57 research outputs found
Vertical magnetic field gradient in the photospheric layers of sunspots
We investigate the vertical gradient of the magnetic field of sunspots in the
photospheric layer. Independent observations were obtained with the SOT/SP
onboard the Hinode spacecraft and with the TIP-2 mounted at the VTT. We apply
state-of-the-art inversion techniques to both data sets to retrieve the
magnetic field and the corresponding vertical gradient. In the sunspot
penumbrae we detected patches of negative vertical gradients of the magnetic
field strength, i.e.,the magnetic field strength decreases with optical depth
in the photosphere. The negative gradient patches are located in the inner and
partly in the middle penumbrae in both data sets. From the SOT/SP observations,
we found that the negative gradient patches are restricted mainly to the deep
photospheric layers and are concentrated near the edges of the penumbral
filaments. MHD simulations also show negative gradients in the inner penumbrae,
also at the locations of filaments. Both in the observations and simulation
negative gradients of the magnetic field vs. optical depth dominate at some
radial distances in the penumbra. The negative gradient with respect to optical
depth in the inner penumbrae persists even after averaging in the azimuthal
direction, both in the observations and, to a lesser extent, also in MHD
simulations. We interpret the observed localized presence of the negative
vertical gradient of the magnetic field strength in the observations as a
consequence of stronger field from spines expanding with height and closing
above the weaker field inter-spines. The presence of the negative gradients
with respect to optical depth after azimuthal averaging can be explained by two
different mechanisms: the high corrugation of equal optical depth surfaces and
the cancellation of polarized signal due to the presence of unresolved opposite
polarity patches in the deeper layers of the penumbra.Comment: 17 pages, 25 figures, accepted for publication in A&
Structure of sunspot penumbral filaments: a remarkable uniformity of properties
The sunspot penumbra comprises numerous thin, radially elongated filaments
that are central for heat transport within the penumbra, but whose structure is
still not clear. To investigate the fine-scale structure of these filaments, we
perform a depth-dependent inversion of spectropolarimetric data of a sunspot
very close to solar disk center obtained by Hinode (SOT/SP). We have used a
recently developed spatially coupled 2D inversion scheme which allows us to
analyze the fine structure of individual penumbral filaments up to the
diffraction limit of the telescope. Filaments of different sizes in all parts
of penumbra display very similar magnetic field strengths, inclinations and
velocity patterns. The similarities allowed us to average all these filaments
and to extract the physical properties common to all of them. This average
filament shows upflows associated with an upward pointing field at its inner,
umbral end and along its axis, downflows along the lateral edge and strong
downflows in the outer end associated with a nearly vertical, strong and
downward pointing field. The upflowing plasma is significantly hotter than the
downflowing plasma. The hot, tear-shaped head of the averaged filament can be
associated with a penumbral grain. The central part of the filament shows
nearly horizontal fields with strengths of ~1kG. The field above the filament
converges, whereas a diverging trend is seen in the deepest layers near the
head of the filament. We put forward a unified observational picture of a
sunspot penumbral filament. It is consistent with such a filament being a
magneto-convective cell, in line with recent MHD simulations. The uniformity of
its properties over the penumbra sets constraints on penumbral models and
simulations. The complex and inhomogeneous structure of the filament provides a
natural explanation for a number of long-running controversies in the
literature.Comment: 19 pages; 12 figures; accepted for publication in A&
Small-Scale Structure and Dynamics of Sunspots and Related Solar Physics Topics
No abstract availabl
A CME-Producing Solar Eruption from the Interior of a Twisted, Emerging Bipole
In a negative-polarity coronal hole, magnetic flux emergence, seen by the Solar Dynamics Observatory's (SDO) Helioseismic Magnetic Imager (HMI), begins at approximately 19:00 UT on March 3, 2016. The emerged magnetic field produced sunspots with penumbrae by 3:00 UT on March 4, which are a part of NOAA 12514. The emerging magnetic field is largely bipolar with the opposite-polarity fluxes spreading apart overall, but there is simultaneously some convergence and cancellation of opposite-polarity flux at the polarity inversion line (PIL) inside the emerging bipole. The emerging bipole shows obvious overall left-handed shear and/or twist in its magnetic field and corresponding clockwise rotation of the two poles of the bipole about each other as the bipole emerges. The eruption comes from inside the emerging bipole and blows it open to produce a CME observed by SOHO/LASCO. That eruption is preceded by flux cancellation at the emerging bipole's interior PIL, cancellation that plausibly builds a sheared and twisted flux rope above the interior PIL and fnally triggers the blow-out eruption of the flux rope via photospheric-convection-driven, slow tether-cutting reconnection of the legs of the sheared core field, low above the interior PIL, as proposed by van Ballegooijen and Martens (1989, ApJ, 343, 971) and Moore and Roumeliotis (1992, in Eruptive Solar Flares, ed. Z. Svestka, B.V. Jackson, and M.E. Machado [Berlin:Springer], 69). The production of this eruption is a (perhaps rare) counterexample to solar eruptions that result from external collisional shearing between opposite polarities from two distinct emerging and/or emerged bipoles (Chintzoglou et al., 2019, ApJ, 871:67)
Global Twist of Sunspot Magnetic Fields Obtained from High Resolution Vector Magnetograms
The presence of fine structures in the sunspot vector magnetic fields has
been confirmed from Hinode as well as other earlier observations. We studied 43
sunspots based on the data sets taken from ASP/DLSP, Hinode (SOT/SP) and SVM
(USO). In this \emph{Letter}, (i) We introduce the concept of signed shear
angle (SSA) for sunspots and establish its importance for non force-free
fields. (ii) We find that the sign of global (force-free parameter) is
well correlated with the global SSA and the photospheric chirality of sunspots.
(iii) Local patches of opposite signs are present in the umbra of each
sunspot. The amplitude of the spatial variation of local in the umbra
is typically of the order of the global of the sunspot. (iv) We find
that the local is distributed as alternately positive and negative
filaments in the penumbra. The amplitude of azimuthal variation of the local
in the penumbra is approximately an order of magnitude larger than
that in the umbra. The contributions of the local positive and negative
currents and in the penumbra cancel each other giving almost no
contribution for their global values for whole sunspot. (v) Arc-like structures
(partial rings) with a sign opposite to that of the dominant sign of
of the umbral region are seen at the umbral-penumbral boundaries of some
sunspots. (vi) Most of the sunspots studied, belong to the minimum epoch of the
23 solar cycle and do not follow the so-called hemispheric helicity
rule.Comment: 15 pages, 3 figures, 1 table; Accepted for publication in the ApJ
Letter
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