Morphological study of penumbral formation

Penumbrae are known to be area of mainly horizontal magnetic field surrounding umbrae of relatively large and mature sunspots. In this paper, we observationally studied the formation of penumbrae in NOAA10978, where several penumbral formations were observed in G-band images of SOT/Hinode. Thanks to the continuous observation by Hinode, we could morphologically follow the evolution of sunspots and found that there are several paths to the penumbral formation: (1) Active accumulation of magnetic flux, (2) Rapid emergence of magnetic field, and (3) Appearance of twisted or rotating magnetic tubes. In all of these cases, magnetic fields are expected to sustain high inclination at the edges of flux tube concentration longer than the characteristic growth time of downward magnetic pumping.Comment: accepted for publication in PAS

Magnetic Structure of Umbral Dots Observed with Hinode Solar Optical Telescope

High resolution and seeing-free spectroscopic observation of a decaying sunspot was done with the Solar Optical Telescope aboard Hinode satellite. The target was NOAA 10944 located in the west side of the solar surface from March 2 to March 4, 2007. The umbra included many umbral dots (UDs) with size of ~300 km in continuum light. We report the magnetic structures and Doppler velocity fields around UDs, based on the Milne-Eddington inversion of the two iron absorption lines at 6302 angstrom. The histograms of magnetic field strength(B), inclination angle(i), and Doppler velocity(v) of UDs showed a center-to-limb variation. Observed at disk center, UDs had (1)slightly smaller field strength (Delta B=-17 Gauss) and (2)relative blue shifts (Delta v=28 m s-1) compared to their surroundings. When the sunspot got close to the limb, UDs and their surroundings showed almost no difference in the magnetic and Doppler values. This center-to-limb variation can be understood by the formation height difference in a cusp-shaped magnetized atmosphere around UDs, due to the weakly magnetized hot gas intrusion. In addition, some UDs showed oscillatory light curves with multiple peaks around 10 min, which may indicate the presence of the oscillatory convection. We discuss our results in the frameworks of two theoretical models, the monolithic model (Schussler & Vogler 2006) and the field-free intrusion model (Spruit & Scharmer 2006).Comment: 8 pages, 8 figures, accepted for publication in PAS

Spectroscopic Studies of Limb Spicules. I. Radial and Turbulent Velocities

We made high-resolution spectroscopic observations of limb-spicules in H-alpha using the Vertical Spectrograph of Domeless Solar Telescope at Hida Observatory. While more than half of the observed spicules have Gaussian line-profiles, some spicules have distinctly asymmetric profiles which can be fitted with two Gaussian components. The faster of these components has radial velocities of 10 - 40 km/s and Doppler-widths of about 0.4 A which suggest that it is from a single spicule oriented nearly along the line-of-sight. Profiles of the slower components and the single-Gaussian type show very similar characteristics. Their radial velocities are less than 10 km/s and the Doppler-widths are 0.6 - 0.9 A. Non-thermal "macroturbulent" velocities of order 30 km/s are required to explain these width-values.Comment: 13 pages, 12 figures, to be published in Publications of the Astronomical Society of Japa

Statistical Study on the Nature of Solar Flux Emergence

We studied 101 flux emergence events ranging from small ephemeral regions to large emerging flux regions which were observed with Hinode Solar Optical Telescope filtergram. We investigated how the total magnetic flux of the emergence event controls the nature of emergence. To determine the modes of emergences, horizontal velocity fields of global motion of the magnetic patches in the flux emerging sites were measured by the local correlation tracking. Between two main polarities of the large emerging flux regions with more than around 2 \times 10^19 Mx, there were the converging flows of anti-polarity magnetic patches. On the other hand, small ephemeral regions showed no converging flow but simple diverging pattern. When we looked into the detailed features in the emerging sites, irrespective of the total flux and the spatial size, all the emergence events were observed to consist of single or multiple elementary emergence unit(s). The typical size of unitary emergence is 4 Mm and consistent with the simulation results. From the statistical study of the flux emergence events, the maximum spatial distance between two main polarities, the magnetic flux growth rate and the mean separation speed were found to follow the power-law functions of the total magnetic flux with the indices of 0.27, 0.57, and -0.16, respectively. From the discussion on the observed power-law relations, we got a physical view of solar flux emergence that emerging magnetic fields float and evolve balancing to the surrounding turbulent atmosphere. Key words: Sun: magnetic fields - Sun: emerging flux - Sun: photosphere - Sun: chromospher

Observations of Chromospheric Anemone Jets with Hinode SOT and Hida Ca II Spectroheliogram

We present the first simultaneous observations of chromospheric "anemone" jets in solar active regions with Hinode SOT Ca II H broadband filetergram and Ca II K spetroheliogram on the Domeless Solar Telescope (DST) at Hida Observatory. During the coordinated observation, 9 chromospheric anemone jets were simultaneously observed with the two instruments. These observations revealed three important features, i.e.: (1) the jets are generated in the lower chromosphere, (2) the length and lifetime of the jets are 0.4-5 Mm and 40-320 sec, (3) the apparent velocity of the jets with Hinode SOT are 3-24 km/s, while Ca II K3 component at the jets show blueshifts (in 5 events) in the range of 2- 6 km/s. The chromospheric anemone jets are associated with mixed polarity regions which are either small emerging flux regions or moving magnetic features. It is found that the Ca II K line often show red or blue asymmetry in K2/K1 component: the footpoint of the jets associated with emerging flux regions often show redshift (2-16 km/s), while the one with moving magnetic features show blueshift (around 5 km/s). Detailed analysis of magnetic evolution of the jet foaming regions revealed that the reconnection rate (or canceling rate) of the total magnetic flux at the footpoint of the jets are of order of 10^{16} Mx/s, and the resulting magnetic energy release rate (1.1-10) x 10^{24} erg/s, with the total energy release (1-13) x 10^{26} erg for the duration of the magnetic cancellations, 130s. These are comparable to the estimated total energy, 10^{26} erg, in a single chromospheric anemone jet. An observation-based physical model of the jet is presented. The relation between chromospheric anemone jets and Ellerman bombs is discussed.Comment: 22 pages, 27 figures, accepted for Publications of the Astronomical Society of Japa

Ca II K Spectral Study of an Emerging Flux Region using Domeless Solar Telescope in Hida Observatory

A cooperative observation with Hida observatory and Hinode satellite was performed on an emerging flux region. The successive Ca II K spectro-heliograms of the emerging flux region were taken by the Domeless Solar Telescope of Hida observatory. Hinode observed the emerging flux region with Ca II H and Fe I Stokes IQUV filtergrams. In this study, detailed dynamics and temporal evolution of the magnetic flux emergence was studied observationally. The event was first detected in the photospheric magnetic field signals. 3 minutes later, the horizontal expansion of the dark area was detected. And then, 7 minutes later than the horizontal expansion, the emerging loops were detected with the maximal rise speed of 2.1 km/s at chromospheric heights. The observed dynamics of emerging magnetic flux from the photosphere to the upper chromosphere is well consistent with the results of previous simulation works. The gradual rising phase of flux tubes with a weak magnetic strength was confirmed by our observation.Comment: 14 pages, 7 figure

Spicule Dynamics over Plage Region

We studied spicular jets over a plage area and derived their dynamic characteristics using Hinode Solar Optical Telescope (SOT) high-resolution images. The target plage region was near the west limb of the solar disk. This location permitted us to study the dynamics of spicular jets without the overlapping effect of spicular structures along the line of sight. In this work, to increase the ease with which we can identify spicules on the disk, we applied the image processing method `MadMax' developed by Koutchmy et al. (1989). It enhances fine, slender structures (like jets), over a diffuse background. We identified 169 spicules over the target plage. This sample permits us to derive statistically reliable results regarding spicular dynamics. The properties of plage spicules can be summarized as follows: (1) In a plage area, we clearly identified spicular jet features. (2) They were shorter in length than the quiet region limb spicules, and followed ballistic motion under constant deceleration. (3) The majority (80%) of the plage spicules showed the cycle of rise and retreat, while 10% of them faded out without a complete retreat phase. (4) The deceleration of the spicule was proportional to the velocity of ejection (i.e. the initial velocity).Comment: 12 pages, 9 figures, accepted for publication in PAS

Ellerman Bombs at high resolution: I. Morphological evidence for photospheric reconnection

High-resolution imaging-spectroscopy movies of solar active region NOAA 10998 obtained with the CRisp Imaging SpectroPolarimeter (CRISP) at the Swedish 1-m Solar Telescope show very bright, rapidly flickering, flame-like features that appear intermittently in the wings of the Balmer H-alpha line in a region with moat flows and likely some flux emergence. They show up at regular H-alpha blue-wing bright points that outline magnetic network, but flare upward with much larger brightness and distinct "jet" morphology seen from aside in the limbward view of these movies. We classify these features as Ellerman bombs and present a morphological study of their appearance at the unprecedented spatial, temporal, and spectral resolution of these observations. The bombs appear along magnetic network with footpoint extents up to 900km. They show apparent travel away from the spot along the pre-existing network at speeds of about 1 km/s. The bombs flare repetitively with much rapid variation at time scales of seconds only, in the form of upward jet-shaped brightness features. These reach heights of 600-1200km and tend to show blueshifts; some show bi-directional Doppler signature, and some seem accompanied with an H-alpha surge. They are not seen in the core of H-alpha due to shielding by overlying chromospheric fibrils. The network where they originate has normal properties. The morphology of these jets strongly supports deep-seated photospheric reconnection of emergent or moat-driven magnetic flux with pre-existing strong vertical network fields as the mechanism underlying the Ellerman bomb phenomenon.Comment: 13pages, 10 figures, 2 tables. Accepted for publication in the Astrophysical Journa