7 research outputs found
Solar Intranetwork Magnetic Elements: bipolar flux appearance
The current study aims to quantify characteristic features of bipolar flux
appearance of solar intranetwork (IN) magnetic elements. To attack such a
problem, we use the Narrow-band Filter Imager (NFI) magnetograms from the Solar
Optical Telescope (SOT) on board \emph{Hinode}; these data are from quiet and
an enhanced network areas. Cluster emergence of mixed polarities and IN
ephemeral regions (ERs) are the most conspicuous forms of bipolar flux
appearance within the network. Each of the clusters is characterized by a few
well-developed ERs that are partially or fully co-aligned in magnetic axis
orientation. On average, the sampled IN ERs have total maximum unsigned flux of
several 10^{17} Mx, separation of 3-4 arcsec, and a lifetime of 10-15 minutes.
The smallest IN ERs have a maximum unsigned flux of several 10^{16} Mx,
separations less than 1 arcsec, and lifetimes as short as 5 minutes. Most IN
ERs exhibit a rotation of their magnetic axis of more than 10 degrees during
flux emergence. Peculiar flux appearance, e.g., bipole shrinkage followed by
growth or the reverse, is not unusual. A few examples show repeated
shrinkage-growth or growth-shrinkage, like magnetic floats in the dynamic
photosphere. The observed bipolar behavior seems to carry rich information on
magneto-convection in the sub-photospheric layer.Comment: 26 pages, 14 figure