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arXiv · 1004.1185

Evidence of small-scale magnetic concentrations dragged by vortex motion of solar photospheric plasma

L. Balmaceda·S. Vargas Domínguez·J. Palacios·I. Cabello·V. Domingo
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Abstract

Vortex-type motions have been measured by tracking bright points in high-resolution observations of the solar photosphere. These small-scale motions are thought to be determinant in the evolution of magnetic footpoints and their interaction with plasma and therefore likely to play a role in heating the upper solar atmosphere by twisting magnetic flux tubes. We report the observation of magnetic concentrations being dragged towards the center of a convective vortex motion in the solar photosphere from high-resolution ground-based and space-borne data. We describe this event by analyzing a series of images at different solar atmospheric layers. By computing horizontal proper motions, we detect a vortex whose center appears to be the draining point for the magnetic concentrations detected in magnetograms and well-correlated with the locations of bright points seen in G-band and CN images.

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L. Balmaceda, S. Vargas Domínguez, J. Palacios, I. Cabello, V. Domingo. 2010-04-07. Evidence of small-scale magnetic concentrations dragged by vortex motion of solar photospheric plasma. https://doi.org/10.1051/0004-6361/200913584

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