Ephemeral Regions on a sequence of full-disk MDI magnetograms

Physics

Scientific paper

Rate now

  [ 0.00 ] – not rated yet Voters 0   Comments 0

Details

7524 Magnetic Fields, 7529 Photosphere

Scientific paper

Ephemeral regions are small-scale, bipolar regions of magnetic field, emerging all over the solar surface. As structures ephemeral regions are short-lived; they can be recognized for 4.4~h on average. This paper examines a 3.5 day sequence of full-disk MDI magnetograms,in order to estimate the importance of ephemeral regions to the total magnetic flux budget on the sun. The data were taken in October 1997, which was around the minimum of solar cycle 22, and early in cycle 23. An algorithm was developed to automatically recognize ephemeral regions on this sequence of magnetograms. Assuming uniform emergence over the entire solar surface, the total amount of flux emerging in ephemeral regions is estimated to be 5*E23 Mx/day. This rate of emergence is sufficient to replace the magnetic field in quiet sun in 14~h. In total, 38 000 ephemeral regions are found, with an absolute flux Φ in the range (2.6-407)*E18~Mx. The distribution function of their fluxes follows an exponential with an average of 11.3*E18~Mx. This relatively low flux content may be due to the fact that these ephemeral regions are detected before they have reached a maximum. After their first recognition, they increase in flux with a rate of typically { d}Φ /{ d} t=1.6*E15~Mx~sec-1. Only 60% of the ephemeral regions are found to have the orientation expected in cycle 22. After emergence, the outer borders of the ephemeral regions expand from a size of 8.9~Mm, with a velocity of 2.3~km~sec-1. No particular pattern can be recognized from a map of all locations of flux emergence. From a χ2 test it is found that the emergences occur randomly, on a scale below 20~Mm. On larger scales some order is found, but its origin remains unknown.

No associations

LandOfFree

Say what you really think

Search LandOfFree.com for scientists and scientific papers. Rate them and share your experience with other people.

Rating

Ephemeral Regions on a sequence of full-disk MDI magnetograms does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this scientific paper.

If you have personal experience with Ephemeral Regions on a sequence of full-disk MDI magnetograms, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Ephemeral Regions on a sequence of full-disk MDI magnetograms will most certainly appreciate the feedback.

Rate now

     

Profile ID: LFWR-SCP-O-1274774

  Search
All data on this website is collected from public sources. Our data reflects the most accurate information available at the time of publication.