Latitudinal distribution of solar microflares and high-temperature plasma at solar minimum

Abstract

The paper analyzes the latitudinal distribution of high-temperature plasma (T>4 MK) and microflares on the solar disk during low solar activity in 2009. The distribution of A0.1–A1.0 microflares contains belts typical of ordinary flares of B class and higher. In total, we have registered 526 flares, most of which, about 96 %, occurred at high latitudes. About 4 % of microflares were found near the solar equator. We believe that they were formed by the residual magnetic field of previous solar cycle 23. Ordinary flares were almost not observed near the equator during this period. The number of microflares in the southern hemisphere was slightly higher than in the northern one. This differs from the distribution of ordinary flares for which the northern hemisphere was previously reported to be dominant.

Keywords

• microflares
• solar cycle
• plasma heating