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 opposite directions in early stages of flux emergence indicating an unwinding of the pre-emergence twists in the magnetic field. We further find that during the emergence, there is an increase in swirly motions in the neighbouring non-magnetic regions. We estimate the magnetic and kinetic energies and find that magnetic energy is about a factor of ten larger than the kinetic energy. During the evolution, when the magnetic energy decreases, an increase in the kinetic energy is observed indicating transfer of energy from the unwinding of magnetic flux tube to the surrounding fluid motions. Our results thus demonstrate the presence of pre-emergence twists in emerging magnetic field that is important in the context of the hemispheric helicity rule warranting a detailed statistical study in this context. Further, our observations point to a possible widespread generation of torsional waves in emerging flux regions due to the untwisting magnetic field with implications for upward energy transport to the corona.
We report on the photospheric evolution of an intermediate-scale (~4 Mm footpoint separation) magnetic bipole, from emergence to decay, observed in the quiet Sun at high spatial 0".3 and temporal (33 s) resolution. The observations were acquired by the IMaX imaging magnetograph during the first science flight of the Sunrise balloon-borne solar observatory. The bipole flux content is 6 x 10^17 Mx, representing a structure bridging the gap between granular scale bipoles and the smaller ephemeral regions. Footpoints separate at a speed of 3.5 km s-1 and reach a maximum distance of 4.5 Mm before t…
The generation of magnetic flux in the solar interior and its transport from the convection zone into the photosphere, the chromosphere, and the corona will be in the focus of solar physics research for the next decades. With 4m class telescopes, one plans to measure essential processes of radiative magneto-hydrodynamics that are needed to understand the nature of solar magnetic fields. One key-ingredient to understand the behavior of solar magnetic field is the process of flux emergence into the solar photosphere, and how the magnetic flux reorganizes to form the magnetic phenomena of active …
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）
Solar active regions (ARs) are the main sources of large solar flares and coronal mass ejections. It is found that the ARs producing large eruptions usually show compact, highly-sheared polarity inversion lines (PILs). A scenario named as collisional-shearing is proposed to explain the formation of this type of PILs and the subsequent eruptions, which stresses the role of collision and shearing induced by relative motions of different bipoles in their emergence. However, in observations, if not considering the evolution stage of the ARs, about one third of the ARs that produce large solar erup…
Aims. We study the emergence of a non-twisted flux tube from the solar interior into the solar atmosphere. We investigate whether the length of the buoyant part of the flux tube (i.e. λ) affects the emergence of the field and the dynamics of the evolving magnetic flux system. Methods. We perform three-dimensional (3D), time-dependent, resistive, compressible MHD simulations using the Lare3D code. Results. We find that there are considerable differences in the dynamics of the emergence of a magnetic flux tube when λ is varied. In the solar interior, for larger values of λ, the rising magnetic f…
We analyse the multiwavelength observations of an M2.9/1N flare that occurred in the active region (AR) NOAA 11112 in the vicinity of a huge filament system on 16 October 2010. SDO/HMI magnetograms reveal the emergence of a bipole (within the existing AR) 50 hours prior to the flare event. During the emergence, both the positive and negative sunspots in the bipole show translational as well as rotational motion. The positive polarity sunspot shows the significant motion/rotation in the south-westward/clockwise direction and continuously pushing/sliding the surrounding opposite polarity field r…
Electric currents in solar active regions are thought to provide the energy released via magnetic reconnection in solar flares. Vertical electric current densities $J_z$ at the photosphere may be estimated from vector magnetogram data, subject to substantial uncertainties. The values provide boundary conditions for nonlinear force- free modelling of active region magnetic fields. A method is presented for estimating values of $J_z$ taking into account uncertainties in vector magnetogram field values, and minimizing $J_z^2$ across the active region. The method is demonstrated using the boundary…
Solar flares are explosions in the solar atmosphere that release intense bursts of short-wavelength radiation and are capable of producing severe space-weather consequences. Flares release free energy built up in coronal fields, which are rooted in active regions (ARs) on the photosphere, via magnetic reconnection. The exact processes that lead to reconnection are not fully known and therefore reliable forecasting of flares is challenging. Recently, photospheric magnetic-field data has been extensively analysed using machine learning (ML) and these studies suggest that flare-forecasting accura…
The generation of magnetic flux in the solar interior and its transport to the outer solar atmosphere will be in the focus of solar physics research for the next decades. One key-ingredient is the process of magnetic flux emergence into the solar photosphere, and the reorganization to form the magnetic phenomena of active regions like sunspots and pores. On July 4, 2009, we observed a region of emerging magnetic flux, in which a proto-spot without penumbra forms a penumbra within some 4.5 hours. This process is documented by multi-wavelength observations at the German VTT: (a) imaging, (b) dat…
We study the long term evolution of a set of 22 bipolar active regions (ARs) in which the main photospheric polarities are seen to rotate one around the other during several solar rotations. We first show that differential rotation is not at the origin of this large change in the tilt angle. A possible origin of this distortion is the nonlinear development of a kink-instability at the base of the convective zone; this would imply the formation of a non-planar flux tube which, while emerging across the photosphere, would show a rotation of its photospheric polarities as observed. A characterist…
Internetwork (IN) magnetic fields are highly dynamic, short-lived magnetic structures that populate the interior of supergranular cells. Since they emerge all over the Sun, these small-scale fields bring a substantial amount of flux, and therefore energy, to the solar surface. Because of this, IN fields are crucial for understanding the quiet Sun (QS) magnetism. However, they are weak and produce very small polarization signals, which is the reason why their properties and impact on the energetics and dynamics of the solar atmosphere are poorly known. Here we use coordinated, high-resolution, …
The aim of this paper is to look at the magnetic helicity structure of an emerging active region and show that both emergence and flaring signatures are consistent with a same sign for magnetic helicity. We present a multi-wavelength analysis of an M1.6 flare occurring in the active region NOAA 10365 on 27 May, 2003, in which a large new bipole emerges in a decaying active region. The diverging flow pattern and the "tongue" shape of the magnetic field in the photosphere with elongated polarities are highly suggestive of the emergence of a twisted flux tube. The orientation of these tongues ind…
The current study aims to quantify characteristic features of bipolar flux appearance of solar intranetwork (IN) magnetic elements. To attack such a problem, we use the Narrow-band Filter Imager (NFI) magnetograms from the Solar Optical Telescope (SOT) on board \emph{Hinode}; these data are from quiet and an enhanced network areas. Cluster emergence of mixed polarities and IN ephemeral regions (ERs) are the most conspicuous forms of bipolar flux appearance within the network. Each of the clusters is characterized by a few well-developed ERs that are partially or fully co-aligned in magnetic ax…
We report multi-wavelength ultraviolet observations taken with the IRIS satellite, concerning the emergence phase in the upper chromosphere and transition region of an emerging flux region (EFR) embedded in the unipolar plage of active region NOAA 12529. The photospheric configuration of the EFR is analyzed in detail benefitting from measurements taken with the spectropolarimeter aboard the Hinode satellite, when the EFR was fully developed. In addition, these data are complemented by full-disk, simultaneous observations of the SDO satellite, relevant to the photosphere and the corona. In the …
Observations reveal that strong solar flares and coronal mass ejections tend to occur in complex active regions characterized by delta-sunspots, spot rotation, sheared polarity inversion lines (PILs), and magnetic flux ropes. Here we report on the first modeling of spontaneous delta-spot generation as a result of flux emergence from the turbulent convection zone. Utilizing state-of-the-art radiative magnetohydrodynamics code R2D2, we simulate the emergence of a force-free flux tube in the convection zone that stretches down to -140 Mm. Elevated by large-scale convective upflows, the tube appea…
We report multi-wavelength ultraviolet observations taken with the IRIS satellite, concerning the emergence phase in the upper chromosphere and transition region of an emerging flux region (EFR) embedded in the pre-existing field of active region NOAA 12529. IRIS data are complemented by full-disk observations of the Solar Dynamics Observatory satellite, relevant to the photosphere and the corona. The photospheric configuration of the EFR is also analyzed by measurements taken with the spectropolarimeter aboard the Hinode satellite, when the EFR was fully developed. Recurrent intense brighteni…
To better understand the formation and decay of sunspot penumbra, we studied the evolution of sunspots in the three regions of the active-region NOAA 12673 in detail. The evolution of sunspots in the three regions were all involved in the interaction of two magnetic field systems: the pre-existing magnetic field system and the later emerging magnetic field system. Through analyzing the photospheric magnetic field properties, it is found that the formation of the penumbra originated from the newly emerging magnetic bipole that were trapped in the photosphere. The change of magnetic fields in pe…
In this work we provide an updated description of the Vertical Current Approximation Nonlinear Force-Free Field (VCA-NLFFF) code, which is designed to measure the evolution of the potential, nonpotential, free energies, and the dissipated magnetic energies during solar flares. This code provides a complementary and alternative method to existing traditional NLFFF codes. The chief advantages of the VCA-NLFFF code over traditional NLFFF codes are the circumvention of the unrealistic assumption of a force-free photosphere in the magnetic field extrapolation method, the capability to minimize the …
It is well known that photospheric flux emergence is an important process for stressing coronal fields and storing magnetic free energy, which may then be released during a flare. The \emph{Helioseismic and Magnetic Imager} (HMI) onboard the \emph{Solar Dynamics Observatory} (SDO) captured the entire emergence of NOAA AR 11158. This region emerged as two distinct bipoles, possibly connected underneath the photosphere, yet characterized by different photospheric field evolutions and fluxes. The combined active region complex produced 15 GOES C--class, 2 M--class, and the X2.2 Valentine's Day Fl…
Context. Recent observations by the Extreme Ultraviolet Imager (EUI) on board Solar Orbiter have characterized prevalent small-scale transient brightenings in the corona above the quiet Sun termed campfires. Aims. In this study we search for comparable brightenings in a numerical model and then investigate their relation to the magnetic field and the processes that drive these events. Methods. We use the MURaM code to solve the 3D radiation MHD equations in a box that stretches from the upper convection zone to the corona. The model self-consistently produces a supergranular network of the mag…
We present a magnetic analysis of the formation and eruption of an active region (AR) sigmoid in AR 11283 from 2011 September 4 to 6. To follow the quasi-static evolution of the coronal magnetic field, we reconstruct a time sequence of static fields using a recently developed nonlinear force-free field model constrained by the SDO/HMI vector magnetograms. A detailed analysis of the fields compared with the SDO/AIA observations suggests the following scenario for the evolution of the region. Initially, a new bipole emerges into the negative polarity of a pre-existing bipolar AR, forming a null …
