Single spots, unipolar magnetic regions, and pairs of spots

Abstract

McIntosh (1981) noted that sunspot pairs appear preferentially near the boundary of unipolar magnetic (UM) regions of opposite polarity. A large number of solar magnetograms from the Mount Wilson Observatory and the Kitt Peak Observatory during fairly quiet periods are examined to confirm his finding. In this study, it is also found collaterally that positive single spots appear in a positive UM region and vice versa. It is suggested thus that a pair of spots of opposite polarity is formed because two single spots develop in the vicinity of the boundary (the neutral line) of two UM regions of opposite polarity for polarity arrangement appropriate to the Hale law, namely, the Hale boundary. For these reasons, it is suggested that single spots and UM regions have significant meaning in solar magnetism. © 2014. American Geophysical Union. All Rights Reserved.