Signatures of Small-Scale Magnetic Field Emergence as Seen from the New Solar Telescope in Big Bear
Abstract
Increased resolution of solar telescopes allow us to study emerging small-scale magnetic fields in unprecedented detail. First light Hinode magnetograms showed evidence of both horizontal and line-of-sight field being constantly brought to the solar surface by solar convection motion. What are the signatures of these fields in the photosphere, if any? The largest aperture ground-based solar telescope, the New Solar Telescope (NST) of Big Bear Solar Observatory now allows us to address many important issues of coupling between the photosphere and chromosphere by means of simultaneous observations of photospheric granulation with well-resolved bright points (BPs) and associated dynamics in the low chromosphere, as seen in the H-alpha spectral line. Excellent seeing conditions, augmented with an adaptive optics system and speckle-reconstruction applications produce diffraction limited images. We examine NST granulation and Halpha images co-temporal with SDO, Hinode and BBSO/IRIM vector magnetograms. Our main finding is that emerging magnetic flux leaves clear footprint in solar granulation. Moreover, the granulation responds to the emerging flux much earlier that it appears in magnetograms. NST granulation images also reveal that various bright points as well as bright granular lanes may form and evolve within a granule. These newly detected features are believed to be associated with small-scale magnetic fields.
- Publication:
-
AGU Fall Meeting Abstracts
- Pub Date:
- December 2011
- Bibcode:
- 2011AGUFMSH33C..06Y
- Keywords:
-
- 7524 SOLAR PHYSICS;
- ASTROPHYSICS;
- AND ASTRONOMY / Magnetic fields