FULLY RESOLVED QUIET-SUN MAGNETIC FLUX TUBE OBSERVED WITH THE SUNRISE/IMAX INSTRUMENT

Journal Article · Wed Nov 10 00:00:00 EST 2010 · Astrophysical Journal Letters

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1088/2041-8205/723/2/L164· OSTI ID:21452697

Lagg, A; Solanki, S K; Riethmueller, T L; Schuessler, M; Hirzberger, J; Feller, A; Borrero, J M; Barthol, P; Gandorfer, A ^[1]; MartInez Pillet, V; Bonet, J A ^[2]; Schmidt, W; Berkefeld, T ^[3]; Del Toro Iniesta, J C ^[4]; Domingo, V ^[5]; Knoelker, M ^[6]

---

1. Max-Planck-Institut fuer Sonnensystemforschung, Max-Planck-Strasse 2, 37191 Katlenburg-Lindau (Germany)
2. Instituto de Astrofisica de Canarias, C/Via Lactea s/n, 38200 La Laguna, Tenerife (Spain)
3. Kiepenheuer-Institut fuer Sonnenphysik, Schoeneckstrasse 6, 79104 Freiburg (Germany)
4. Instituto de Astrofisica de AndalucIa (CSIC), Apartado de Correos 3004, 18080 Granada (Spain)
5. Grupo de AstronomIa y Ciencias del Espacio, Universidad de Valencia, 46980 Paterna, Valencia (Spain)
6. High Altitude Observatory, National Center for Atmospheric Research, P.O. Box 3000, Boulder, CO 80307-3000 (United States)

Until today, the small size of magnetic elements in quiet-Sun areas has required the application of indirect methods, such as the line-ratio technique or multi-component inversions, to infer their physical properties. A consistent match to the observed Stokes profiles could only be obtained by introducing a magnetic filling factor that specifies the fraction of the observed pixel filled with magnetic field. Here, we investigate the properties of a small magnetic patch in the quiet Sun observed with the IMaX magnetograph on board the balloon-borne telescope SUNRISE with unprecedented spatial resolution and low instrumental stray light. We apply an inversion technique based on the numerical solution of the radiative transfer equation to retrieve the temperature stratification and the field strength in the magnetic patch. The observations can be well reproduced with a one-component, fully magnetized atmosphere with a field strength exceeding 1 kG and a significantly enhanced temperature in the mid to upper photosphere with respect to its surroundings, consistent with semi-empirical flux tube models for plage regions. We therefore conclude that, within the framework of a simple atmospheric model, the IMaX measurements resolve the observed quiet-Sun flux tube.

• OSTI ID: 21452697
• Journal Information: Astrophysical Journal Letters, Vol. 723, Issue 2; Other Information: DOI: 10.1088/2041-8205/723/2/L164; ISSN 2041-8205
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

79 ASTROPHYSICS
COSMOLOGY AND ASTRONOMY
MAGNETIC FIELDS
MAGNETIC FLUX
NUMERICAL SOLUTION
PHOTOSPHERE
SPATIAL RESOLUTION
SUN
TELESCOPES
ATMOSPHERES
MAIN SEQUENCE STARS
MATHEMATICAL SOLUTIONS
RESOLUTION
SOLAR ATMOSPHERE
STARS
STELLAR ATMOSPHERES