On Magnetic Activity Band Overlap, Interaction, and the Formation of Complex Solar Active Regions

Abstract

Recent work has revealed an phenomenological picture of the how the $\sim$11-year sunspot cycle of Sun arises. The production and destruction of sunspots is a consequence of the latitudinal-temporal overlap and interaction of the toroidal magnetic flux systems that belong to the 22-year magnetic activity cycle and are rooted deep in the Sun's convective interior. We present a conceptually simple extension of this work, presenting a hypothesis on how complex active regions can form as a direct consequence of the intra- and extra-hemispheric interaction taking place in the solar interior. Furthermore, during specific portions of the sunspot cycle we anticipate that those complex active regions may be particular susceptible to profoundly catastrophic breakdown---producing flares and coronal mass ejections of most severe magnitude.

arXiv comment14 pages, 5 figures, accepted to appear in ApJL

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• Solar-Cycle Characteristics in Kodaikanal Sunspot Area: North--South Asymmetry, Phase Distribution and Gnevyshev Gap
• The cyclic behaviour in the N-S asymmetry of sunspots and solar plages for the period 1910 to 1937 using data from Ebro catalogues
• The Sun's magnetic (Hale) cycle and 27 day recurrences in the $aa$ geomagnetic index
• A new view of the solar interface region from the Interface Region Imaging Spectrograph (IRIS)
• Analysis of Short-term Solar Activity Variability and Estimating the Timings of the Next Enhanced Bursts