Explain the Babcock model and why the solar cycle should really be considered as a 22-year cycle instead of 11-year cycle

What will be an ideal response?


The Babcock model explains the magnetic cycle as a repeated tangling and untangling of the solar magnetic field.

The Babcock model accounts for the reversal of the Sun's magnetic field from cycle to cycle. As the magnetic field becomes more and more tangled, adjacent regions of the Sun are dominated by magnetic fields that point in different directions. After years of tangling, the field becomes very complicated. Regions of weak north or south polarity "flip" into alignment with neighboring regions of stronger polarity. The entire field then quickly rearranges itself into a simpler pattern, the number of sunspots drops nearly to zero, and the cycle ends. Then, differential rotation and convection begin winding up the magnetic field to start a new cycle. The newly organized field is reversed relative to its predecessor, and the new sunspot cycle begins with the magnetic-north end of sunspot groups replaced by magnetic-south. Thus, the solar activity cycle is 11 years long if you count the numbers of sunspots, but 22 years long if you pay attention to sunspot magnetic field directions.

Physics & Space Science

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