Unresolved Mixed Polarity Magnetic Fields at Flux Cancellation Site in Solar Photosphere at 0".3 Spatial Resolution

Abstract

This is a follow-up investigation of a magnetic-flux cancellation event at a polarity inversion line (PIL) on the Sun observed with the spectropolarimeter on board Hinode. Anomalous circular polarization (Stokes V) profiles are observed in the photosphere along the PIL at the cancellation sites. Kubo et al. (2010) previously reported that the theoretically expected horizontal fields between the canceling opposite-polarity magnetic elements in this event are not detected at granular scales. We show that the observed anomalous Stokes V profiles are reproduced successfully by adding the nearly symmetric Stokes V profiles observed at pixels immediately adjacent to the PIL. This result suggests that these observed anomalous Stokes V profiles are not indications of a flux removal process, but are the result of either a mixture of unresolved, opposite-polarity magnetic elements or the unresolved width of the PIL, at an estimated resolution element of about 0".3. The hitherto undetected flux removal process accounting for the larger-scale disappearance of magnetic flux during the observing period is likely to also fall below resolution.

Accepted for publication in the Astrophysical Journal Letter

References in corpus (5)

• The Solar Optical Telescope for the Hinode Mission: An Overview
• The intensity contrast of solar granulation: comparing Hinode SP results with MHD simulations
• Point spread functions for the Solar Optical Telescope onboard Hinode
• A 3-D sunspot model derived from an inversion of spectropolarimetric observations and its implications for the penumbral heating
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Cited by in corpus (1)

• Evolution of Stokes V area asymmetry related to a quiet Sun cancelation observed with GRIS/IFU