The solar magnetic field is key to understanding the physical processes in the solar atmosphere.
Nonlinear force-free codes have been shown to be useful in extrapolating the coronal field from underlying vector boundary data [see Schrijver et al. 2006 for an overview]. However, we can only measure the magnetic field vector routinely with high accuracy in the photosphere with, e.g., Hinode/SOT, and unfortunately these data do not fulfill the force-free consistency condition as defined by Aly (1989). We must therefore apply some transformations to these data before nonlinear force-free extrapolation codes can be legitimately applied. To this end, we have developed a minimization procedure that uses the measured photospheric field vectors as input to approximate a more chromospheric like field The method was dubbed preprocessing. See Wiegelmann et al. 2006 for details]. The procedure includes force-free consistency integrals and spatial smoothing. The method has been intensively tested with model active regions [see Metcalf et al. 2008] and been applied to several ground based vector magnetogram data before. Here we apply the preprocessing program to photospheric magnetic field measurements with the Hinode/SOT instrument.
To understand the physical mechanisms for activity and heating in the solar atmosphere, the magnetic coupling from the photosphere to the corona is an important piece of information from the Hinode observations, and therefore precise positional alignment is required among the data acquired by different telescopes. The Hinode spacecraft and its onboard telescopes were developed to allow us to investigate magnetic coupling with co-alignment accuracy better than 1 arcsec. Using the Mercury transit observed on 8 November 2006 and co-alignment measurements regularly performed on a weekly basis, we …
Results from initial helioseismic observations by Solar Optical Telescope onboard Hinode are reported. It has been demonstrated that intensity oscillation data from Broadband Filter Imager can be used for various helioseismic analyses. The k-omega power spectra, as well as corresponding time-distance cross-correlation function that promises high-resolution time-distance analysis below 6-Mm travelling distance, were obtained for G-band and CaII-H data. Subsurface supergranular patterns have been observed from our first time-distance analysis. The results show that the solar oscillation spectrum…
Vector magnetic fields of moving magnetic features (MMFs) are well observed with the Solar Optical Telescope (SOT) aboard the Hinode satellite. We focus on the evolution of three MMFs with the SOT in this study. We found that an MMF having relatively vertical fields with polarity same as the sunspot is detached from the penumbra around the granules appeared in the outer penumbra. This suggests that granular motions in the outer penumbra are responsible for the disintegration of the sunspot. Two MMFs with polarity opposite to the sunspot are located around the outer edge of horizontal fields ex…
We use coordinated Hinode SOT/EIS observations that include high-resolution magnetograms, chromospheric and TR imaging and TR/coronal spectra in a first test to study how the dynamics of the TR are driven by the highly dynamic photospheric magnetic fields and the ubiquitous chromospheric waves. Initial analysis shows that these connections are quite subtle and require a combination of techniques including magnetic field extrapolations, frequency-filtered time-series and comparisons with synthetic chromospheric and TR images from advanced 3D numerical simulations. As a first result, we find sig…
Recent observations of coronal hole areas with the XRT and EIS instruments onboard the Hinode satellite have shown with unprecedented detail the launching of fast, hot jets away from the solar surface. In some cases these events coincide with episodes of flux emergence from beneath the photosphere. In this letter we show results of a 3D numerical experiment of flux emergence from the solar interior into a coronal hole and compare them with simultaneous XRT and EIS observations of a jet-launching event that accompanied the appearance of a bipolar region in MDI magnetograms. The magnetic skeleto…
The Solar Optical Telescope (SOT) aboard the Hinode satellite (formerly called Solar-B) consists of the Optical Telescope Assembly (OTA) and the Focal Plane Package (FPP). The OTA is a 50 cm diffraction-limited Gregorian telescope, and the FPP includes the narrow-band (NFI) and wide-band (BFI) filtergraphs, plus the Stokes spectro-polarimeter (SP). SOT provides unprecedented high resolution photometric and vector magnetic images of the photosphere and chromosphere with a very stable point spread function, and is equipped with an image stabilization system that reduces the error to less than 0.…
With the recent launch of the Hinode satellite our view of the nature and evolution of quiet-Sun regions has been improved. In light of the new high resolution observations, we revisit the study of the quiet Sun's topological nature. Topology is a tool to explain the complexity of the magnetic field, the occurrence of reconnection processes, and the heating of the corona. This Letter aims to give new insights to these different topics. Using a high-resolution Hinode/SOT observation of the line-of-sight magnetic field on the photosphere, we calculate the three dimensional magnetic field in the …
Our aim is to determine the plasma properties of a coronal bright point and compare its magnetic topology extrapolated from magnetogram data with its appearance in X-ray images. We analyse spectroscopic data obtained with EIS/Hinode, Ca II H and G-band images from SOT/Hinode, UV images from TRACE, X-ray images from XRT/Hinode and high-resolution/high-cadence magnetogram data from MDI/SoHO. The BP comprises several coronal loops as seen in the X-ray images, while the chromospheric structure consists of tens of small bright points as seen in Ca II H. An excellent correlation exists between the C…
We present results from numerical modeling of emerging flux regions on the solar surface. The modeling was carried out by means of 3D radiative MHD simulations of the rise of buoyant magnetic flux tubes through the convection zone and into the photosphere. Due to the strong stratification of the convection zone, the rise results in a lateral expansion of the tube into a magnetic sheet, which acts as a reservoir for small-scale flux emergence events at the scale of granulation. The interaction of the convective downflows and the rising magnetic flux undulates it to form serpentine field lines e…
Twisting motions of different nature are observed in several layers of the solar atmosphere. Chromospheric sunspot whorls and rotation of sunspots or even higher up in the lower corona sigmoids are examples of the large scale twisted topology of many solar features. Nevertheless, their occurrence at large scale in the quiet photosphere has not been investigated. The present study reveals the existence of vortex flows located at the supergranular junctions of the quiet Sun. We use a 1-hour and a 5-hour time series of the granulation in Blue continuum and G-band images from FG/SOT to derive the …
On-orbit performance of the Solar Optical Telescope (SOT) aboard Hinode is described with some attentions on its unpredicted aspects. In general, SOT revealed an excellent performance and has been providing outstanding data. Some unexpected features exist, however, in behaviors of the focus position, throughput and structural stability. Most of them are recovered by the daily operation i.e., frequent focus adjustment, careful heater setting and corrections in data analysis. The tunable filter contains air bubbles which degrade the data quality significantly. Schemes for tuning the filter witho…
Aims. With the Solar Optical Telescope on Hinode, we investigate the basic properties of high-degree solar oscillations observed at two levels in the solar atmosphere, in the G-band (formed in the photosphere) and in the Ca II H line (chromospheric emission). Methods. We analyzed the data by calculating the individual power spectra as well as the cross-spectral properties, i.e., coherence and phase shift. The observational properties are compared with a simple theoretical model, which includes the effects of correlated noise. Results. The results reveal significant frequency shifts between the…
Continuous observations of sunspot penumbrae with the Solar Optical Telescope aboard \textit{Hinode} clearly show that the outer boundary of the penumbra fluctuates around its averaged position. The penumbral outer boundary moves inward when granules appear in the outer penumbra. We discover that such granules appear one after another while moving magnetic features (MMFs) are separating from the penumbral ``spines'' (penumbral features that have stronger and more vertical fields than those of their surroundings). These granules that appear in the outer penumbra often merge with bright features…
Active region 10961 was observed over a five day period (2007 July 2-6) by instrumentation on-board STEREO, Hinode, TRACE and SOHO. As it progressed from Sun centre to the solar limb a comprehensive analysis of the EUV, X-ray and magnetic field data reveals clearly observable changes in the global nature of the region. Temperature analyses undertaken using STEREO EUVI double filter ratios and XRT single and combined filter ratios demonstrate an overall cooling of the region from between 1.6 - 3.0 MK to 1.0 - 2.0 MK over the five days. Similarly, Hinode EIS density measurements show a correspon…
Hinode discovered a beautiful giant jet with both cool and hot components at the solar limb on 2007 February 9. Simultaneous observations by the Hinode SOT, XRT, and TRACE 195 satellites revealed that hot (5x10^6 K) and cool (10^4 K) jets were located side by side and that the hot jet preceded the associated cool jet (1-2 minutes). A current-sheet-like structure was seen in optical (Ca IIH), EUV (195A), and soft X-ray emissions, suggesting that magnetic reconnection is occurring in the transition region or upper chromosphere. Alfven waves were also observed with Hinode SOT. These propagated al…
The combined PSF of the BFI and the SOT onboard the Hinode spacecraft is investigated. Observations of the Mercury transit from November 2006 and the solar eclipse(s) from 2007 are used to determine the PSFs of SOT for the blue, green, and red continuum channels of the BFI. For each channel large grids of theoretical point spread functions are calculated by convolution of the ideal diffraction-limited PSF and Voigt profiles. These PSFs are applied to artificial images of an eclipse and a Mercury transit. The comparison of the resulting artificial intensity profiles across the terminator and th…
The Solar Optical Telescope (SOT) aboard HINODE successfully and continuously observed a formation process of a light bridge in a matured sunspot of the NOAA active region 10923 for several days with high spatial resolution. During its formation, many umbral dots were observed emerging from the leading edges of penumbral filaments, and intruding into the umbra rapidly. The precursor of the light bridge formation was also identified as the relatively slow inward motion of the umbral dots which emerged not near the penumbra, but inside the umbra. The spectro-polarimeter on SOT provided physical …
Using turbulent MHD simulations (magnetic Reynolds numbers up to 8000) and Hinode observations, we study effects of turbulence on measuring the solar magnetic field outside active regions. Firstly, from synthetic Stokes V profiles for the FeI lines at 630.1 and 630.2 nm, we show that a peaked probability distribution function (PDF) for observationally-derived field estimates is consistent with a monotonic PDF for actual vertical field strengths. Hence, the prevalence of weak fields is greater than would be naively inferred from observations. Secondly, we employ the fractal self-similar geometr…
We use sequences of images and magnetograms from Hinode to study magnetic elements in internetwork parts of the quiet solar photosphere. Visual inspection shows the existence of many long-lived (several hours) structures that interact frequently, and may migrate over distances ~7 Mm over a period of a few hours. About a fifth of the elements have an associated bright point in G-band or Ca II H intensity. We apply a hysteresis-based algorithm to identify elements. The algorithm is able to track elements for about 10 min on average. Elements intermittently drop below the detection limit, though …
The Solar Optical Telescope (SOT) on board Hinode satellite observed an X3.4 class flare on 2006 December 13. Typical two-ribbon structure was observed, not only in the chromospheric CaII H line but also in G-band and FeI 6302A line. The high-resolution, seeing-free images achieved by SOT revealed, for the first time, the sub-arcsec fine structures of the "white light" flare. The G-band flare ribbons on sunspot umbrae showed a sharp leading edge followed by a diffuse inside, as well as previously known core-halo structure. The underlying structures such as umbral dots, penumbral filaments and …
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 region, several diffuse components and numerous umbral dots. We derived basic properties of umbral dots (UDs), especially their temperatures, lifetimes, proper motions, spatial distribution and morphological evolution. Brightness of UDs is confirmed to depend on the brightness of their surrounding background. Several UDs show fission and fusion. Thanks to the…
We analyse spectropolarimetric observations of the penumbra of the NOAA AR 10953 at high spatial resolution (0.3"). The full Stokes profiles of the Fe I lines at 630.1 nm and 630.2 nm have been obtained with the Solar Optical Telescope (SOT) on board the Hinode satellite. The data have been inverted by means of the SIR code, deriving the stratifications of temperature, line of sight velocity, and the components of the magnetic field vector in optical depth. In order to evaluate the gas pressure and to obtain an adequate geometrical height scale, the motion equation has been integrated for each…
Continuous observations of a flare productive active region 10930 were successfully carried out with the Solar Optical Telescope onboard the Hinode spacecraft during 2007 December 6 to 19. We focus on the evolution of photospheric magnetic fields in this active region, and magnetic field properties at the site of the X3.4 class flare, using a time series of vector field maps with high spatial resolution. The X3.4 class flare occurred on 2006 December 13 at the apparent collision site between the large, opposite polarity umbrae. Elongated magnetic structures with alternatingly positive and nega…
We observed small scale magnetic flux emergence in a sunspot moat region by the Solar Optical Telescope (SOT) aboard the Hinode satellite. We analyzed filtergram images observed in the wavelengths of Fe 6302 angstrom, G-band and Ca II H. In Stokes I images of Fe 6302 angstrom, emerging magnetic flux were recognized as dark lanes. In G-band, they showed their shapes almost the same as in Stokes I images. These magnetic flux appeared as dark filaments in Ca II H images. Stokes V images of Fe 6302 angstrom showed pairs of opposite polarities at footpoints of each filament. These magnetic concentr…
