Abstract
I SHOULD like to make some comments on a paper by Severny1. Fig. 1 is a reproduction of the diagram given by him. The upper curve represents the magnetic field of the Sun observed as a whole. Because of rotation, different sides of the Sun are visible at different times and a curve of variable magnetic field is obtained. As a result the Sun appears as a quadrupole magnetic rotator. According to Severny, the curve seemed to remain similar throughout the year 1968. The lower curve represents the field obtained by summing up the fields of sunspots. This seems to be generally opposite to the field of the Sun as a whole, although it is much weaker than the latter. As Severny points out, one should expect the fields of the spots to reflect the general distribution of the field.
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References
Severny, A., Nature, 224, 53 (1969).
Tuominen, I., and Tuominen, J., Astrophys. Lett., 1, 95 (1968).
Moore, C. E., Minnaert, M. G. J., and Houtgast, J., The Solar Spectrum 2935 Å to 8770 Å, National Bureau of Standards Monograph, 61 (1966).
Tuominen, J., Z. Astrophys., 55, 110 (1962).
Leighton, R. B., Astrophys. J., 140, 1547 (1964).
Babcock, H. W., Astrophys. J., 133, 573 (1961).
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TUOMINEN, J. The Sun as a Magnetic Rotator. Nature 228, 1179–1180 (1970). https://doi.org/10.1038/2281179a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/2281179a0
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