Solar torsional oscillations - a net pattern with wavenumber 2 as artifact

A net solar torsional oscillation pattern is uncovered through a new analysis of Mount Wilson Doppler data. This pattern, found from zonal fits, without subtraction of a global fit, consists of a relative polar spin-up around solar maximum, alternating with a single traveling wave that runs from mid latitude to low latitude during the rest of the cycle. It is suggested that these are separate phenomena, and thus that the previously inferred pole-to-equator traveling pattern with wavenumber 2 per hemisphere may be a mathematical artifact. The new pattern retains aspects of the original pattern's relationship to magnetic activity, and agrees better with model predictions. 13 references