ABSTRACT Small-scale internetwork magnetic fields are important ingredients of the quiet Sun. In this paper we analyze how they appear and disappear on the solar surface. Using high resolution Hinode ...magnetograms, we follow the evolution of individual magnetic elements in the interior of two supergranular cells at the disk center. From up to 38 hr of continuous measurements, we show that magnetic flux appears in internetwork regions at a rate of 120 3 Mx cm−2 day−1 (3.7 0.4 × 1024 Mx day−1 over the entire solar surface). Flux disappears from the internetwork at a rate of 125 6 Mx cm−2 day−1 (3.9 0.5 × 1024 Mx day−1) through fading of magnetic elements, cancelation between opposite-polarity features, and interactions with network patches, which converts internetwork elements into network features. Most of the flux is lost through fading and interactions with the network, at nearly the same rate of about 50 Mx cm−2 day−1. Our results demonstrate that the sources and sinks of internetwork magnetic flux are well balanced. Using the instantaneous flux appearance and disappearance rates, we successfully reproduce the time evolution of the total unsigned flux in the two supergranular cells.
The heating of the solar chromosphere remains one of the most important questions in solar physics. Our current understanding is that small-scale internetwork (IN) magnetic fields play an important ...role as a heating agent. Indeed, cancellations of IN magnetic elements in the photosphere can produce transient brightenings in the chromosphere and transition region. These bright structures might be the signature of energy release and plasma heating, probably driven by the magnetic reconnection of IN field lines. Although single events are not expected to release large amounts of energy, their global contribution to the chromosphere may be significant due to their ubiquitous presence in quiet Sun regions. In this paper, we study cancellations of IN elements and analyze their impact on the energetics and dynamics of the quiet Sun atmosphere. We use high-resolution, multiwavelength, coordinated observations obtained with the Interface Region Imaging Spectrograph and the Swedish 1 m Solar Telescope (SST) to identify cancellations of IN magnetic flux patches and follow their evolution. We find that, on average, these events live for ∼3 minutes in the photosphere and ∼12 minutes in the chromosphere and/or transition region. Employing multi-line inversions of the Mg ii h and k lines, we show that cancellations produce clear signatures of heating in the upper atmospheric layers. However, at the resolution and sensitivity accessible to the SST, their number density still seems to be one order of magnitude too low to explain the global chromospheric heating.
The interaction between emerging magnetic flux and the pre-existing ambient field has become a 'hot' topic for both numerical simulations and high-resolution observations of the solar atmosphere. The ...appearance of brightenings and surges during episodes of flux emergence is believed to be a signature of magnetic reconnection processes. We present an analysis of a small-scale flux emergence event in NOAA 10971, observed simultaneously with the Swedish 1 m Solar Telescope on La Palma and the Hinode satellite during a joint campaign in 2007 September. Extremely high-resolution G-band, H Delta *a, and Ca II H filtergrams, Fe I and Na I magnetograms, EUV raster scans, and X-ray images show that the emerging region was associated with chromospheric, transition region and coronal brightenings, as well as with chromospheric surges. We suggest that these features were caused by magnetic reconnection at low altitude in the atmosphere. To support this idea, we perform potential and linear force-free field extrapolations using the FROMAGE service. The extrapolations show that the emergence site is cospatial with a three-dimensional null point, from which a spine originates. This magnetic configuration and the overall orientation of the field lines above the emerging flux region are compatible with the structures observed in the different atmospheric layers and remain stable against variations of the force-free field parameter. Our analysis supports the predictions of recent three-dimensional numerical simulations that energetic phenomena may result from the interaction between emerging flux and the pre-existing chromospheric and coronal field.
Abstract
Small-scale internetwork (IN) magnetic fields are considered to be the main building blocks of quiet Sun magnetism. For this reason, it is crucial to understand how they appear on the solar ...surface. Here, we employ a high-resolution, high-sensitivity, long-duration Hinode/NFI magnetogram sequence to analyze the appearance modes and spatiotemporal evolution of individual IN magnetic elements inside a supergranular cell at the disk center. From identification of flux patches and magnetofrictional simulations, we show that there are two distinct populations of IN flux concentrations: unipolar and bipolar features. Bipolar features tend to be bigger and stronger than unipolar features. They also live longer and carry more flux per feature. Both types of flux concentrations appear uniformly over the solar surface. However, we argue that bipolar features truly represent the emergence of new flux on the solar surface, while unipolar features seem to be formed by the coalescence of background flux. Magnetic bipoles appear at a faster rate than unipolar features (68 as opposed to 55 Mx cm
−2
day
−1
), and provide about 70% of the total instantaneous IN flux detected in the interior of the supergranule.
Context.
Penumbral microjets (PMJs) is the name given to elongated jet-like brightenings observed in the chromosphere above sunspot penumbrae. They are transient events that last from a few seconds ...to several minutes, and their origin is presumed to be related to magnetic reconnection processes. Previous studies have mainly focused on their morphological and spectral characteristics, and more recently on their spectropolarimetric signals during the maximum brightness stage. Studies addressing the temporal evolution of PMJs have also been carried out, but they are based on spatial and spectral time variations only.
Aims.
Here we investigate, for the first time, the temporal evolution of the polarization signals produced by short-lived PMJs (lifetimes < 2 min) to infer how the magnetic field vector evolves in the upper photosphere and mid-chromosphere.
Methods.
We use fast-cadence spectropolarimetric observations of the Ca II 854.2 nm line taken with the CRisp Imaging Spectropolarimeter at the Swedish 1 m Solar Telescope. The weak-field approximation (WFA) is used to estimate the strength and inclination of the magnetic field vector. By separating the Ca II 854.2 nm line into two different wavelength domains to account for the chromospheric origin of the line core and the photospheric contribution to the wings, we infer the height variation of the magnetic field vector.
Results.
The WFA reveals larger magnetic field changes in the upper photosphere than in the chromosphere during the PMJ maximum brightness stage. In the photosphere, the magnetic field inclination and strength undergo a transient increase for most PMJs, but in 25% of the cases the field strength decreases during the brightening. In the chromosphere, the magnetic field tends to be slightly stronger during the PMJs.
Conclusions.
The propagation of compressive perturbation fronts followed by a rarefaction phase in the aftershock region may explain the observed behavior of the magnetic field vector. The fact that such behavior varies among the analyzed PMJs could be a consequence of the limited temporal resolution of the observations and the fast-evolving nature of the PMJs.
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FMFMET, NUK, UL, UM, UPUK
The magnetic network (NE) observed on the solar surface harbors a sizable fraction of the total quiet Sun flux. However, its origin and maintenance are not well known. Here we investigate the ...contribution of internetwork (IN) magnetic fields to the NE flux. IN fields permeate the interior of supergranular cells and show large emergence rates. We use long-duration sequences of magnetograms acquired by Hinode and an automatic feature tracking algorithm to follow the evolution of NE and IN flux elements. We find that 14% of the quiet Sun (QS) flux is in the form of IN fields with little temporal variations. IN elements interact with NE patches and modify the flux budget of the NE either by adding flux (through merging processes) or by removing it (through cancellation events). Mergings appear to be dominant, so the net flux contribution of the IN is positive. The observed rate of flux transfer to the NE is 1.5 x 10 super(24) Mx day super(-1) over the entire solar surface. Thus, the IN supplies as much flux as is present in the NE in only 9-13 hr. Taking into account that not all the transferred flux is incorporated into the NE, we find that the IN would be able to replace the entire NE flux in approximately 18-24 hr. This renders the IN the most important contributor to the NE, challenging the view that ephemeral regions are the main source of flux in the QS. About 40% of the total IN flux eventually ends up in the NE.
Abstract
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, multiwavelength observations obtained with the Swedish 1 m Solar Telescope and the Interface Region Imaging Spectrograph (IRIS) to follow the evolution of IN magnetic loops as they emerge into the photosphere and reach the chromosphere and transition region. We studied in this paper three flux emergence events having total unsigned magnetic fluxes of 1.9 × 10
18
, 2.5 × 10
18
, and 5.3 × 10
18
Mx. The footpoints of the emerging IN bipoles are clearly seen to appear in the photosphere and to rise up through the solar atmosphere, as observed in Fe
i
6173 Å and Mg
i
b
2
5173 Å magnetograms, respectively. For the first time, our polarimetric measurements taken in the chromospheric Ca
ii
8542 Å line provide direct observational evidence that IN fields are capable of reaching the chromosphere. Moreover, using IRIS data, we study the effects of these weak fields on the heating of the chromosphere and transition region.
We present results from the analysis of Fe I 630nm measurements of the quiet Sun taken with the spectropolarimeter of the Hinode satellite. Two data sets with noise levels of 1.2 x 10 super(-3) and 3 ...x 10 super(-4) are employed. We determine the distribution of field strengths and inclinations by inverting the two observations with a Milne-Eddington model atmosphere. The inversions show a predominance of weak, highly inclined fields. By means of several tests we conclude that these properties cannot be attributed to photon noise effects. To obtain the most accurate results, we focus on the 27.4% of the pixels in the second data set that have linear polarization amplitudes larger than 4.5 times the noise level. The vector magnetic field derived for these pixels is very precise because both circular and linear polarization signals are used simultaneously. The inferred field strength, inclination, and filling factor distributions agree with previous results, supporting the idea that internetwork (IN) fields are weak and very inclined, at least in about one quarter of the area occupied by the IN. These properties differ from those of network fields. The average magnetic flux density and the mean field strength derived from the 27.4% of the field of view with clear linear polarization signals are 16.3 Mx cm super(-2) and 220 G, respectively. The ratio between the average horizontal and vertical components of the field is approximately 3.1. The IN fields do not follow an isotropic distribution of orientations.
The Imaging Magnetograph eXperiment (IMaX) is a spectropolarimeter built by four institutions in Spain that flew on board the
Sunrise
balloon-borne solar observatory in June 2009 for almost six days ...over the Arctic Circle. As a polarimeter, IMaX uses fast polarization modulation (based on the use of two liquid crystal retarders), real-time image accumulation, and dual-beam polarimetry to reach polarization sensitivities of 0.1%. As a spectrograph, the instrument uses a LiNbO
3
etalon in double pass and a narrow band pre-filter to achieve a spectral resolution of 85 mÅ. IMaX uses the high-Zeeman-sensitive line of Fe
i
at 5250.2 Å and observes all four Stokes parameters at various points inside the spectral line. This allows vector magnetograms, Dopplergrams, and intensity frames to be produced that, after reconstruction, reach spatial resolutions in the 0.15 – 0.18 arcsec range over a 50×50 arcsec field of view. Time cadences vary between 10 and 33 s, although the shortest one only includes longitudinal polarimetry. The spectral line is sampled in various ways depending on the applied observing mode, from just two points inside the line to 11 of them. All observing modes include one extra wavelength point in the nearby continuum. Gauss equivalent sensitivities are 4 G for longitudinal fields and 80 G for transverse fields per wavelength sample. The line-of-sight velocities are estimated with statistical errors of the order of 5 – 40 m s
−1
. The design, calibration, and integration phases of the instrument, together with the implemented data reduction scheme, are described in some detail.
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DOBA, EMUNI, FIS, FZAB, GEOZS, GIS, IJS, IMTLJ, IZUM, KILJ, KISLJ, MFDPS, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, SBMB, SBNM, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK, VKSCE, ZAGLJ
This paper investigates the distribution of linear polarization signals in the quiet-Sun internetwork using ultra-deep spectropolarimetric data. We reduce the noise of the observations as much as is ...feasible by adding single-slit measurements of the Zeeman-sensitive Fe I 630 nm lines taken by the Hinode spectropolarimeter. The integrated Stokes spectra are employed to determine the fraction of the field of view covered by linear polarization signals. We find that up to 69% of the quiet solar surface at disk center shows Stokes Q or U profiles with amplitudes larger than 0.032% (4.5 times the noise level of 7 x 10 super(-5) reached by the longer integrations). The mere presence of linear polarization in most of the quiet Sun implies that the weak internetwork fields must be highly inclined, but we quantify this by inverting those pixels with Stokes Q or U signals well above the noise. This allows for a precise determination of the field inclination, field strength, and field azimuth because the information carried by all four Stokes spectra is used simultaneously. The inversion is performed for 53% of the observed field of view at a noise level of 1.3 x 10 super(-4) I sub(c). The derived magnetic distributions are thus representative of more than half of the quiet-Sun internetwork. Our results confirm the conclusions drawn from previous analyses using mainly Stokes I and V: internetwork fields are very inclined, but except in azimuth they do not seem to be isotropically distributed.
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