skip to main content
OSTI.GOV title logo U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Scientific and Technical Information

Title: THE CONNECTION BETWEEN INTERNETWORK MAGNETIC ELEMENTS AND SUPERGRANULAR FLOWS

Journal Article · · Astrophysical Journal Letters
;  [1]
  1. National Astronomical Observatory of Japan, 2-21-1 Osawa, Mitaka, Tokyo 181-8588 (Japan)

The advection of internetwork magnetic elements by supergranular convective flows is investigated using high spatial resolution, high cadence, and high signal-to-noise ratio Na I D1 magnetograms obtained with the Hinode satellite. The observations show that magnetic elements appear everywhere across the quiet Sun surface. We calculate the proper motion of these magnetic elements with the aid of a feature tracking algorithm. The results indicate that magnetic elements appearing in the interior of supergranules tend to drift toward the supergranular boundaries with a non-constant velocity. The azimuthally averaged radial velocities of the magnetic elements and of the supergranular flow, calculated from a local correlation tracking technique applied to Dopplergrams, are very similar. This suggests that, in the long term, surface magnetic elements are advected by supergranular flows, although on short timescales their very chaotic motions are driven mostly by granular flows and other processes.

OSTI ID:
22078476
Journal Information:
Astrophysical Journal Letters, Vol. 758, Issue 2; Other Information: Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 2041-8205
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English