[net.astro] September sky -- Distribution of sunspots on sun

msb@lsuc.UUCP (Mark Brader) (09/11/85)

Brian C. Grande (bcg@ncs-med.UUCP) quotes Minnesota Starwatch:
>      On September 8, the sun's north pole will be inclined toward the Earth.
> More sunspots occur in the sun's northern hemisphere, so there tend to be more
> sunspots visible from Earth around this time of year than around March. 

First I've heard of this northern-hemisphere bias.  Is this a permanent
thing, or does it depend on the sun's current magnetic polarity (which
reverses on a 22-year cycle), or what?  Is there any explanation for the bias?

Also, how much is the sun's axis inclined to the ecliptic (or vice versa,
according to how you look at it)?  What if we consider the orbit of Jupiter
instead of Earth: how much is the axis inclined to that?

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