Spörer's law

The top diagram shows the spatial distribution and size of the sunspots, the bottom graph shows the change in the total area of ​​the spots.

With the help of Spörer's law , statements can be made about the distribution and areal extent of sunspots within a sunspot cycle .

The English astronomer Richard Christopher Carrington , a contemporary of Gustav Spörer , first discovered and described the laws around 1861. Spörer contributed to the refinement of the law and is now and then mentioned as its discoverer.

Within the ten to twelve year cycle, spots first form at latitudes of 30 ° –45 ° north and south of the solar equator . In the further course the spots appear closer and closer to the equator. At times of maximum solar activity, the spots have the greatest spatial extent and are on average around the 15th parallel. After that, the spots appear even closer to the equator on average until they can be found around the 5th parallel at the end of the cycle. At the end, spots of the next cycle are already forming in the high heliographic latitudes .

If you enter the position and area of ​​the spots over time in a diagram, you get the butterfly diagram.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Arnab Rai Choudhuri: Nature's Third Cycle: A Story of sunspots . Oxford University Press, 2015, ISBN 978-0-19-967475-6 , pp. 28-32 , doi : 10.1093 / acprof: oso / 9780199674756.001.0001 .
2. ^ ^{A b} David H. Hathaway: The Solar Cycle . In: Living Reviews in Solar Physics . tape 12 , no. September 4 , 2015, doi : 10.1007 / lrsp-2015-4 (open access).
3. ↑ Sunspot cycle. In: Sepktrum Lexikon der Physik. Retrieved May 5, 2020 . 
4. ^ Arnold Hanslmeier: Introduction to Astronomy and Astrophysics . 3. Edition. Springer, 2014, ISBN 978-3-642-37700-6 , pp. 242 , doi : 10.1007 / 978-3-642-37700-6 .