Magnetic bright points in the quiet Sun
arXiv:1004.1885 · doi:10.1088/2041-8205/715/1/L26
Abstract
We present a visual determination of the number of bright points (BPs) existing in the quiet Sun, which are structures though to trace intense kG magnetic concentrations. The measurement is based on a 0.1 arcsec angular resolution G-band movie obtained with the Swedish Solar Telescope at the solar disk center. We find 0.97 BPs/Mm^2, which is a factor three larger than any previous estimate. It corresponds to 1.2 BPs per solar granule. Depending on the details of the segmentation, the BPs cover between 0.9% and 2.2% of the solar surface. Assuming their field strength to be 1.5 kG, the detected BPs contribute to the solar magnetic flux with an unsigned flux density between 13 G and 33 G. If network and inter-network regions are counted separately, they contain 2.2 BPs/Mm^2 and 0.85 BPs/Mm^2, respectively.
Accepted for publication in ApJL. 2 figs.
References in corpus (15)
- A Substantial Amount of Hidden Magnetic Energy in the Quiet Sun
- A solar surface dynamo
- Convectively driven vortex flows in the Sun
- Emergence of Small-Scale Magnetic Loops in the Quiet Sun Internetwork
- Quiet Sun internetwork magnetic fields from the inversion of Hinode measurements
- Emergence of small-scale magnetic loops through the quiet solar atmosphere
- Seething Horizontal Magnetic Fields in the Quiet Solar Photosphere
- Hinode Observations of Magnetic Elements in Internetwork Areas
- Magnetic properties of G-band bright points in a sunspot moat
- Evidence for Quasi-isotropic Magnetic Fields from Hinode Quiet Sun Observations
- DOT tomography of the solar atmosphere. IV. Magnetic patches in internetwork areas
- Convective intensification of magnetic fields in the quiet Sun
- Link between the chromospheric network and magnetic structures of the corona
- The quiet Sun's magnetic flux estimated from CaIIH bright inter-granular G-band structures
- Search for photospheric footpoints of quiet Sun transition region loops
Cited by in corpus (36)
- Alfven Waves in the Solar Atmosphere
- Can the Solar Wind be Driven by Magnetic Reconnection in the Sun's Magnetic Carpet?
- Structure and Dynamics of Isolated Internetwork Ca II H Bright Points Observed by Sunrise
- The Origin of Type I Spicule Oscillations
- Propagating Wave Phenomena Detected in Observations and Simulations of the Lower Solar Atmosphere
- Comparison of solar photospheric bright points between SUNRISE observations and MHD simulations
- Solar magnetoconvection and small-scale dynamo: Recent developments in observation and simulation
- Migration of Ca II H bright points in the internetwork
- Conditions for Photospherically Driven Alfvenic Oscillations to Heat the Solar Chromosphere by Pedersen Current Dissipation
- Mesogranulation and the solar surface magnetic field distribution
- Imaging Spectropolarimetry with IBIS II: on the fine structure of G-band bright features
- Diffusion of solar magnetic elements up to supergranular spatial and temporal scales
- Interpretation of HINODE SOT/SP asymmetric Stokes profiles observed in quiet Sun network and internetwork
- The brightness of magnetic field concentrations in the quiet Sun
- The formation and disintegration of magnetic bright points observed by Sunrise/IMaX
- Dynamic properties of bright points in an active region
- Spatial distribution and statistical properties of small-scale convective vortex-like motions in a quiet Sun region
- Dispersal of G-band bright points at different longitudinal magnetic field strengths
- Hall instability of solar flux tubes
- Oscillation Power in Sunspots and Quiet Sun from Hankel Analysis Performed on SDO/HMI and SDO/AIA Data
- Investigation of intergranular bright points from the New Vacuum Solar Telescope
- Magnetic diffusion driven shear instability of solar flux tubes
- Response of Granulation to Small Scale Bright Features in the Quiet Sun
- Super-diffusion versus competitive advection: a simulation
- Ultra-high-resolution Observations of MHD Waves in Photospheric Magnetic Structures
- Occurrence and persistence of magnetic elements in the quiet Sun
- Center-to-limb variation of the area covered by magnetic bright points in the quiet Sun
- Long-term trends of magnetic bright points: I. Number of MBPs at disc centre
- Characteristics of Chromospheric Oscillation Periods in Magnetic Bright Points (MBPs)
- Comparative Analysis of a Transition Region Bright Point with a Blinker and Coronal Bright Point Using Multiple EIS Emission Lines
- Surface Wave Propagation in non--ideal plasmas
- Brightness of the Sun's small scale magnetic field: proximity effects
- The polarization signature of photospheric magnetic fields in 3D MHD simulations and observations at disk center
- Fractal multi-scale nature of solar/stellar magnetic field
- High-resolution spectropolarimetric observations of the temporal evolution of magnetic fields in photospheric bright points
- Exploiting solar visible-range observations by inversion techniques: from flows in the solar subsurface to a flaring atmosphere