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Differential rotation of the photospheric magnetic field

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Abstract

The differential rotation of the large-scale photospheric magnetic field has been investigated with an autocorrelation technique using synoptic charts of the photospheric field during the interval 1959–66. Near the equator the rotation period of the field is nearly the same as the rotation rate of long-lived sunspots studied by Newton and Nunn. Away from the equatorial zone the field has a significantly shorter rotation period than the spots. Over the entire range of latitudes investigated the average rotation period of the photospheric magnetic field was about 1 1/4 days less than the average rotation period of the material observed with Doppler shifts by Livingston and by Howard and Harvey. Near the equator the photospheric field results agree with the results obtained from recurrent sunspots, while above 15° the photospheric field rotation rates agree with the rotation rates of the K corona and the filaments.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Space Sciences Laboratory, University of California, 94720, Berkeley, Calif., U.S.A.

    John M. Wilcox

  2. Hale Observatories, Carnegie Institution of Washington, California Institute of Technology, 91106, Pasadena, Calif., U.S.A.

    Robert Howard

Authors
  1. John M. Wilcox
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  2. Robert Howard
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Wilcox, J.M., Howard, R. Differential rotation of the photospheric magnetic field. Sol Phys 13, 251–260 (1970). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00153547

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00153547

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