Related papers: A Look into the Guts of Sunspots
The mysteries of sunspot penumbrae have been under an intense scrutiny for the past 10 years. During this time, some models have been proposed and refuted, while the surviving ones had to be modified, adapted and evolved to explain the…
Recent progress in theoretical modeling of a sunspot is reviewed. The observed properties of umbral dots are well reproduced by realistic simulations of magnetoconvection in a vertical, monolithic magnetic field. To understand the penumbra,…
The flows in and around sunspots are rich in detail. Starting with the Evershed flow along low-lying flow channels, which are cospatial with the horizontal penumbral magnetic fields, Evershed clouds may continue this motion at the periphery…
I deduced a 3-D sunspot model that is in agreement with spectropolarimetric observations, to address the question of penumbral heating by the repetitive rise of flow channels. I performed inversions of data taken simultaneously in infrared…
We investigate the fine structure of the sunspot penumbra by means of a model that allows for a flux tube in horizontal pressure balance with the magnetic background atmosphere in which it is embedded. We apply this model to…
The penumbra of a sunspot is a fascinating phenomenon featuring complex velocity and magnetic fields. It challenges both our understanding of radiative magneto-convection and our means to measure and derive the actual geometry of the…
The Evershed flow is a systematic motion of gas that occurs in the penumbra of all sunspots. Discovered in 1909, it still lacks a satisfactory explanation. We know that the flow is magnetized, often supersonic, and that it shows conspicuous…
The sunspot penumbra is usually observed in the photosphere and it is of particular interest for its magneto-convection which seems to transport the heat from the top of the convection zone into the solar atmosphere. It is well known that…
The physics of Sunspots is a fascinating and demanding field of research in solar astronomy. Interaction of magnetic fields and plasma flows takes place in a tangled magnetic geometry and occurs on spatial scales that pose a continuous…
We present an analysis of the Evershed effect observed with a resolution of 0.2 arcsec. Using the new Swedish 1-m Solar Telescope and its Littrow spectrograph, we scan a significant part of a sunspot penumbra. Spectra of the non-magnetic…
Context: Sunspot penumbrae harbor highly structured magnetic fields and flows. The moving flux tube model offers an explanation for several observed phenomena, e.g. the Evershed effect and bright penumbral grains. Aims: A wealth of…
We report on high angular resolution, high precision spectropolarimetric measurements of a decaying sunspot. The spot gradually lost its penumbra during the course of three days. In the late stages of evolution where the only remnant of 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…
Numerical simulations indicate that the filamentation of sunspot penumbrae and the associated systematic outflow (the Evershed effect) are due to convectively driven fluid motions constrained by the inclined magnetic field. We investigate…
Mechanisms of the formation and stability of sunspots are among the longest-standing and intriguing puzzles of solar physics and astrophysics. Sunspots are controlled by subsurface dynamics hidden from direct observations. Recently,…
Sunspot fine structure has been modeled in the past by a combination of idealized magneto-convection simulations and simplified models that prescribe the magnetic field and flow structure to a large degree. Advancement in numerical methods…
High resolution spectropolarimetric observations of 3 sunspots taken with Hinode demonstrate the existence of supersonic downflows at or close to the umbra-penumbra boundary which have not been reported before. These downflows are confined…
The new generation of ground-based, large-aperture solar telescopes promises to significantly increase our capabilities to understand the many basic phenomena taking place in the Sun at all atmospheric layers and how they relate to each…
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…
Whereas penumbral models during the last 15 years have been successful in explaining Evershed flows and magnetic field inclination variations in terms of flux tubes, the lack of contact between these models and a convective process needed…