Explaining the Latitudinal Distribution of Sunspots with Deep Meridional Flow
Dibyendu Nandy,
Arnab Rai Choudhuri
Sunspots, dark magnetic regions occurring at low
latitudes on the Sun's surface, are tracers of the magnetic field
generated by the dynamo mechanism. Recent solar dynamo models, which
use the helioseismically determined solar rotation, indicate that sunspots should form at high latitudes, contrary to observations. We
present a dynamo model with the correct latitudinal distribution of
sunspots and demonstrate that this requires a meridional flow of
material that penetrates deeper than hitherto believed, into the stable
layers below the convection zone. Such a deep material flow may have
important implications for turbulent convection and elemental abundance
in the Sun and similar stars.
Department of Physics, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore
560012, India. E-mail: dandy{at}physics.iisc.ernet.in,
arnab{at}physics.iisc.ernet.in
