本文利用SIRGAUS反演程序，推导了瞬变水平磁场（THMF）在光球层演化过程中的三维磁结构。SIRGAUS程序是SIR（Stokes Inversion based on Response function）的一个修改版本，它允许从观测到的Stokes剖面中检索嵌入大气中的通量管的磁性和热力学参数信息。使用Hinode上的太阳光学望远镜（SOT）利用Fe I 630.2 nm谱线对圆盘中心的安静太阳进行了光谱偏振观测。使用130 s节奏的重复扫描，我们首先检测颗粒内部出现的水平场，靠近其边缘。在第二次扫描中，具有正极性和负极性的垂直场出现在水平场的两端。然后，水平场消失，留下双极垂直磁场。从斯托克斯光谱反演的结果清楚地指出存在的磁通管的磁场强度为$\sim400$ G上升通过线形成层的Fe I 630.2 nm线。通量管在$Δt$ =0 s时位于$\logτ_{500} \sim0$附近，在$Δt$ =130 s时位于$\logτ_{500} \sim-1.7$附近。在$Δt$ =260 s时，水平部分已经在所分析的线的线形成区域上方。观测到的多普勒速度最大为3 km/s $^{-1}$，与从SIRGAUS代码中检索到的结构向上运动一致。管的垂直尺寸小于线形成层的厚度。THMF具有清晰的$Ω$形环结构，其顶点位于颗粒细胞的边缘附近。该THMF携带的磁通量估计为$3.1\times10^{17}$ Mx。
英文摘要：
We infer the 3D magnetic structure of a transient horizontal magnetic field (THMF) during its evolution through the photosphere using SIRGAUS inversion code. The SIRGAUS code is a modified version of SIR (Stokes Inversion based on Response function), and allows for retrieval of information on the magnetic and thermodynamic parameters of the flux tube embedded in the atmosphere from the observed Stokes profiles. Spectro-polarimetric observations of the quiet Sun at the disk center were performed with the Solar Optical Telescope (SOT) on board Hinode with Fe I 630.2 nm lines. Using repetitive scans with a cadence of 130 s, we first detect the horizontal field that appears inside a granule, near its edge. On the second scan, vertical fields with positive and negative polarities appear at both ends of the horizontal field. Then, the horizontal field disappears leaving the bipolar vertical magnetic fields. The results from the inversion of the Stokes spectra clearly point to the existence of a flux tube with magnetic field strength of $\sim400$ G rising through the line forming layer of the Fe I 630.2 nm lines. The flux tube is located at around $\logτ_{500} \sim0$ at $Δt$=0 s and around $\logτ_{500} \sim-1.7$ at $Δt$=130 s. At $Δt$=260 s the horizontal part is already above the line forming region of the analyzed lines. The observed Doppler velocity is maximally 3 km s$^{-1}$, consistent with the upward motion of the structure as retrieved from the SIRGAUS code. The vertical size of the tube is smaller than the thickness of the line forming layer. The THMF has a clear $Ω$-shaped-loop structure with the apex located near the edge of a granular cell. The magnetic flux carried by this THMF is estimated to be $3.1\times10^{17}$ Mx.
The electromagnetic energy flux in the lower atmosphere of the Sun is a key tool to describe the energy balance of the solar atmosphere. Current investigations on energy flux in the solar atmosphere focus primarily on the vertical electromagnetic flux through the photosphere, ignoring the Poynting flux in other directions and its possible contributions to local heating. Based on a realistic Bifrost simulation of a quiet-Sun (coronal hole) atmosphere, we find that the total electromagnetic energy flux in the photosphere occurs mainly parallel to the photosphere, concentrating in small regions a…
Multi-height probing of horizontal flows in the solar photosphere
Astronomical Observatory（天文台）；Institute for Solar Physics（太阳物理研究所）；Department of Astronomy, Faculty of Mathematics, University of Belgrade（贝尔格莱德大学数学系天文学系）；High Altitude Observatory, NSF National Center for Atmospheric Research（高空气象观测站，美国国家科学基金会国家大气研究中心）；University of Wisconsin - Green Bay（威斯康星大学绿湾分校）；Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics, University of Colorado（科罗拉多大学大气与空间物理实验室）；Department of Astrophysical and Planetary Sciences, University of Colorado at Boulder（科罗拉多大学博尔德分校天体物理学与行星科学系）；National Solar Observatory, University of Colorado Boulder（美国国家太阳天文台，科罗拉多大学博尔德分校）；Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias (IAC)（加那利群岛天体物理研究所）；Departamento de Astrofísica, Universidad de La Laguna（拉古纳大学天体物理学系）；Environment and Climate Change Canada, Science and Technology Branch, Meteorological Research Division（加拿大环境与气候变化部，科技司，气象研究处）
Recent Sunrise/IMaX observations have revealed the existence of supersonic magnetic flows. Our aim is to determine the origin of such flows by using realistic MHD simulations. We simulate cancellation and emergence of magnetic flux through the solar photosphere. Our first numerical experiment starts with magnetic field of both polarities. To simulate emergence into a region with pre-existing field, we introduce a large-scale horizontally uniform sheet of horizontal field. We follow the subsequent evolution, creating synthetic polarimetric observations, including known instrumental effects of t…
The ANTARES radiation hydrodynamics code is capable of simulating the solar granulation in detail unequaled by direct observation. We introduce a state-of-the-art numerical tool to the solar physics community and demonstrate its applicability to model the solar granulation. The code is based on the weighted essentially non-oscillatory finite volume method and by its implementation of local mesh refinement is also capable of simulating turbulent fluids. While the ANTARES code already provides promising insights into small-scale dynamical processes occurring in the quiet-Sun photosphere, it will…
As the global magnetic field of the Sun has an activity cycle, one expects to observe some variation of the dynamical properties of the flows visible in the photosphere. We investigate the flow field during the solar cycle by analysing SDO/HMI observations of continuum intensity, Doppler velocity and longitudinal magnetic field. We first picked data at disk center during 6 years along the solar cycle with a 48-hour time step in order to study the overall evolution of the continuum intensity and magnetic field. Then we focused on thirty 6-hour sequences of quiet regions without any remnant of m…
The effects of finite amplitudes on the transverse oscillations of a quiescent prominence represented by a magnetic rope are investigated in terms of the model proposed by Kolotkov et al. 2016. We consider a weakly nonlinear case governed by a quadratic nonlinearity, and also analyse the fully nonlinear equations of motion. We treat the prominence as a massive line current located above the photosphere and interacting with the magnetised dipped environment via the Lorentz force. In this concept the magnetic dip is produced by two external current sources located at the photosphere. Finite ampl…
We investigate the magnetic field of a sunspot in the upper chromosphere and compare it to the field's photospheric properties. We observed the main leading sunspot of the active region NOAA 11124 on two days with the Tenrife Infrared Polarimeter-2 (TIP-2) mounted at the German Vacuum Tower Telescope (VTT). Through inversion of Stokes spectra of the He I triplet at 1083.0 nm, we obtained the magnetic field vector of the upper chromosphere. For comparison with the photosphere we applied height-depended inversions of the Si I 1082.71 nm and Ca I 1083.34 nm lines. We found that the umbral magneti…
The main small-scale elements observed in the solar photosphere at high resolution are discussed: granules, faculaes, micropores. As a separate element of the fine structure, a continuous network of dark intergranular gaps is considered. The results of image processing of micropores and faculaes knots obtained using modern adaptive telescopes are presented. For intergranular gaps and micropores, a stationary regime of magnetic diffusion is determined, in which horizontal-vertical plasma flows converging to the gap (and micropores) compensate for the dissipative spreading of the magnetic flux o…
Recent Advances in the Exploration of the Small-Scale Structure of the Quiet Solar Atmosphere: Vortex Flows, the Horizontal Magnetic Field, and the Stokes-V Line-Ratio Method
我们回顾了（i）太阳大气中涡旋流的观测和数值模拟以及（ii）平静太阳区域水平磁场的测量。首先，我们讨论了各种表现形式的旋涡流，并强调调解漩涡运动的磁场的太阳表面附近的光球层和色球层的高层的作用。我们重新审视现有的太阳表面磁对流的模拟运行方面的旋涡流，并比较以前获得的结果。其次，我们回顾了与测量太阳宁静区磁场角分布相关的矛盾结果和问题。此外，我们回顾了斯托克斯-V-振幅比方法的线Fe I 630.15和630.25 nm。我们得出的结论是，最近发现的两个不同的人口在散点图中的这个比例不能被解释为“未塌陷”和“塌陷”的领域，但它们源于弱颗粒磁场和弱冠层场位于颗粒之间的边界和粒间空间。基于新的模拟运行，我们重申了先前的研究结果的水平场分量的优势超过垂直的，特别是在上层光球和色球层的底部。
We have observed a quiet Sun region with the Swedish 1-meter Solar Telescope (SST) equipped with CRISP Imaging SpectroPolarimeter. High-resolution, high-cadence, H$α$ line scanning images were taken to observe different layers of the solar atmosphere from the photosphere to upper chromosphere. We study the distribution of power in different period-bands at different heights. Power maps of the upper photosphere and the lower chromosphere show suppressed power surrounding the magnetic-network elements, known as "magnetic shadows". These also show enhanced power close to the photosphere, traditio…
Ellerman bombs (EBs) and UV bursts are both brightenings related to flux emergence regions and specifically to magnetic flux of opposite polarity that meet in the photosphere. These two reconnection-related phenomena, nominally formed far apart, occasionally occur in the same location and at the same time, thus challenging our understanding of reconnection and heating of the lower solar atmosphere. We consider the formation of an active region, including long fibrils and hot and dense coronal plasma. The emergence of a untwisted magnetic flux sheet, injected $2.5$~Mm below the photosphere, is …
We perform a series of radiative magnetohydrodynamic simulations to understand the amplification mechanism of the exceptionally strong horizontal magnetic field in delta-type sunspots. In the simulations, we succeed in reproducing the delta-type sunspot and resulting strong magnetic field exceeding 6000 G in a light bridge between the positive and negative polarities. Our conclusions in this study are summarized as follows: 1. The essential amplification mechanism of the strong horizontal magnetic field is the shear motion caused by the rotation of two spots. 2. The strong horizontal magnetic …
In this article, we present the application of the weighted horizontal gradient of magnetic field (WGM) flare prediction method to 3-dimensional (3D) extrapolated magnetic configurations of 13 flaring solar active regions (ARs). The main aim is to identify an optimal height range, if any, in the interface region between the photosphere and lower corona, where the flare onset time prediction capability of WGM is best exploited. The optimal height is where flare prediction, by means of the WGM method, is achieved earlier than at the photospheric level. 3D magnetic structures, based on potential …
We perform a study of fluid motions and its temporal evolution in and around a small bipolar emerging flux region using observations made by the Helioseismic and Magnetic Imager (HMI) on-board the Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO). We employ local correlation tracking of the Doppler observations to follow horizontal fluid motions and line-of-sight magnetograms to follow the flux emergence. Changes in vertical vorticity and horizontal divergence are used to derive signatures of evolving twists in the magnetic field. Our analysis reveals that the two polarities of the magnetic flux swirl in oppos…
Finding the formation mechanisms for bipolar configurations of strong local magnetic field under control of the relatively weak global magnetic field of the Sun is a key problem of the physics of solar activity. This study is aimed at discriminating whether the magnetic field or fluid motion plays a primary, active role in this process. The very origin and early development stage of Active Region 12548 are investigated based on SDO/HMI observations of 2016 May 20--25. Full-vector magnetic and velocity fields are analyzed in parallel. The leading and trailing magnetic polarities are found to gr…
This is a follow-up investigation of a magnetic-flux cancellation event at a polarity inversion line (PIL) on the Sun observed with the spectropolarimeter on board Hinode. Anomalous circular polarization (Stokes V) profiles are observed in the photosphere along the PIL at the cancellation sites. Kubo et al. (2010) previously reported that the theoretically expected horizontal fields between the canceling opposite-polarity magnetic elements in this event are not detected at granular scales. We show that the observed anomalous Stokes V profiles are reproduced successfully by adding the nearly sy…
Using the 135-second cadence of the photospheric vector data provided by the Helioseismic and Magnetic Imager telescope on board the Solar Dynamic Observatory, we examined the time-evolution of magnetic helicity fluxes across the photosphere during 16 flares with the energy class lower than M5.0. During the flare in 4 out of 16 events, we found impulsive changes in the helicity fluxes. This indicates that even the flare with less energy could be associated with anomalistic transportation of the magnetic helicity across the photosphere. Accompanying the impulsive helicity fluxes, the poynting f…
Recent ground- and space-based observations reveal the presence of small-scale motions between convection cells in the solar photosphere. In these regions small-scale magnetic flux tubes are generated due to the interaction of granulation motion and background magnetic field. This paper studies the effects of these motions, on magnetohydrodynamic wave excitation from broadband photospheric drivers. Numerical experiments of linear magnetohydrodynamic wave propagation in a magnetic flux tube embedded in a realistic gravitationally stratified solar atmosphere between the photosphere and the low c…
Context. Recent observations have shown that magnetic flux cancellation occurs at the photosphere more frequently than previously thought. Aims. In order to understand the energy release by reconnection driven by flux cancellation, we previously studied a simple model of two cancelling polarities of equal flux. Here, we further develop our analysis to achieve a more general setup where the two cancelling polarities have unequal magnetic fluxes and where many new features are revealed. Methods. We carried out an analytical study of the cancellation of two magnetic fragments of unequal and oppos…
Flares produce sudden and permanent changes in the horizontal photospheric magnetic field. In particular flares generally produce increased magnetic shear in the photospheric field along the neutral line. Recent observations show also that flares can produce sudden photospheric motion. We present a model for the observed changes as the response of the photosphere to a large-amplitude shear Alfvén wave propagating down from the corona on either side of the neutral line. The Alfvénic front is assumed to impact the photosphere close to the neutral line first, and then successively further away wi…
Photospheric horizontal magnetic field decrease preceding a major solar eruption
Planetary Environmental and Astrobiological Research Laboratory (PEARL), School of Atmospheric Sciences, Sun Yat-sen University（中山大学大气科学学院行星环境与天体生物学研究实验室）；CAS center for Excellence in Comparative Planetology（中国科学院比较行星学卓越中心）；Key Laboratory of Tropical Atmosphere-Ocean System, Sun Yat-sen University, Ministry of Education（中山大学热带海洋-大气系统教育部重点实验室）
In this paper we present a numerical study of the time evolution of solar prominences embedded in sheared magnetic arcades. The prominence is represented by a density enhancement in a background stratified atmosphere and is connected to the photosphere through the magnetic field. By solving the ideal magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) equations in three dimensions we study the dynamics for a range of parameters representative of real prominences. Depending on the parameters considered, we find prominences that are suspended above the photosphere, i.e., detached prominences, but also configurations rese…
New instruments sensitive to chromospheric radiation at X-ray, UV, Visible, IR, and sub-mm wavelengths have become available that significantly enhance our ability to understand the bi-directional flow of energy through the chromosphere. We describe the calibration, co-alignment, initial results, and public release of a new data set combining a large number of these instruments to obtain multi-wavelength photospheric, chromospheric, and coronal observations capable of improving our understanding of the connectivity between the photosphere and the corona via transient brightenings and wave sign…
We present detailed characteristics of linear polarization features (LPFs) in the quiet-Sun photosphere from high resolution observations obtained with Sunrise/IMaX. We explore differently treated data with various noise levels in linear polarization signals, from which structure and dynamics of the LPFs are studied. Physical properties of the detected LPFs are also obtained from the results of Stokes inversions. The number of LPFs, as well as their sizes and polarization signals, are found to be strongly dependent on the noise level, and on the spatial resolution. While the linear polarizatio…
We investigate a region of the quiet solar photosphere exhibiting three-lobed Stokes V profiles in the Fe I spectral line at 15648 Angstroem. The data were acquired with the GRIS spectropolarimeter attached to the GREGOR telescope. We aim at investigating the thermal, kinematic and magnetic properties of the atmosphere responsible for these measured complex signals. The SIR inversion code is employed to retrieve the physical parameters of the lower solar photosphere from the observed polarization signals. We follow two different approaches. On the one hand, we consider that the multi-lobe circ…
The formation of an Ha filament in active region (AR) 10953 is described. Observations from the Solar Optical Telescope (SOT) aboard the Hinode satellite starting on 27th April 2007 until 1st May 2007 were analysed. 20 scans of the 6302A Fe I line pair recorded by SOT/SP were inverted using the SPINOR code. The inversions were analysed together with SOT/BFI G-band and Ca II H and SOT/NFI Ha observations. Following the disappearance of an initial Ha filament aligned along the polarity inversion line (PIL) of the AR, a new Ha filament formed in its place some 20 hours later, which remained stabl…
We analyse a sequence of high-resolution spectropolarimetric observations of a sunspot taken at the 1-m SST, to determine the nature of flux emergence in a light bridge and the processes related to its evolution in the photosphere and chromosphere. Blueshifts of about 2 km/s are seen near the entrance of a granular light bridge on the limbward side of the spot. They lie next to a strongly redshifted patch that appeared 6 mins earlier. Both patches are seen for 25 mins until the end of the sequence. The blueshifts coincide with an elongated emerging granule, while the redshifts appear at the en…
The photospheric response to solar flares, also known as coronal back reaction, is often observed as sudden flare-induced changes in vector magnetic field and sunspot motions. However, it remains obscure whether evolving flare ribbons, the flare signature closest to the photosphere, are accompanied by changes in vector magnetic field therein. Here we explore the relationship between the dynamics of flare ribbons in the chromosphere and variations of magnetic fields in the underlying photosphere, using high-resolution off-band H-alpha images and near-infrared vector magnetograms of the M6.5 fla…
Observations of multi-wavelength and therefore height-dependent information following events throughout the solar atmosphere and unambiguously assigning a relation between these rapidly evolving layers are rare and difficult to obtain. Yet, they are crucial for our understanding of the physical processes that couple the different regimes in the solar atmosphere. We characterize the exploding granule event with simultaneous observations of Hinode spectroplarimetric data in the solar photosphere and Hinode broadband CaIIH images combined with Interface Region Imaging Spectrograph (IRIS) slit spe…
我们研究了孤儿半影的性质，这是在活动区附近的极性反转线，类似于规则的太阳黑子的半影，但不连接到任何本影的光球附属结构。我们使用太阳光学望远镜的日出数据来确定孤儿半影的属性。光谱偏振数据被用来获得矢量磁场和视线速度在光球。地磁图被用来研究这些结构的整体演化，G波段和Ca II H滤波图被用来研究它们的亮度和视水平运动。在具有水平磁场的地方，在极性相反的区域之间形成孤立的半影。它们的磁结构是$Ω$形的磁通绳。在这里研究的两种情况下，相反极性的区域随着时间的推移彼此接近，整个结构随着半影丝的消失而淹没。孤立半影与规则半影非常相似，包括强气流的存在。因此，它们可能有相似的起源。它们之间的主要区别是在孤儿半影中没有“背景”磁场。这可以解释大多数观察到的差异。我们在孤立半影中检测到的快速流动可能是由虹吸流动机制引起的。基于孤儿和规则半影之间的相似性，我们提出，Evershed流也是虹吸流的表现。
We analyze high-cadence vector magnetograms (135~s) and flare-ribbon observations of 37 flares from the Solar Dynamics Observatory to understand the spatial and temporal properties of changes in the photospheric vector magnetic field and their relationship to footpoints of reconnected fields. Confirming previous studies, we find that the largest permanent changes in the horizontal field component lie near the polarity inversion line, whereas changes in the vertical field are less pronounced and are distributed throughout the active region. We find that pixels swept up by ribbons do not always …
Here, we test the weighted horizontal magnetic gradient ($WG_M$) as a flare precursor, introduced by Korsos et. al. (2015, ApJ, 802, L21), by applying it to a magneto-hydrodynamic (MHD) simulation of solar-like flares Chatterjee et. al. (2016, Physical Review Letters, 116, 10, 101101). The pre-flare evolution of the $WG_M$ and the behavior of the distance parameter between the area-weighted barycenters of opposite polarity sunspots at various heights is investigated in the simulated $δ$-type sunspot. Four flares emanated from this sunspot. We found the optimum heights above the photosphere whe…
Context. Velocity or intensity swirls have now been shown to be widely present throughout the photosphere and chromosphere. It has been suggested that these events could contribute to the heating of the upper solar atmosphere, via exciting Alfvén pulses, which could carry significant amounts of energy. However, the conjectured necessary physical conditions for their excitation, that the magnetic field rotates co-spatially and co-temporally with the velocity field, has not been verified. Aims. We aim to understand whether photospheric velocity swirls exist co-spatially and co-temporally with ph…
Some models of coronal heating suppose that convective motions at the photosphere shuffle the footpoints of coronal magnetic fields and thereby inject sufficient magnetic energy upward to account for observed coronal and chromospheric energy losses in active regions. Using high-resolution observations of plage magnetic fields made with the Solar Optical Telescope aboard the Hinode satellite, we investigate this idea by estimating the upward transport of magnetic energy --- the vertical Poynting flux, S_z --- across the photosphere in a plage region. To do so, we combine: (i) estimates of photo…
A recent review shows that observations performed with different telescopes, spectral lines, and interpretation methods all agree about a vertical magnetic field gradient in solar active regions on the order of 3 G/km, when a horizontal magnetic field gradient of only 0.3 G/km is found. This represents an inexplicable discrepancy with respect to the divB=0 law. The objective of this paper is to explain these observations through the law B=μ_0(H+M) in magnetized media. Magnetization is due to plasma diamagnetism, which results from the spiral motion of free electrons or charges about the magnet…
We present high spatial resolution observations of short lived transients, ribbon and jets like events above a pore in Ca II H images where fine structure like umbral dots, lightbridge and penumbral micro filaments are present in the underlying photosphere. We found that current layers are formed at the edges of convective fine structure due to the shear between their horizontal field and the ambient vertical field. High vertical electric current density patches are observed in the photosphere around these events which indicates the formation of a current sheet at the reconnection site. In the…
Earlier observational studies have used the time evolution of emerging magnetic flux regions at the photosphere to infer their subsurface structures, assuming that the flux structure does not change significantly over the near-surface layer.In this study, we test the validity of this assumption by comparing the horizontal and vertical motions of an emerging active region. The two motions would be correlated if the emerging structure is rigid. The selected active region (AR) NOAA 11645 is not embedded in detectable preexisting magnetic field. The observed horizontal motion is quantified by the …
Context. The recent discovery of much greater magnetic flux cancellation taking place at the photosphere than previously realised has led us in our previous works to suggest magnetic reconnection driven by flux cancellation as the cause of a wide range of dynamic phenomena, including jets of various kinds and solar atmospheric heating. Aims. Previously, the theory considered energy release at a two-dimensional current sheet. Here we develop the theory further by extending it to an axisymmetric current sheet in three dimensions without resorting to complex variable theory. Methods. We analytica…
