Quick search Find article
Quick search
Find article

Magnetoconvection in a Sunspot Umbra

FREE

M. Schüssler1 and A. Vögler1,2

Show affiliations


Results from a realistic simulation of three-dimensional radiative magnetoconvection in a strong background magnetic field corresponding to the conditions in sunspot umbrae are shown. The convective energy transport is dominated by narrow upflow plumes with adjacent downflows, which become almost field-free near the surface layers. The strong external magnetic field forces the plumes to assume a cusplike shape in their top parts, where the upflowing plasma loses its buoyancy. The resulting bright features in intensity images correspond well (in terms of brightness, size, and lifetime) to the observed umbral dots in the central parts of sunspot umbrae. Most of the simulated umbral dots have a horizontally elongated form with a central dark lane. Above the cusp, most plumes show narrow upflow jets, which are driven by the pressure of the piled-up plasma below. The large velocities and low field strengths in the plumes are effectively screened from spectroscopic observation because the surfaces of equal optical depth are locally elevated, so that spectral lines are largely formed above the cusp. Our simulations demonstrate that nearly field-free upflow plumes and umbral dots are a natural result of convection in a strong, initially monolithic magnetic field.


Subject headings

methods: numerical; MHD; Sun: magnetic fields; Sun: photosphere; sunspots


Dates

Issue 1 (2006 April 10)

Received 2006 January 30, accepted for publication 2006 March 1

Published 2006 March 23



Users also read

What's this?
This innovative new feature generates a list of articles 'also read' by other users based on them reading the original article. Article abstracts citations and references are all considered and weighted accordingly. We hope that this will help you find relevant papers for your research.

  1. Upflows in the Central Dark Lane of Sunspot Light Bridges
  2. Downflows in Sunspot Umbral Dots

View by subject




Export








Please login to access our web services, or create an account if you don't yet have one.

You must have cookies enabled in your web browser to be able to login.

Username
Password

Forgotten your password? Get a new one here.