DETECTION OF SMALL-SCALE GRANULAR STRUCTURES IN THE QUIET SUN WITH THE NEW SOLAR TELESCOPE

Journal Article · Mon Sep 10 00:00:00 EDT 2012 · Astrophysical Journal Letters

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1088/2041-8205/756/2/L27· OSTI ID:22078560

Abramenko, V I; Yurchyshyn, V B; Goode, P R ^[1]; Kitiashvili, I N; Kosovichev, A G ^[2]

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1. Big Bear Solar Observatory, 40386 N. Shore Lane, Big Bear City, CA 92314 (United States)
2. W. W. Hansen Experimental Physics Laboratory, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305 (United States)

Results of a statistical analysis of solar granulation are presented. A data set of 36 images of a quiet-Sun area on the solar disk center was used. The data were obtained with the 1.6 m clear aperture New Solar Telescope at Big Bear Solar Observatory and with a broadband filter centered at the TiO (705.7 nm) spectral line. The very high spatial resolution of the data (diffraction limit of 77 km and pixel scale of 0.''0375) augmented by the very high image contrast (15.5% {+-} 0.6%) allowed us to detect for the first time a distinct subpopulation of mini-granular structures. These structures are dominant on spatial scales below 600 km. Their size is distributed as a power law with an index of -1.8 (which is close to the Kolmogorov's -5/3 law) and no predominant scale. The regular granules display a Gaussian (normal) size distribution with a mean diameter of 1050 km. Mini-granular structures contribute significantly to the total granular area. They are predominantly confined to the wide dark lanes between regular granules and often form chains and clusters, but different from magnetic bright points. A multi-fractality test reveals that the structures smaller than 600 km represent a multi-fractal, whereas on larger scales the granulation pattern shows no multi-fractality and can be considered as a Gaussian random field. The origin, properties, and role of the population of mini-granular structures in the solar magnetoconvection are yet to be explored.

• OSTI ID: 22078560
• Journal Information: Astrophysical Journal Letters, Vol. 756, Issue 2; Other Information: Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 2041-8205
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

79 ASTROPHYSICS
COSMOLOGY AND ASTRONOMY
APERTURES
DETECTION
DIFFRACTION
DISTRIBUTION
FRACTALS
GAUSS FUNCTION
IMAGES
RANDOMNESS
SIZE
SOLAR GRANULATION
SPATIAL RESOLUTION
SUN
TELESCOPES
TITANIUM OXIDES