Hot spots and active longitudes: Organization of solar activity as a probe of the interior

In order to investigate how solar activity is organized in longitude, major solar flares, large sunspot groups, and large scale photospheric magnetic field strengths were analyzed. The results of these analyses are reported. The following results are discussed: hot spots, initially recognized as areas of high concentration of major flares, are the preferred locations for the emergence of big sunspot groups; double hot spots appear in pairs that rotate at the same rate separated by about 180 deg in longitude, whereas, single hot spots have no such companions; the northern and southern hemispheres behave differently in organizing solar activity in longitude; the lifetime of hot spots range from one to several solar cycles; a hot spot is not always active throughout its lifetime, but goes through dormant periods; and hot spots with different rotational periods coexist in the same hemisphere during the same solar cycle.