Flows, flares, and formation of umbrae and light bridges in BBSO region No. 1167

We present high-resolution observations of the large active region BBSO No. 1167 (Boulder No. 5060) which cast new light on the structure of sunspot regions. We obtained excellent data, highlighted by videomagnetograms (VMG) obtained with our 65-cm telescope, which give unprecedented spatial resolution, about 0.5′' for much of two 11-hr periods. This permitted us to see details of the field evolution and flows in the AR. The Hα filtergrams and D3 filtergrams permit study of these magnetic changes compared to spots and chromospheric structure. The region was a huge but simple active region (CMP July 2, 1988) in which we observed rapid flux emergence for several days. Because the new flux generally matched the old, there were few large flares. However, there were 14 flares on June 28 and 29, mostly in two sites. The first site was a δ spot which already existed when the active region appeared on the east limb. This site showed little change of magnetic structure during our observing period. The second site is an area disturbed by new flux emergence, which included a δ spot which formed and disappeared in two days, and a rapidly moving p spot. Flares ocurring at one site almost always produced footpoints at the other. The delay between flash phases of the same flare at the two sites ranges from 40 to 160 s. The magnetograms show complex fine structure, with some closely interwined regions of opposite polarity. In a region of new flux emergence, positive (leading polarity) flux flows along elongated channels immersed in the negative flux. Moving magnetic features occur around all of the spots. We point out other interesting aspects of this large region: (1) While there is extensive penumbra around the main umbrae, there is also significant penumbra apparently unrelated to any spot. These unusual penumbrae are either due to flux returning to the surface, flux left behind by the moving umbra, or associated with pores that appear and disappear. (2) We observed umbrae to move faster than the accompanying penumbrae, and concluded that penumbrae are not a simple extension of the umbra. (3) We found that combining spots of the same polarity do not completely merge, but are always separated by a thin light bridge. This means that the emerging flux loops are discrete entities

Flows around sunspots and pores

We report on three sequences of high-resolution white-light and magnetogram observations obtained in the summer of 1989. The duration of sub-arcsecond seeing was three to four hours on each day. Study of the white-light and magnetogram data yields the following results: (1) For all but one of the sunspots we have observed, both dark fibrils and bright grains in the inner part of the penumbra of sunspots move toward the umbra with a speed of about 0.5 km s⁻¹. In the outer part of the penumbra, movement is away from the umbra. The one exception is a newly formed spot, which has inflow only in its penumbra. (2) Granular flows converge toward almost every pore, even before its formation. Pores are observed to form by the concentration of magnetic flux already existing in the photosphere. The pores (or small sunspots), in turn, then move and concentrate to form bigger sunspot. (3) We followed an emerging flux region (EFR) from 29 to 31 July, 1989 that was composed of a large number of bipoles with magnetic polarities mixed over a large area in the first day of its birth. As time went on, polarities sorted out: the leading polarity elements moved in one direction; the following, the opposite. During the process a large number of cancellations occurred, with some sub-flares and surges observed simultaneously. After about 24 hours, the positive and negative fluxes were essentially separated. (4) We find two kinds of photospheric dark alignments in the region of new flux emergence: (a) alignments connecting two poles of opposite magnetic polarity form the tops of rising flux tubes; (b) alignments corresponding to the magnetic flux of one polarity, which we call elongated pores

Strong transverse fields in δ-spots

Spectroscopic measurements of the strength and direction of transverse magnetic fields in six δ-spots are presented. The field direction is determined by the relative strength of the π- and σ-components at different polarizer orientations, and is, with one exception, parallel to the neutral line and as strong as the umbral field. Field strengths determined by line splitting are as high as 3980 G

Magnetic flux transport of decaying active regions and enhanced magnetic network

Several series of coordinated observations on decaying active regions and enhanced magnetic network regions have been carried out jointly at Big Bear Solar Observatory (BBSO) and Huairou Solar Observing Station of the Bejing Astronomical Observatory in China. The evolution of magnetic fields in several regions was followed closely for 3 to 7 days. The transport of magnetic flux from the remnants of decayed active regions was studied. Three related topics are included in this paper. (1) We studied the evolution and lifetime of the magnetic network which defines the boundaries of supergranules. The results are consistent with our earlier studies: network cells have an average lifetime of about 70 hours; 68% of new cells appeared by growing from a single network magnetic element; 50% of decaying cells disappeared by contracting to a network element. (2) We studied the magnetic flux transport in an enhanced network region in detail, and found the diffusion rate to be negative, i.e., there was more flux moving towards the decayed active region than away from it. We found several other cases where the magnetic diffusion rate does not agree with Leighton's model. The slow diffusion rate is likely due to the fact that the average velocity of larger magnetic elements, which carry most of the magnetic flux, is less than 0.1 km s⁻¹; their average lifetime is longer than 100 hours. (3) We briefly described some properties of Moving Magnetic Features (MMFs) around a sunspot (detailed discussion on MMFs will be presented in a separate paper). In this particular case, the MMFs did not carry net flux away from the central spot. Instead, the polarities of MMFs were essentially mixed so that outflowing positive and negative fluxes were roughly balanced. During the 3-day period, there was almost no net flux accumulation to form a moat. The cancellation of MMFs of opposite polarities at the boundary of the super-penumbra caused quite a few surges and Hα brightenings

The roots of coronal structure in the Sun's surface

We have compared the structures seen on X-ray images obtained by a flight of the NIXT sounding rocket payload on July 11, 1991 with near-simultaneous photospheric and chromospheric structures and magnetic fields observed at Big Bear. The X-ray images reflect emission of both MgX and FeXVI, formed at 1 × 10⁶ K and 3 × 10⁶ K, respectively. The brightest Hα sources correspond to a dying sub-flare and other active region components, all of which reveal coronal enhancements situated spatially well above the Hα emission. The largest set of X-ray arches connected plages of opposite polarity in a large bipolar active region. The arches appear to lie in a small range of angle in the meridian plane connecting their footpoints. Sunspots are dark on the surface and in the corona. For the first time we see an emerging flux region in X-rays and find the emission extends twice as high as the Hα arches. Many features which we believe to correspond to ‘X-ray bright points’ (XBPs) were observed. Whether by resolution or spectral band, the number detected greatly exceeds that from previous work. All of the brighter XBPs correspond to bipolar Hα features, while unipolar Hα bright points are the base of more diffuse comet-like coronal arches, generally vertical. These diverge from individual features by less than 30°, and give a good measure of what the ‘canopies’ must do. The Hα data shows that all the Hα features were present the entire day, so they are not clearly disappearing or reappearing. We find a new class of XBPs which we call ‘satellite points’, elements of opposite polarity linked to nearby umbrae by invisible field lines. The satellite points change rapidly in X-ray brightness during the flight. An M1.9 flare occurred four hours after the flight; examination of the pre-flare structures reveals nothing unusual