Free access article

A&A 421, 349-351 (2004)
DOI: 10.1051/0004-6361:20041302

Does the butterfly diagram indicate a solar flux-transport dynamo?

M. Schüssler and D. Schmitt

Max-Planck-Institut für Sonnensystemforschung (Formerly: Max-Planck-Institut für Aeronomie.) , Max-Planck-Str. 2, 37191 Katlenburg-Lindau, Germany
    e-mail: [schuessler,schmitt]@linmpi.mpg.de

(Received 26 February 2004 / Accepted 17 March 2004 )

Abstract
We address the question whether the properties of the observed latitude-time diagram of sunspot occurrence (the butterfly diagram) provide evidence for the operation of a flux-transport dynamo, which explains the migration of the sunspot zones and the period of the solar cycle in terms of a deep equatorward meridional flow. We show that the properties of the butterfly diagram are equally well reproduced by a conventional dynamo model with migrating dynamo waves, but without transport of magnetic flux by a flow. These properties seem to be generic for an oscillatory and migratory field of dipole parity and thus do not permit an observational distinction between different dynamo approaches.

Key words: magnetohydrodynamics (MHD) -- Sun: activity -- Sun: magnetic fields -- Sun: interior -- Sun: sunspots

Offprint request: M. Schüssler, msch@linmpi.mpg.de

© ESO 2004

The OpenURL standard is a protocol for transmission of metadata describing the resource that you wish to access. An OpenURL link contains article metadata and directs it to the OpenURL server of your choice. The OpenURL server can provide access to the resource and also offer complementary services (specific search engine, export of references...). The OpenURL link can be generated by different means.

• If your librarian has set up your subscription with an OpenURL resolver, OpenURL links appear automatically on the abstract pages.
• You can define your own OpenURL resolver with your EDPS Account. In this case your choice will be given priority over that of your library.
• You can use an add-on for your browser (Firefox or I.E.) to display OpenURL links on a page (see http://www.openly.com/openurlref/). You should disable this module if you wish to use the OpenURL server that you or your library have defined.