Flux distribution of solar intranetwork magnetic fields

Abstract

Big Bear deep magnetograms of June 4, 1992 provide unprecedented observations for direct measurements of solar intranetwork (IN) magnetic fields. More than 2500 individual IN elements and 500 network elements are identified and their magnetic flux measured in a quiet region of 300 × 235 arc sec. The analysis reveals the following results: 1. (1) IN element flux ranges from 10¹⁶ Mx (detection limit) to 2 × 10¹⁸ Mx, with a peak flux distribution of 6 × 10¹⁶ Mx. 2. (2) More than 20% of the total flux in this quiet region is in the form of IN elements at any given time. 3. (3) Most IN elements appear as a cluster of mixed polarities from an emergence center (or centers) somewhere within the network interior. 4. (4) The IN flux is smaller than the network flux by more than an order of magnitude. It has a uniform spatial distribution with equal amount of both polarities. It is speculated that IN fields are intrinsically different from network fields and may be generated from a different source as well

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