arXiv subjects

A. Lagg

Publications and source records attributed to A. Lagg.

At least 55 records · Page 3Linked to original sources

arXiv2016

Formation of a solar Ha filament from orphan penumbrae

The formation of an Ha filament in active region (AR) 10953 is described. Observations from the Solar Optical Telescope (SOT) aboard the Hinode satellite starting on 27th April 2007 until 1st May 2007 were analysed. 20 scans of the 6302A Fe I line pair recorded by SOT/SP were inverted using the SPINOR code. The inversions were analysed together with SOT/BFI G-band and Ca II H and SOT/NFI Ha observations. Following the disappearance of an initial Ha filament aligned along the polarity inversion line (PIL) of the AR, a new Ha filament formed in its place some 20 hours later, which remained stable for at least 1.5 days. The creation of the new Ha filament was driven by the ascent of horizontal magnetic fields from the photosphere into the chromosphere at three separate locations along the PIL. The magnetic fields at two of these locations were situated directly underneath the initial Ha filament and formed orphan penumbrae already aligned along the Ha filament channel. The 700 G orphan penumbrae were stable and trapped in the photosphere until the disappearance of the overlying initial Ha filament, after which they started to ascend into the chromosphere at 10pm5 m/s. Each ascent was associated with a simultaneous magnetic flux reduction of up to 50% in the photosphere. The ascended orphan penumbrae formed dark 'seed' structures in Ha in parallel with the PIL, which elongated and merged to form an Ha filament. The filament channel featured horizontal magnetic fields of on average 260 G at log(tau)=-2 suspended above the nearly field-free lower photosphere. The fields took on an 'inverse' configuration at log(tau)=-2 suggesting a flux rope for the new Ha filament. The orphan penumbral fields ascend into the chromosphere 9-24 hours before the Ha filament is fully formed. The destruction of the initial Ha filament was likely caused by the flux emergence at the third location along the PIL.

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arXiv2016

Flows in and around active region NOAA12118 observed with the GREGOR solar telescope and SDO/HMI

Accurate measurements of magnetic and velocity fields in and around solar active regions are key to unlocking the mysteries of the formation and the decay of sunspots. High spatial resolution image and spectral sequences with a high cadence obtained with the GREGOR solar telescope give us an opportunity to scrutinize 3-D flow fields with local correlation tracking and imaging spectroscopy. We present GREGOR early science data acquired in 2014 July - August with the GREGOR Fabry-Pérot Interferometer and the Blue Imaging Channel. Time-series of blue continuum (? 450.6 nm) images of the small active region NOAA 12118 were restored with the speckle masking technique to derive horizontal proper motions and to track the evolution of morphological changes. In addition, high-resolution observations are discussed in the context of synoptic data from the Solar Dynamics Observatory.

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arXiv2016

Fitting peculiar spectral profiles in He I 10830 Å absorption features

The new generation of solar instruments provides better spectral, spatial, and temporal resolution for a better understanding of the physical processes that take place on the Sun. Multiple-component profiles are more commonly observed with these instruments. Particularly, the He I 10830 Å triplet presents such peculiar spectral profiles, which give information on the velocity and magnetic fine structure of the upper chromosphere. The purpose of this investigation is to describe a technique to efficiently fit the two blended components of the He I 10830 Å triplet, which are commonly observed when two atmospheric components are located within the same resolution element. The observations used in this study were taken on 2015 April 17 with the very fast spectroscopic mode of the GREGOR Infrared Spectrograph (GRIS) attached to the 1.5-meter GREGOR solar telescope, located at the Observatorio del Teide, Tenerife, Spain. We apply a double-Lorentzian fitting technique using Levenberg-Marquardt least-squares minimization. This technique is very simple and much faster than inversion codes. Line-of-sight Doppler velocities can be inferred for a whole map of pixels within just a few minutes. Our results show sub- and supersonic downflow velocities of up to 32 km/s for the fast component in the vicinity of footpoints of filamentary structures. The slow component presents velocities close to rest.

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arXiv2015

Properties of solar plage from a spatially coupled inversion of Hinode SP data

The properties of magnetic fields forming an extended plage region in AR 10953 were investigated. Stokes spectra of the Fe I line pair at 6302 Årecorded by the spectropolarimeter aboard the Hinode satellite were inverted using the SPINOR code. The code performed a 2D spatially coupled inversion on the Stokes spectra, allowing the retrieval of gradients in optical depth within the atmosphere of each pixel, whilst accounting for the effects of the instrument's PSF. Consequently, no magnetic filling factor was needed. The inversion results reveal that plage is composed of magnetic flux concentrations (MFCs) with typical field strengths of 1520 G at log(τ)=-0.9 and inclinations of 10-15 degrees. The MFCs expand by forming magnetic canopies composed of weaker and more inclined magnetic fields. The expansion and average temperature stratification of isolated MFCs can be approximated well with an empirical plage thin flux-tube model. The highest temperatures of MFCs are located at their edges in all log(τ) layers. Whilst the plasma inside MFCs is nearly at rest, each is surrounded by a ring of downflows of on average 2.4 km/s at log(τ)=0 and peak velocities of up to 10 km/s, which are supersonic. The downflow ring of an MFC weakens and shifts outwards with height, tracing the MFC's expansion. Such downflow rings often harbour magnetic patches of opposite polarity to that of the main MFC with typical field strengths below 300 G at log(τ)=0. These opposite polarity patches are situated beneath the canopy of their main MFC. We found evidence of a strong broadening of the Stokes profiles in MFCs and particularly in the downflow rings surrounding MFCs (expressed by a microturbulence in the inversion). This indicates the presence of strong unresolved velocities. Larger magnetic structures such as sunspots cause the field of nearby MFCs to be more inclined.

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arXiv2014

Comparison of inversion codes for polarized line formation in MHD simulations. I. Milne-Eddington codes

Milne-Eddington (M-E) inversion codes for the radiative transfer equation are the most widely used tools to infer the magnetic field from observations of the polarization signals in photospheric and chromospheric spectral lines. Unfortunately, a comprehensive comparison between the different M-E codes available to the solar physics community is still missing, and so is a physical interpretation of their inferences. In this contribution we offer a comparison between three of those codes (VFISV, ASP/HAO, and HeLIx$^+$). These codes are used to invert synthetic Stokes profiles that were previously obtained from realistic non-grey three-dimensional magnetohydrodynamical (3D MHD) simulations. The results of the inversion are compared with each other and with those from the MHD simulations. In the first case, the M-E codes retrieve values for the magnetic field strength, inclination and line-of-sight velocity that agree with each other within $σ_B \leq 35$ (Gauss), $σ_γ\leq 1.2°$, and $σ_{\rm v} \leq 10$ ms$^{-1}$, respectively. Additionally, M-E inversion codes agree with the numerical simulations, when compared at a fixed optical depth, within $σ_B \leq 130$ (Gauss), $σ_γ\leq 5°$, and $σ_{\rm v} \leq 320$ ms$^{-1}$. Finally, we show that employing generalized response functions to determine the height at which M-E codes measure physical parameters is more meaningful than comparing at a fixed geometrical height or optical depth. In this case the differences between M-E inferences and the 3D MHD simulations decrease to $σ_B \leq 90$ (Gauss), $σ_γ\leq 3°$, and $σ_{\rm v} \leq 90$ ms$^{-1}$.

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arXiv2014

Inclinations of small quiet-Sun magnetic features based on a new geometric approach

High levels of horizontal magnetic flux have been reported in the quiet-Sun internetwork, often based on Stokes profile inversions. Here we introduce a new method for deducing the inclination of magnetic elements and use it to test magnetic field inclinations from inversions. We determine accurate positions of a set of small, bright magnetic elements in high spatial resolution images sampling different photospheric heights obtained by the Sunrise balloon-borne solar observatory. Together with estimates of the formation heights of the employed spectral bands, these provide us with the inclinations of the magnetic features. We also compute the magnetic inclination angle of the same magnetic features from the inversion of simultaneously recorded Stokes parameters. Our new, geometric method returns nearly vertical fields (average inclination of around 14 deg with a relatively narrow distribution having a standard deviation of 6 deg). In strong contrast to this, the traditionally used inversions give almost horizontal fields (average inclination of 75+-8 deg) for the same small magnetic features, whose linearly polarised Stokes profiles are adversely affected by noise. The almost vertical field of bright magnetic features from our geometric method is clearly incompatible with the nearly horizontal magnetic fields obtained from the inversions. This indicates that the amount of magnetic flux in horizontal fields deduced from inversions is overestimated in the presence of weak Stokes signals, in particular if Stokes Q and U are close to or under the noise level. By combining the proposed method with inversions we are not just improving the inclination, but also the field strength. This technique allows us to analyse features that are not reliably treated by inversions, thus greatly extending our capability to study the complete magnetic field of the quiet Sun.

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arXiv2014

Migration of Ca II H bright points in the internetwork

The migration of magnetic bright point-like features (MBP) in the lower solar atmosphere reflects the dispersal of magnetic flux as well as the horizontal flows of the atmospheric layer they are embedded in. We analyse trajectories of the proper motion of intrinsically magnetic, isolated internetwork Ca II H MBPs (mean lifetime 461 +- 9 s) to obtain their diffusivity behaviour. We use seeing-free high spatial and temporal resolution image sequences of quiet-Sun, disc-centre observations obtained in the Ca II H 3968 Å passband of the Sunrise Filter Imager (SuFI) onboard the Sunrise balloon-borne solar observatory. Small MBPs in the internetwork are automatically tracked. The trajectory of each MBP is then calculated and described by a diffusion index (γ) and a diffusion coefficient (D). We further explore the distribution of the diffusion indices with the help of a Monte Carlo simulation. We find γ = 1.69 +- 0.08 and D = 257 +- 32 km^2/s averaged over all MBPs. Trajectories of most MBPs are classified as super-diffusive, i.e., γ > 1, with the determined γ being to our knowledge the largest obtained so far. A direct correlation between D and time-scale (τ) determined from trajectories of all MBPs is also obtained. We discuss a simple scenario to explain the diffusivity of the observed, relatively short-lived MBPs while they migrate within a small area in a supergranule (i.e., an internetwork area). We show that the scatter in the γ values obtained for individual MBPs is due to their limited lifetimes. The super-diffusive MBPs can be well-described as random walkers (due to granular evolution and intergranular turbu- lence) superposed on a large systematic (background) velocity, caused by granular, mesogranular and supergranular flows.

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arXiv2013

Magnetic structure of an activated filament in a flaring active region

While the magnetic field in quiescent prominences has been widely investigated, less is known about the field in activated prominences. We introduce observational results on the magnetic field structure of an activated filament in a flaring active region. We study, in particular, its magnetic structure and line-of-sight flows during its early activated phase, shortly before it displays signs of rotation. We invert the Stokes profiles of the chromospheric He I 10830 A triplet and the photospheric Si I 10827 A line observed in this filament by the VTT on Tenerife. Using these inversion results we present and interpret the first maps of velocity and magnetic field obtained in an activated filament, both in the photosphere and the chromosphere. Up to 5 different magnetic components are found in the chromospheric layers of the filament, while outside the filament a single component is sufficient to reproduce the observations. Magnetic components displaying an upflow are preferentially located towards the centre of the filament, while the downflows are concentrated along its periphery. Also, the upflowing gas is associated with an opposite-polarity magnetic configuration with respect to the photosphere, while the downflowing gas is associated with a same-polarity configuration. The activated filament has a rather complex structure. Nonetheless, it is compatible with a flux rope, although with a distorted one, in the normal configuration. The observations are best explained by a rising flux rope in which a part of the filament material is still stably stored (upflowing material, rising with the field), while a part is no longer stably stored and flows down along the field lines.

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arXiv2013

Quiet Sun magnetic fields observed by Hinode: Support for a local dynamo

The Hinode mission has revealed copious amounts of horizontal flux covering the quiet Sun. Local dynamo action has been proposed to explain the presence of this flux. We sought to test whether the quiet Sun flux detected by Hinode is due to a local or the global dynamo by studying long-term variations in the polarisation signals detectable at the disc centre of the quiet Sun between November 2006 and May 2012, with particular emphasis on weak signals in the internetwork. The investigation focusses on line-integrated circular polarisation V_tot and linear polarisation LP_tot profiles obtained from the Fe I 6302.5 Åabsorption line in Hinode SOT/SP. Both circular and linear polarisation signals show no overall variation in the fraction of selected pixels from 2006 until 2012. There is also no variation in the magnetic flux in this interval of time. The probability density functions (PDF) of the line-of-sight magnetic flux can be fitted with a power law from 1.17 x 10^17 Mx to 8.53 x 10^18 Mx with index α=-1.82 \pm 0.02 in 2007. The variation of α's across all years does not exceed a significance of 1σ. Linearly polarised features are also fitted with a power law, with index α=-2.60 \pm 0.06 in 2007. Indices derived from linear polarisation PDFs of other years also show no significant variation. Our results show that the ubiquitous horizontal polarisation on the edges of bright granules seen by Hinode are invariant during the minimum of cycle 23. This supports the notion that the weak circular and linear polarisation is primarily caused by an independent local dynamo.

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arXiv2012

Structure and Dynamics of Isolated Internetwork Ca II H Bright Points Observed by Sunrise

We aim to improve our picture of the low chromosphere in the quiet-Sun internetwork by investigating the intensity, horizontal velocity, size and lifetime variations of small bright points (BPs; diameter smaller than 0.3 arcsec) observed in the Ca II H 3968 Å passband along with their magnetic field parameters, derived from photospheric magnetograms. Several high-quality time series of disc-centre, quiet-Sun observations from the Sunrise balloon-borne solar telescope, with spatial resolution of around 100 km on the solar surface, have been analysed to study the dynamics of BPs observed in the Ca II H passband and their dependence on the photospheric vector magnetogram signal. Parameters such as horizontal velocity, diameter, intensity and lifetime histograms of the isolated internetwork and magnetic Ca II H BPs were determined. Mean values were found to be 2.2 km/s, 0.2 arcsec (150 km), 1.48 average Ca II H quiet-Sun and 673 sec, respectively. Interestingly, the brightness and the horizontal velocity of BPs are anti-correlated. Large excursions (pulses) in horizontal velocity, up to 15 km/s, are present in the trajectories of most BPs. These could excite kink waves travelling into the chromosphere and possibly the corona, which we estimate to carry an energy flux of 310 W/m^2, sufficient to heat the upper layers, although only marginally. The stable observing conditions of Sunrise and our technique for identifying and tracking BPs have allowed us to determine reliable parameters of these features in the internetwork. Thus we find, e.g., that they are considerably longer lived than previously thought. The large velocities are also reliable, and may excite kink waves. Although these wave are (marginally) energetic enough to heat the quiet corona, we expect a large additional contribution from larger magnetic elements populating the network and partly also the internetwork.

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arXiv2012

A retrospective of the GREGOR solar telescope in scientific literature

In this review, we look back upon the literature, which had the GREGOR solar telescope project as its subject including science cases, telescope subsystems, and post-focus instruments. The articles date back to the year 2000, when the initial concepts for a new solar telescope on Tenerife were first presented at scientific meetings. This comprehensive bibliography contains literature until the year 2012, i.e., the final stages of commissioning and science verification. Taking stock of the various publications in peer-reviewed journals and conference proceedings also provides the "historical" context for the reference articles in this special issue of Astronomische Nachrichten/Astronomical Notes.

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arXiv2012

Magnetic fields of an active region filament from full Stokes analysis of Si I 1082.7 nm and He I 1083.0 nm

Vector magnetic fields of an active region filament in the photosphere and upper chromosphere are obtained from spectro-polarimetric observations recorded with the Tenerife Infrared Polarimeter (TIP II) at the German Vacuum Tower Telescope (VTT). We apply Milne-Eddington inversions on full Stokes vectors of the photospheric Si I 1082.7 nm and the upper chromospheric He I triplet at 1083.0 nm to obtain magnetic field vector and velocity maps in two atmosphere layers. We find that: (1)A complete filament was already present in H$α$ at the beginning of the TIP II data acquisition. Only a partially formed one, composed of multiple small threads, was present in He I. (2) The AR filament comprises two sections. One shows strong magnetic field intensities, about 600 - 800 G in the upper chromosphere and 800 - 1000 G in the photosphere. The other exhibits only comparatively weak magnetic field strengths in both layers. (3) The Stokes V signal is indicative of a dip in the magnetic field strength close to the chromospheric PIL. (3) In the chromosphere consistent upflows are found along the PIL flanked by downflows. (4) The transversal magnetic field is nearly parallel to the PIL in the photosphere and inclined by 20 - 30 degree in the chromosphere. (5) The chromospheric magnetic field around the filament is found to be in normal configuration, while the photospheric field presents a concave magnetic topology. The observations are consistent with the emergence of a flux rope with a subsequent formation of a filament.

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arXiv2012

The Height of Chromospheric Loops in an Emerging Flux Region

Context. The chromospheric layer observable with the He I 10830 Å triplet is strongly warped. The analysis of the magnetic morphology of this layer therefore requires a reliable technique to determine the height at which the He I absorption takes place. Aims. The He I absorption signature connecting two pores of opposite polarity in an emerging flux region is investigated. This signature is suggestive of a loop system connecting the two pores. We aim to show that limits can be set on the height of this chromospheric loop system. Methods. The increasing anisotropy in the illumination of a thin, magnetic structure intensifies the linear polarization signal observed in the He I triplet with height. This signal is altered by the Hanle effect. We apply an inversion technique incorporating the joint action of the Hanle and Zeeman effects, with the absorption layer height being one of the free parameters. Results. The observed linear polarization signal can be explained only if the loop apex is higher than \approx5 Mm. Best agreement with the observations is achieved for a height of 6.3 Mm. Conclusions. The strength of the linear polarization signal in the loop apex is inconsistent with the assumption of a He I absorption layer at a constant height level. The determined height supports the earlier conclusion that dark He 10830 Å filaments in emerging flux regions trace emerging loops.

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arXiv2011

Siphon flow in a cool magnetic loop

We investigate the properties of a structure in the solar chromosphere in an active region to find out whether the feature is consistent with a siphon flow in a magnetic loop filled with chromospheric material.

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arXiv2011

Solar magnetism eXplorer (SolmeX)

The magnetic field plays a pivotal role in many fields of Astrophysics. This is especially true for the physics of the solar atmosphere. Measuring the magnetic field in the upper solar atmosphere is crucial to understand the nature of the underlying physical processes that drive the violent dynamics of the solar corona -- that can also affect life on Earth. SolmeX, a fully equipped solar space observatory for remote-sensing observations, will provide the first comprehensive measurements of the strength and direction of the magnetic field in the upper solar atmosphere. The mission consists of two spacecraft, one carrying the instruments, and another one in formation flight at a distance of about 200m carrying the occulter to provide an artificial total solar eclipse. This will ensure high-quality coronagraphic observations above the solar limb. Solmex integrates two spectro-polarimetric coronagraphs for off-limb observations, one in the EUV and one in the IR, and three instruments for observations on the disk. The latter comprises one imaging polarimeter in the EUV for coronal studies, a spectro-polarimeter in the EUV to investigate the low corona, and an imaging spectro-polarimeter in the UV for chromospheric studies. SOHO and other existing missions have investigated the emission of the upper atmosphere in detail (not considering polarization), and as this will be the case also for missions planned for the near future. Therefore it is timely that SolmeX provides the final piece of the observational quest by measuring the magnetic field in the upper atmosphere through polarimetric observations.

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arXiv2011

Milne-Eddington inversions of the He I 10830 Å Stokes profiles: Influence of the Paschen-Back effect

The Paschen-Back effect influences the Zeeman sublevels of the He I multiplet at 10830 Å, leading to changes in strength and in position of the Zeeman components of these lines. We illustrate the relevance of this effect using synthetic Stokes profiles of the He I 10830 Å multiplet lines and investigate its influence on the inversion of polarimetric data. We invert data obtained with the Tenerife Infrared Polarimeter (TIP) at the German Vacuum Tower Telescope (VTT). We compare the results of inversions based on synthetic profiles calculated with and without the Paschen-Back effect being included. We find that when taking into account the incomplete Paschen-Back effect, on average 16% higher field strength values are obtained. We also show that this effect is not the main cause for the area asymmetry exhibited by many He I 10830 Stokes V-profiles. This points to the importance of velocity and magnetic field gradients over the formation height range of these lines.

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arXiv2011

Multicomponent He I 10830 Å profiles in an active filament

We present new spectropolarimetric observations of the chromospheric He I 10830 Å multiplet observed in a filament during its phase of activity. The data were recorded with the new Tenerife Infrared Polarimeter (TIP-II) at the German Vacuum Tower Telescope (VTT) on 2005 May 18. We inverted the He Stokes profiles using multiple atmospheric components. The observed He Stokes profiles display a remarkably wide variety of shapes. Most of the profiles show very broad Stokes I absorptions and complex and spatially variable Stokes V signatures. The inversion of the profiles shows evidence of different atmospheric blue- and redshifted components of the He I lines within the resolution element (1 arcsec), with supersonic velocities of up to 100 km/s. Up to five different atmospheric components are found in the same profile. We show that even these complex profiles can be reliably inverted.

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arXiv2010

Intensity contrast from MHD simulations and from HINODE observations

Changes in the solar surface area covered by small-scale magnetic elements are thought to cause long-term changes in the solar spectral irradiance, which are important for determining the impact on Earth's climate. To study the effect of small-scale magnetic elements on total and spectral irradiance, we derive their contrasts from 3-D MHD simulations of the solar atmosphere. Such calculations are necessary since measurements of small-scale flux tube contrasts are confined to a few wavelengths and suffer from scattered light and instrument defocus, even for space observations. To test the contrast calculations, we compare rms contrasts from simulations with those obtained with the broad-band filter imager mounted on the Solar Optical Telescope (SOT) onboard the Hinode satellite and also analyse centre-to-limb variations (CLV). The 3-D MHD simulations include the interaction between convection and magnetic flux tubes. They have been run with non-grey radiative transfer using the MURaM code. Simulations have an average vertical magnetic field of 0G, 50G, and 200G. Emergent intensities are calculated with the spectral synthesis code ATLAS9 and are convolved with a theoretical point-spread function to account for the properties of the observations' optical system. We find reasonable agreement for simulated and observed intensity distributions in the visible continuum bands. Agreement is poorer for the CN and G-Bands. The analysis of the simulations exhibits a potentially more realistic centre-to-limb behaviour than calculations based on 1-D model atmospheres. We conclude that starting from 3-D MHD simulations represents a powerful approach to obtaining intensity contrasts for a wide wavelength coverage and for different positions on the solar disk. This also paves the way for future calculations of facular and network contrast as a function of magnetic fluxes.

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