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Evolution of the Source of the Active Region of the Sun

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Abstract

The magnetic evolution of the active region of the Sun at the level of the photosphere has been studied. Magnetic synoptic maps of the 2007 Kitt Peak Observatory were used for the analysis. The observed patterns can be interpreted as the formation of an active region as a result of the action of a magnetoactive plasma, which is transported by convective cells (the process of magnetoconvection) from a level of 0.90 Rs (solar radius) from the center of the sun. The radial size of such a convective cell is ≈55 000 km and ≥85 000 km in longitude. The magnetic configuration of the moving magnetoactive plasma has a significant octupole magnetic harmonic. During the phase of its motion to the photosphere, the dipole and octupole magnetic harmonics are equally oriented and perpendicular to the solar radius. After reaching the maximum distance from the center of the Sun (0.98 Rs), the magnetoactive plasma is probably redistributed between two convective cells and moves back to the initial level of 0.90 Rs.

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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

This work utilizes SOLIS data obtained by the Integrated Synoptic Program (NISP) managed by the National Solar Observatory, which is operated by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy (AURA), Inc., under a cooperative agreement with the National Science Foundation.

The authors are grateful to the reviewer for the very useful comments, which made it possible to revise the text for a better understanding of the results of the study.

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  1. Pushkov Institute of Terrestrial Magnetism, Ionosphere, and Radio Wave Propagation, 108840, Moscow, Troitsk, Russia

    V. L. Merzlyakov & L. I. Starkova

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  1. V. L. Merzlyakov
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  2. L. I. Starkova
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Correspondence to V. L. Merzlyakov or L. I. Starkova.

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Merzlyakov, V.L., Starkova, L.I. Evolution of the Source of the Active Region of the Sun. Geomagn. Aeron. 61, 1178–1182 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1134/S0016793221080156

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