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 facilitates the study of very long time series ($\approx$1 week), compared to previous works, with a good spatial and temporal resolution. We used the wavelet technique and we found some filamentary-shaped events with large wavelet power. Their distribution of periods is broad, ranging from the lower limit for this study of 48 minutes up to 63 hours. An interesting property of these events is that they do not appear homogeneously all around the penumbra but they seem to concentrate at particular locations. The cross-comparison of these wavelet maps with AIA data shows that the regions where these events appear are visually related to the coronal loops that connect the outer penumbra to one or more neighbouring opposite polarity flux patches.
In this work we seek evidence for global torsional oscillations in alpha sunspots. We have used long time series of continuum intensity and magnetic field vector maps from the Helioseismic and Magnetic Imager (HMI) instrument on board the Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) spacecraft. The time series analysed here span the total disk passage of 25 isolated sunspots. We found no evidence of global long-term periodic oscillations in the azimuthal angle of the sunspot magnetic field within $\sim$ 1 degree. This study could help us to understand the sunspot dynamics and its internal structure.
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 in the deep photospheric C I 5380 Å absorption line. The Multi-Object Multi-Frame Blind Deconvolution (MOMFBD) method is used for image restoration and straylight is filtered out. We report here the discovery of clear redshifts in the C I 5380 Å line at multiple locations in sunspot penumbral filaments. For example, bright head of filaments show larger conce…
Discovery of a relation between the decay rate of the Sun's magnetic dipole and the growth rate of the following sunspot cycle: a new precursor for solar cycle prediction
We report the discovery of a brightness enhancement in the center of a large sunspot umbra at a wavelength of 3 mm using the Atacama Large Millimeter/sub-millimeter Array (ALMA). Sunspots are amongst the most prominent features on the solar surface, but many of their aspects are surprisingly poorly understood. We analyzed a λ=3 mm (100 GHz) mosaic image obtained by ALMA, which includes a large sunspot within the active region AR12470 on December 16, 2015. The 3 mm map has a field-of-view and spatial resolution, which is the highest spatial-resolution map of an entire sunspot in this frequency …
Sunspots on the surface of the Sun are the observational signatures of intense manifestations of tightly packed magnetic field lines, with near-vertical field strengths exceeding 6,000 G in extreme cases. It is well accepted that both the plasma density and the magnitude of the magnetic field strength decrease rapidly away from the solar surface, making high-cadence coronal measurements through traditional Zeeman and Hanle effects difficult since the observational signatures are fraught with low-amplitude signals that can become swamped with instrumental noise. Magneto-hydrodynamic (MHD) techn…
We report on the discovery of mostly horizontal field channels just outside sunspot penumbrae (in the so-called `moat' region) that are seen to sustain supersonic flows (line-of-sight component of 6 km s{-1}). The spectral signature of these supersonic flows corresponds to circular polarization profiles with an additional, satellite, third lobe of the same sign as the parent sunspot' Stokes V blue lobe, for both downflows and upflows. This is consistent with an outward directed flow that we interpret as the continuation of the magnetized Evershed flow outside sunspots at supersonic speeds. In …
We investigate the restructuring of the magnetic field in sunspots associated with two flares: the X6.5 flare on 6 December 2006 and the X2.2 flare on 15 February 2011. The observed changes were evaluated with respect to the so-called twist-removal model, in which helicity (twist) is removed from the corona as the result of an eruption. Since no vector magnetograms were available for the X6.5 flare, we applied the azimuthal symmetry approach to line-of-sight magnetograms to reconstruct the pseudo-vector magnetic field and investigate the changes in average twist and inclination of magnetic fie…
The magnetic field of a sunspot guides magnetohydrodynamic waves toward higher atmospheric layers. In the upper photosphere and lower chromosphere, wave modes with periods longer than the acoustic cut-off period become evanescent. The cut-off period essentially changes due to the atmospheric properties, e.g., increases for larger zenith inclinations of the magnetic field. In this work, we aim at introducing a novel technique of reconstructing the magnetic field inclination on the basis of the dominating wave periods in the sunspot chromosphere and upper photosphere. On 2013 August 21st, we obs…
We report the discovery of supersonic downflows in a sunspot light bridge using measurements taken with the spectropolarimeter on board the Hinode satellite. The downflows occur in small patches close to regions where the vector magnetic field changes orientation rapidly, and are associated with anomalous circular polarization profiles. An inversion of the observed Stokes spectra reveals velocities of up to 10 km/s, making them the strongest photospheric flows ever measured in light bridges. Some (but not all) of the downflowing patches are cospatial and cotemporal with brightness enhancements…
In this paper, we explore the evolution of sunspot latitude distribution and explore its relations with the cycle strength. With the progress of the solar cycle, the distributions in two hemispheres from mid-latitudes propagate toward the equator and then (before the usual solar minimum) these two distributions touch each other. By visualizing the evolution of the distributions in two hemispheres, we separate the solar cycles by excluding this hemispheric overlap. From these isolated solar cycles in two hemispheres, we generate latitude distributions for each cycle, starting from cycle 8 to cy…
A crucial feature not widely accounted for in local helioseismology is that surface magnetic regions actually open a window from the interior into the solar atmosphere, and that the seismic waves leak through this window, reflect high in the atmosphere, and then re-enter the interior to rejoin the seismic wave field normally confined there. In a series of recent numerical studies using translation invariant atmospheres, we utilised a "directional time-distance helioseismology" measurement scheme to study the implications of the returning fast and Alfvén waves higher up in the solar atmosphere …
Since the discovery of solar cycle related with magnetic field in 1908, deep seated oscillatory dynamo has been studied extensively. However, there are still open questions on the solar dynamo, e.g., asymmetric conversion between large-scale poloidal and toroidal field as well as physics underlying the butterfly pattern of sunspots. Here we report a new generation of large-scale magnetic field and process of energy release. The inductive action of fluid motions pervading the solar interior is represented by a RLC circuit in which the toroidal field built up through twisting of poloidal field, …
Three-minute oscillations over sunspot's umbra in AR 11131 were observed simultaneously in UV/EUV emission by SDO/AIA and in radio emission by Nobeyama Radioheliograph (NoRH). We use 24-hours series of SDO and 8-hours series of NoRH observations to study spectral, spatial and temporal variations of pulsations in the 5-9 mHz frequency range at different layers of the solar atmosphere. High spatial and temporal resolution of SDO/AIA in combination with long-duration observations allowed us to trace the variations of the cut-off frequency and spectrum of oscillations across the umbra. We found th…
In 1965 Paul D. Jose published his discovery that both the motion of the Sun about the center of mass of the solar system and periods comprised of eight Hale magnetic sunspot cycles with a mean period of ~22.37 years have a matching periodicity of ~179 years. We have investigated the implied link between solar barycentric torque cycles and sunspot cycles and have found that the unsigned solar torque values from 1610 to 2057 are consistently phase and magnitude coherent in ~179 year Jose Cycles. We are able to show that there is also a surprisingly high degree of sunspot cycle phase coherence f…
Numerous analyses suggest the existence of various quasi-periodicities in solar activity. The power spectrum of solar activity recorded in sunspot data is dominated by the $\sim$11-year quasi-periodicity, known as the Schwabe cycle. In the mid-term range (1 month -- 11 years) a pronounced variability known as a quasi-biennial oscillation (QBO) is widely discussed. In the shorter time scale a pronounced peak, corresponding to the synodic solar rotation period ($\sim$ 27 days) is observed. Here we revisited the mid-term solar variability in terms of statistical dynamic of fully turbulent systems…
Back Reaction of the Untwisting Solar Corona Scars Sunspots
Sorbonne Université, Observatoire de Paris-PSL, École Polytechnique, IP Paris, CNRS（索邦大学，巴黎天文台-PSL，巴黎综合理工学院，巴黎理工学院，法国国家科学研究中心）；School of Astronomy and Space Science, Nanjing University, Nanjing, China（南京大学天文与空间科学学院）；Laboratoire de Physique des Plasmas, Paris, France（等离子体物理实验室）
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 of the sunspot as moving magnetic features in the sunspot moat. Besides these well-ordered flows, peculiar motions are found in complex sunspots, where they contribute to the build-up or relaxation of magnetic shear. In principle, the three-dimensional structure of these velocity fields can be captured. The line-of-sight component of the velocity vector is …
Institute for Space-Earth Environmental Research, Nagoya University（名古屋大学地球-宇宙环境研究所）；Institute for Advanced Research, Nagoya University（名古屋大学高级研究院）；Space Physics and Operations Division, RAL Space, Science and Technology Facilities Council, Rutherford Appleton Laboratory（科学与技术设施委员会拉尔夫空间实验室空间物理与运行部门）；Nishina Centre, Riken（理化学研究所西村中心）
During the course of a large spectroscopic survey of X-ray active late-type stars in the solar neighbourhood, we discovered four lithium-rich stars packed within just a few degrees on the sky. These very young stars are projected several degrees away from the Cepheus-Cassiopea clouds, in front of an area void of interstellar matter. As such, they are very good "isolated" T Tauri star candidates. We acquired high-resolution optical spectra as well as photometric data allowing us to investigate in detail their nature and physical parameters with the aim of testing the "runaway" and "in-situ" for…
We report the discovery of an isolated white dwarf with a spin period of 70 s. We obtained high speed photometry of three ultramassive white dwarfs within 100 pc, and discovered significant variability in one. SDSS J221141.80+113604.4 is a $1.27~M_{\odot}$ (assuming a CO core) magnetic white dwarf that shows 2.9\% brightness variations in the BG40 filter with a $70.32 \pm 0.04$ s period, becoming the fastest spinning isolated white dwarf currently known. A detailed model atmosphere analysis shows that it has a mixed hydrogen and helium atmosphere with a dipole field strength of $B_d = 15$ MG. …
Umbral dots (UDs) are small isolated brightenings observed in sunspot umbrae. They are convective phenomena existing inside umbrae. UDs are usually divided into central UDs (CUDs) and peripheral UDs (PUDs) according to their positions inside an umbra. Our purpose is to investigate UD properties and analyze their relationships, and further to find whether or not the properties depend on umbral magnetic field strengths. Thus, we selected high-resolution TiO images of four active regions (ARs) taken under the best seeing conditions with the \textit{New Vacuum Solar Telescope} in the Fuxian Solar …
We report on time-resolved photometry during a 2012 January normaloutburst of SU UMa. The light curve shows hump-like modulations with a period of 0.07903(11) d, which coincides with the known superhump period of SU UMa during superoutbursts. We interpret this as superhump, based on the observed periodicity, profiles of the averaged light curve, and the $g'-I_{\rm c}$ variation during the normal outburst. This is the first case that superhumps are detected during an isolated normal outburst of SU UMa-type dwarf novae. The present result strongly suggests that the radius of the accretion disk a…
Context: Solar pores are small sunspots lacking a penumbra that have a prevailing vertical magnetic field component. They can include light bridges at places with locally reduced magnetic field. Like sunspots, they exhibit a wide range of oscillatory phenomena. Aims: A large isolated pore with a light bridge (NOAA 11005) is studied to obtain characteristics of a chromospheric filamentary structure around the pore, to analyse oscillations and waves in and around the pore, and to understand the structure and brightness of the light bridge. Methods: Spectral imaging observations in the line Ca II…
The spatial and temporal distributions of solar filaments were analyzed using data from the Meudon Observatory for the period 1919-2003 and the Kislovodsk Mountain Astronomical Station for the period 1979-2014. We scanned $H_α$ solar synoptic charts on which the filaments were isolated and digitized. The data on each filament comprise its location, length, area, and other geometrical characteristics. The temporal distributions of the number and total length of the filaments have been obtained. We also found latitudinal migration of filament locations with the solar cycle, and analyzed the long…
Structures seen in idealized numerical experiments on compressible magnetoconvection in an imposed strong vertical magnetic field show important differences from those detected in observations or realistic numerical simulations of sunspot umbrae. To elucidate the origin of these discrepancies, we present a series of idealized 3D compressible magnetoconvection experiments that differ from previous such experiments in several details, bringing them closer to realistic solar conditions. An initially vertical magnetic field B 0 is imposed on a time snapshot of fully developed solar-like turbulent …
As my own work on the Sun's magnetic field started exactly 50 years ago at Crimea in the USSR, I have been a participant in the field during nearly half the time span since Hale's discovery in 1908 of magnetic fields in sunspots. The present historical account is accompanied by photos from my personal slide collection, which show a number of the leading personalities who advanced the field in different areas: measurement techniques, from photographic to photoelectric and imaging methods in spectro-polarimetry; theoretical foundations of MHD and the origin of cosmic magnetic fields (birth of dy…
2008 marks the 100th anniversary of the discovery of astrophysical magnetic fields, when George Ellery Hale recorded the Zeeman splitting of spectral lines in sunspots. With the introduction of Babcock's photoelectric magnetograph it soon became clear that the Sun's magnetic field outside sunspots is extremely structured. The field strengths that were measured were found to get larger when the spatial resolution was improved. It was therefore necessary to come up with methods to go beyond the spatial resolution limit and diagnose the intrinsic magnetic-field properties without dependence on th…
Since the discovery by Hale in the early 1900s that sunspots harbor strong magnetic field, magnetism has become increasingly important in our understanding of processes on the Sun and in the Heliosphere. Many current and planned instruments are capable of diagnosing magnetic field in the solar atmosphere. Photospheric magnetometry is now well-established. However, many challenges remain. For instance, the diagnosis of magnetic field in the chromosphere and corona is difficult, and interpretation of measurements is harder still. As a result only very few measurements have been made so far, yet …
Movement and coalescence of magnetic elements could explain the evolution and growth of pores. There have been numerous studies focusing on flow fields in and around individual pores. We have undertaken a systematic study of the statistical properties of such flows. Data of the Hinode Solar Optical Telescope offer an opportunity for this type of research, because of the uniform data quality and absence of seeing so that pores can directly be compared in different environments and at various stages of their evolution. We analyzed about 220 time-series of G-band images using local correlation tr…
Following up on a faint detection of a near-infrared (NIR) source at the position of the X-ray thermal isolated neutron star RX J0806.4-4123, we present new Hubble Space Telescope observations in the H-band. The NIR source is unambiguously detected with a Vega magnitude of 23.7 +/- 0.2 (flux density of 0.40 +/- 0.06 microJy at lambda =1.54 microm. The source position is coincident with the neutron star position, and the implied NIR flux is strongly in excess of what one would expect from an extrapolation of the optical-UV spectrum of RX J0806.4-4123. The NIR source is extended with a size of a…
We report the discovery of short-period photometric variability and modulated Zeeman-split hydrogen emission in SDSSJ125230.93-023417.72 (EPIC 228939929), a variable white dwarf star observed at long cadence in \textit{K2} Campaign 10. The behavior is associated with a magnetic ($B=5.0$ MG) spot on the stellar surface, making the $317.278$-second period a direct measurement of the stellar rotation rate. This object is therefore the fastest-rotating apparently isolated (without a stellar companion) white dwarf yet discovered, and the second found to exhibit chromospheric Balmer emission after G…
Reprocessing of the Parkes Multibeam Pulsar Survey has resulted in the discovery of five previously unknown pulsars and several as-yet-unconfirmed candidates. PSR J0922-52 has a period of 9.68 ms and a DM of 122.4 pc cm^-3. PSR J1147-66 has a period of 3.72 ms and a DM of 133.8 pc cm^-3. PSR J1227-6208 has a period of 34.53 ms, a DM of 362.6 pc cm^-3, is in a 6.7 day binary orbit, and was independently detected in an ongoing high-resolution Parkes survey by Thornton et al. and also in independent processing by Einstein@Home volunteers. PSR J1546-59 has a period of 7.80 ms and a DM of 168.3 pc …
We report the discovery of a very cool, isolated brown dwarf, UGPS 0722-05, with the UKIDSS Galactic Plane Survey. The near-infrared spectrum displays deeper H2O and CH4 troughs than the coolest known T dwarfs and an unidentified absorption feature at 1.275 um. We provisionally classify the object as a T10 dwarf but note that it may in future come to be regarded as the first example of a new spectral type. The distance is measured by trigonometric parallax as d=4.1{-0.5}{+0.6} pc, making it the closest known isolated brown dwarf. With the aid of Spitzer/IRAC we measure H-[4.5] = 4.71. It is th…
The globular cluster Omega Centauri is the most massive and luminous cluster in the Galaxy. The $γ$-ray source FL8Y J1326.7$-$4729 is coincident with the core of the cluster, leading to speculation that hitherto unknown radio pulsars or annihilating dark matter may be present in the cluster core. Here we report on the discovery of five millisecond pulsars in Omega Centauri following observations with the Parkes radio telescope. Four of these pulsars are isolated with spin periods of 4.1, 4.2, 4.6 and 6.8 ms. The fifth has a spin period of 4.8 ms and is in an eclipsing binary system with an orb…
