May 2001
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2001agusm..sh31d09l&link_type=abstract
American Geophysical Union, Spring Meeting 2001, abstract #SH31D-09
Physics
7509 Corona, 7524 Magnetic Fields
Scientific paper
Sunspots may display twisted structure, as observed in the photospheric penumbra, the chromospheric superpenumbra, or in the azimuths of the vector magnetic field. The twist is inferred to be caused by field-aligned electric currents, and thus represents free energy. Attempts to determine whether the free energy changes discontinuously, in synchronism with flare energy release, have been unconvincing. Beginning in 1999, observations with the Imaging Vector Magnetograph at Mees Solar Observatory, Haleakala have finally used the full spatial (1 arcsec) and temporal resolution (2 minutes). We have found numerous cases in which isolated twisted sunspots, of a variety of sizes, display continuous rotary motion. We will show a sample of these spots, distinguishing those for which the rotary motion is a bulk rotation of the spot from those for which it is an actual untwisting of the fields. Estimates of the rate of untwisting and of the consequent steady free energy decrease can then be made. This work is supported by NASA grant NAG5-4941.
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