Latitudinal Distribution of Polar Faculae

The distribution of polar faculae with respect to latitude is investigated, using data obtained at the Ussuriysk Observatory during the years 1963–1994. To correct the data for the effect of visibility, a visibility function of polar faculae is derived. Corrected surface density of polar faculae is calculated as a function of latitude and time. During most part of each solar cycle, polar faculae exhibit pronounced concentrations at high latitudes with maxima of the surface density located near the poles. Such concentrations of polar faculae (below referred to as `polar condensations') are formed after a lapse of 1–2 years from the polar magnetic field reversals, and then they persist for 7–9 years, until the high-latitude magnetic fields again start to reverse. During several years after the sunspot minima, the polar condensations co-exist with the new latitudinal belts of polar faculae which appear at middle latitudes and then migrate toward the poles. To describe the evolution of the polar condensations quantitatively, the polar faculae density n at latitudes above 60° has been approximated by means of the power law n≈n0 cosm θ where θ is polar angle. The parameters n0 and m both are found to vary during the course of the solar cycle, reaching maximum values near or shortly after the minimum of sunspot activity. At the minimum phase of the solar cycle, on average, the surface density of polar faculae varies as cos14 θ. In addition to the 11-yr variation, the latitude–time distribution of polar faculae exhibits short-term variations occurring on the time scale of 2–3 years.