Phase lags of solar hemispheric cycles

Abstract

The north-south asymmetry of solar activity is variable in time and strength. We analyse the long-term variation of the phase lags of hemispheric cycles and check a conjectured relationship between these phase lags and the hemispheric cycle strengths. Sunspot data are used from cycles 12 to 23, in which the separation of Northern and Southern hemispheres is possible. The centres of mass of the hemispheric cycle profiles were used to study the phase relations and relative strengths of the hemispheric cycles. This approach considers a cycle as a whole and disregards the short-term fluctuations of the cycle's time profile. The phase of the hemispheric cycles shows an alternating variation: the northern cycle leads in four cycles and follows in four cycles. No significant relationship is found between the phase and strength differences of the hemispheric cycles. The period of 4+4 cycles appears to be close to the Gleissberg cycle and may provide a key to its physical background. It may raise a new aspect in the solar dynamo mechanism because it needs a very long memory. © 2011 The Authors Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society © 2011 RAS.