro-photometric image. Filaments, radially aligned with VY CMa, are seen to cut across the shell in several places. We discuss the possibility that the shell is matter swept out from the neighboring star forming region Sh 2-310, by the wind from VY CMa. Resonant atomic scattering, a light echo, or Extended Red Emission are explored as the source of the observed SPHEREx emission. However, no interpretation is without difficulty and further observations are most desirable.

astro-ph.SR