Related papers: Penumbral structure and outflows in simulated suns…
We analyse the temporal evolution of the inclination component of the magnetic field vector for the penumbral area of 25 isolated sunspots. Compared to previous works, the use of data from the HMI instrument aboard the SDO observatory…
Context. A significant part of the penumbral magnetic field returns below the surface in the very deep photosphere. For lines in the visible, a large portion of this return field can only be detected indirectly by studying its imprints on…
We investigate the rising flux tube and the formation of sunspots in an unprecedentedly deep computational domain that covers the whole convection zone with a radiative magnetohydrodynamics simulation. Previous calculations had shallow…
The relationship between bipolar magnetic regions (BMRs) and their sunspots is an important property of the solar magnetic field, but it is not well constrained. One consequence is that it is a challenge for surface flux transport models…
We investigate sharply outlined features recorded in solar magnetic field tracers. It is shown that the magnetic boundaries of a sunspot do not coincide with the photometric ones. Moreover, there is no clear magnetic boundary around…
Context. It has been reported that the boundary between the umbra and the penumbra of sunspots occurs at a canonical value of the strength of the vertical magnetic field, independently of the size of the spot. This critical field strength…
Recent numerical simulations of sunspots suggest that overturning convection is responsible for the existence of penumbral filaments and the Evershed flow, but there is little observational evidence of this process. Here we carry out a…
Sunspots are the most notable structure on the solar surface with strong magnetic fields. The field is generally strongest in a dark area (umbra), but sometimes stronger fields are found in non-dark regions such as a penumbra and a light…
Inspired by observations of sunspots embedded in active regions, it is often assumed that large-scale, strong magnetic flux emerges from the Sun's deep interior in the form of arched, cylindrical structures, colloquially known as flux…
We present new high-resolution spectro-polarimetric Ca II 8542 observations of umbral flashes in sunspots. At nearly 0.18", and spanning about one hour of continuous observation, this is the most detailed dataset published thus far. Our…
We determine the entire electrical current density vector in a geometrical 3D volume of the inner penumbra of a sunspot from an inversion of spectropolarimetric data obtained with Hinode/SP. Significant currents are seen to wrap around the…
We employ high-spatial resolution spectropolarimetric observations from the Solar Optical Telescope on-board the Hinode spacecraft to investigate the fine structure of the penumbral magnetic fields. The Stokes vector of two neutral iron…
Sunspots survive on the solar surface for time-scales ranging from days to months. This requires them to be in an equilibrium involving magnetic fields and hydrodynamic forces. Unfortunately, theoretical models of sunspot equilibrium are…
Aims. The aim of this paper is to consider relationship between the decay of sunspots and convection via the motion of the family of granules and how the diffusion mechanism of magnetic field operates in a decaying sunspot. Methods. We…
We have discovered small whirlpools in the Sun, with a size similar to the terrestrial hurricanes (<~0.5 Mm). The theory of solar convection predicts them, but they had remained elusive so far. The vortex flows are created at the downdrafts…
Active regions are the most prominent manifestations of solar magnetic fields; their generation and dissipation are fundamental problems in solar physics. Light bridges are commonly present during sunspot decay, but a comprehensive picture…
Some preliminary processing results are presented for a dataset obtained with the Solar Optical Telescope on the Hinode satellite. The idea of the project is to record, nearly simultaneously, the full velocity and magnetic-field vectors in…
High resolution imaging observation of a sunspot umbra was done with Hinode Solar Optical Telescope (SOT). Filtergrams in wavelengths of blue and green continuum were taken during three consecutive days. The umbra consisted of a dark core…
The increased amount of information provided by ongoing missions such as the Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) represents a great challenge for the understanding of basic questions such as the internal structure of sunspots and how they…
A numerical model of axisymmetric convection in the presence of a vertical magnetic flux bundle and rotation about the axis is presented. The model contains a compressible plasma described by the nonlinear MHD equations, with density and…