Abstract
Active regions in the Sun are generally tilted relative to the azimuthal direction, with the leading side being closer to the equator than the following side. This tilts is known to increase with latitude. Recently, theoretical calculations of the dynamics of emerging, initially toroidal active-region flux tubes have been done, showing that the observed tilts can be explained by the Coriolis force acting on a diverging flow field in emerging flux loops. The calculations of Fan, Fisher, & McClymont predict that alpha proportional to Phi(exp 1/4) B(sub 0 exp -5/4) sin theta, where alpha is the tilt angle of the active region, B(sub 0) is the magnetic field strength of the active-region flux tube near the base of the convection zone, and phi is the amount of magnetic flux in the tube. We compare these theoretical predictions with the behavior of a sample of 24,701 sunspot groups observed at Mount Wilson over a period of 68 yr, using the polarity separation distance d as a proxy for phi. Our major findings are given.
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