Related papers: Sunspots: from small-scale inhomogeneities towards…

We interpret penumbral filaments as due to convection in field-free, radially aligned gaps just below the visible surface of the penumbra, intruding into a nearly potential field above. This solves the classical discrepancy between the…

Although the occurrence of solar irradiance variations induced by magnetic surface features (e.g., sunspots, faculae, magnetic network) is generally accepted, the existence of intrinsic luminosity changes due to the internal magnetic fields…

We present a series of numerical sunspot models addressing the subsurface field and flow structure in up to 16 Mm deep domains covering up to 2 days of temporal evolution. Changes in the photospheric appearance of the sunspots are driven by…

A sunspot emanates from a growing pore or protospot. In order to trigger the formation of a penumbra, large inclinations at the outskirts of the protospot are necessary. The penumbra develops and establishes by colonising both umbral areas…

The polar magnetic field of the Sun is a manifestation of certain aspects of the dynamo process and is a good precursor for predicting a sunspot cycle before its onset. Although actual synoptic measurements of this field exist only from the…

We present numerical 2D magnetostatic models for sunspot penumbrae consisting of radially aligned field-free gaps in a potential magnetic field, as proposed by Spruit and Scharmer (2006). The shape of the gaps and the field configurations…

To understand the physics of sunspots, it is important to know the properties of their magnetic field, and especially its height stratification plays a substantial role. There are mainly two methods to assess this stratification, but they…

Sunspots have been known in the West since Galileo Galilei and Thomas Harriot first used telescopes to observe the Sun nearly four centuries ago; they have been known to the Chinese for more than two thousand years. They appear as…

Context: In sunspots, the geometric height of continuum optical depth unity is depressed compared to the quiet Sun. This so-called Wilson depression is caused by the Lorentz force of the strong magnetic field inside the spots. However, it…

Sunspots are regions of decreased brightness on the visible surface of the Sun (photosphere) that are associated with strong magnetic fields. They have been found to be locations associated with solar flares, which occur when energy stored…

A typical sunspot, as seen in white-light intensity images, has a two part structure: a dark umbra and a lighter penumbra. Such distinction primarily arises due to the different orientations of magnetic fields in these two regions. In this…

We study the velocity structure of penumbral filaments in the deep photosphere to obtain direct evidence for the convective nature of sunspot penumbrae. A sunspot was observed at high spatial resolution with the 1-m Swedish Solar Telescope…

Solar active regions show a wide variety of oscillatory phenomena. The presence of the magnetic field leads to the appearance of several wave modes, whose behavior is determined by the sunspot thermal and magnetic structure. We aim to study…

A small decaying sunspot was observed with the Vacuum Tower Telescope (VTT) on Tenerife and the Japanese Hinode satellite. We obtained full Stokes scans in several wavelengths covering different heights in the solar atmosphere. Imaging time…

Context. Fully fledged penumbrae have been widely studied both observationally and theoretically. Yet the relatively fast process of penumbra formation has not been studied closely with high spatial resolution. Aims. We investigate the…

To investigate the penumbral plasma flow on a small scale, spectropolari- metric data of sunspots recorded by HINODE was used. Maps of Doppler velocities were created by evaluating the bisector in the line-wing, thereby visualizing the flow…

I report observations of unusually strong photospheric and chromospheric velocity oscillations in and near the leading sunspot of NOAA 10781 on 03 July 2005. I investigate an impinging wave as a possible origin of the velocity pattern, and…

Here we report on observations of the three-dimensional structure of a sunspot magnetic field from the photosphere to the chromosphere, obtained with the new visible/infrared spectro-polarimeter SPINOR. The observations, interpreted with a…

Solar prominences and filaments (prominences projected against the solar disk) exhibit a large variety of fine structures which are well observed down to the resolution limit of ground-based telescopes. We describe the morphological aspects…

We present an analysis of twisting motions in penumbral filaments in sunspots located at heliocentric angles from $30^\circ$ to $48^\circ$ using three time series of blue continuum images obtained by the Broadband Filter Imager (BFI)…