The magnetic-field geometry in polar ray structures of the solar corona

Variations in the positions of the intersection points of tangents to ray structures in the polar corona of the Sun during the solar cycle are considered. At first glance, the decrease in the distance q between the tangent intersection point and the center of the solar disk during activity maximum contradicts harmonic analyses that indicate that the relative weight of higher harmonics in the global field increases during this period. Indeed, the higher the harmonic number in an axisymmetric field, the closer the intersection point of the field-line tangents (the magnetic focus) to the solar surface. It is shown that q for a field composed of two harmonics with opposite polarities at the poles can be smaller than q for either of them taken alone. A simple model representing the global field using the third and seventh harmonics is analyzed; this model call reproduce quite satisfactorily the observed dynamics of magnetic foci of the polar field. (C) 2004 MAIK "Nauka/Interperiodica".