arXiv subjects

N. Bello González

Publications and source records attributed to N. Bello González.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2024

Magnetic properties of the umbral boundary during sunspot decay. Comparative study of multiple datasets

The magnetic properties of the umbra-penumbra (UP) boundary of sunspots and the boundary of pores at various evolutionary stages have been characterised using datasets from different instruments. We aim to study the differences between the intensity and vector magnetic field properties derived from Hinode/SP and SDO/HMI observations of a decaying sunspot. We analysed the sunspot embedded in AR 12797 during six days in 30 SP/Hinode scans and 704 HMI/SDO for both regular maps and HMI_dcon. We studied the correlation of the magnetic properties and continuum intensity in the datasets within the spot, and at the UP boundary. We examined the decaying process using the full temporal resolution of the HMI_dcon maps. We find a good correspondence between the magnetic properties in the SP and HMI_dcon maps, but the continuum intensity of the spots in the SP maps is 0.04I_qs brighter than in the HMI_dcon maps. The influence of scattered light in the HMI maps makes it the least ideal dataset for studying the boundary of spots without a penumbra. The properties at the UP boundary evolve slowly during the sunspot decay stage, while the penumbra still provides some stability. In contrast, they respond more abruptly to areal changes in the naked-spot stage. During the sunspot decay, we find linear decay in the area and in the magnetic flux. Moreover, the umbra shows two characteristic decaying processes: a slow decay during the first three days, and a sudden fast decay during the final dissipation of the penumbra. We find indications of a 3.5h lag between the dissipation of the vertical fields in the umbral region and the photometric decay of the umbral area. The differences found in the continuum intensity and in the vertical component of the magnetic field, Bver, between the analysed datasets explain the discrepancies among the Bver values found at the boundaries of umbrae in previous studies.

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arXiv2024

Onset of penumbra formation

Context. Fully fledged penumbrae have been widely studied both observationally and theoretically. Yet the relatively fast process of penumbra formation has not been studied closely with high spatial resolution. Aims. We investigate the stages previous to and during the formation of penumbral filaments in a developing sunspot. Methods. We analysed Milne-Eddington inversions from spectro-polarimetric data of the leading sunspot of NOAA 11024 during the development of its penumbra. We focused on selected areas of this protospot in which segments of penumbra develop. Results. We find that few types of distinctive flow patterns develop at the protospot limb and centre sides previous to penumbra formation. The flow in the centre side is often characterised by a persistent (>20 min) inflow-outflow pattern extending radially over 4 arcsec at the direct periphery of the protospot umbra. This inflow-outflow system often correlates with elongated granules, as seen in continuum intensity maps, and is also coupled with magnetic bipolar patches at its edges, as seen in magnetograms. The field is close to horizontal between the bipolar patches, which is indicative of its possible loop configuration. All of these aspects are analogous to observations of magnetic flux emergence. In the protospot limb side, however, we observed a mostly regular pattern associated with small granules located near the protospot intensity boundary. Locally, an inflow develops adjacent to an existing penumbral segment, and this inflow is correlated with a single bright penumbral filament that is brighter than filaments containing the Evershed flow. All investigated areas at the centre and limb side eventually develop penumbral filaments with an actual Evershed flow that starts at the umbral boundary and grows outwards radially as the penumbral filaments become longer in time

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arXiv2023

The role of the chromospheric magnetic canopy in the formation of a sunspot penumbra

While it is being conjectured that a chromospheric canopy plays a role in penumbra formation, it has been difficult to find observational evidence of the connectivity between the photosphere and the chromosphere. We investigate the existence of a chromospheric canopy as a necessary condition for the formation of a penumbra and aim to find the origin of the inclined magnetic fields. Spectropolarimetric observations of NOAA AR 12776 from the GRIS@GREGOR instrument were analyzed. Atmospheric parameters were obtained from the deep photospheric Ca I 10839 Å line (VFISV inversion code), the mostly photospheric Si I 10827 Å line (SIR inversion code) and the chromospheric He I 10830 Å triplet (HAZEL inversion code). In the deepest atmospheric layers, we find that the magnetic properties (inclination and field strength distribution) measured on the sunspot sector with fully fledged penumbra are similar to those measured on the sector without penumbra. Yet, in higher layers, magnetic properties are different. In the region showing no penumbra, almost vertical chromospheric magnetic fields are observed. Additionally, thin filamentary structures with a maximum width of 0.1 arcsec are seen in photospheric high-resolution TiO-band images in this region. The existence of a penumbra is found to be discriminated by the conditions in the chromosphere. This indicates that a chromospheric canopy is a necessary condition for the formation of a penumbra. However, our results demonstrate that inclined fields in the chromospheric canopy are not needed for the development of inclined fields in the photosphere. We question the `fallen-magnetic-flux-tubes' penumbra formation scenario and favor a scenario, in which inclined fields emerge from below the surface and are blocked by the overlying chromospheric canopy.

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arXiv2022

Characterization of magneto-convection in sunspots -- The Gough & Tayler stability criterion in MURaM sunspot simulations

We analyse a sunspot simulation in an effort to understand the origin of the convective instabilities giving rise to the penumbral and umbral distinct regimes. We applied the criterion from Gough \& Tayler (1966), accounting for the stabilising effect of the vertical magnetic field to investigate the convective instabilities in a MURaM sunspot simulation. We find: (1) a highly unstable shallow layer right beneath the surface extending all over the simulation box in which convection is triggered by radiative cooling in the photosphere; (2) a deep umbral core (beneath -5 Mm) stabilised against overturning convection that underlies a region with stable background values permeated by slender instabilities coupled to umbral dots; (3) filamentary instabilities below the penumbra nearly parallel to the surface and undulating instabilities coupled to the penumbra which originate in the deep layers. These deep-rooted instabilities result in the vigorous magneto-convection regime characteristic of the penumbra; (4) convective downdrafts in the granulation, penumbra, and umbra develop at about 2 km/s, 1 km/s, and 0.1 km/s, respectively, indicating that the granular regime of convection is more vigorous than the penumbra convection regime which, in turn, is more vigorous than the close-to-steady umbra; (5) the GT criterion outlines both the sunspot magnetopause and peripatopause, highlighting the tripartite nature of the sub-photospheric layers of magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) sunspot models; and, finally, (6) the Jurčák criterion is the photospheric counterpart of the GT criterion in deep layers. The GT criterion as a diagnostic tool reveals the tripartite nature of sunspot structure with distinct regimes of magneto-convection in the umbra, penumbra, and granulation operating in realistic MHD simulations.

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arXiv2021

Magnetic properties on the boundary of an evolving pore

Context. Analyses of magnetic properties on umbrae boundaries led to the Jurcak criterion, which states that umbra-penumbra boundaries in stable sunspots are equally defined by a constant value of the vertical magnetic field, Bver_crit, and by 0.5 continuum intensity of the quiet Sun, Iqs. Umbrae with vertical magnetic fields stronger than Bver_crit are stable, whereas umbrae with vertical magnetic fields weaker than Bver_crit are unstable and prone to vanishing. Aims. To investigate the existence of a critical value of the vertical magnetic field on a pore boundary and its role in the evolution of the magnetic structure. Methods. We analysed SDO/HMI vector field maps corrected for scattered light with a temporal cadence of 12 min during a 26.5-hour period. An intensity threshold (Ic = 0.55 Iqs) is used to define the pore boundary and temporal evolutions of the magnetic properties are studied there. Results. We observe stages in the pore evolution: (1)during an initial formation phase, total magnetic field strength (B) and vertical magnetic field (Bver) increase to their maximum values of ~1920 G and ~1730 G, respectively; (2)then the pore reaches a stable phase; (3)in a second formation phase, the pore undergoes a rapid growth in size, along with a decrease in B and Bver on its boundary. In the newly formed area, Bver remains mostly below 1731 G and B remains everywhere below 1921 G; (4)ultimately, pore decay starts. We find overall that pore areas with Bver<1731 G, or equivalently B<1921 G, disintegrate faster than regions that fulfil this criteria. Conclusions. The most stable regions of the pore, similarly to the case of umbral boundaries, are defined by a critical value of Bver that is comparable to that found in stable sunspots. In addition, in this case study, the same pore areas can be similarly well-defined by a critical value of the total magnetic field strength.

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arXiv2020

Characterization of the umbra-penumbra boundary by the vertical component of the magnetic field -- Analysis of ground-based data from the GREGOR Infrared Spectrograph

The vertical component of the magnetic field ($B_\perp$) was found to reach a constant value at the umbra-penumbra boundary of stable sunspots in a recent statistical study of Hinode/SP data. The objective of this work is to verify the existence of a constant value for $B_\perp$ at the umbra-penumbra boundary from ground-based data in the near-infrared wavelengths and to determine its value for GREGOR Infrared Spectrograph (GRIS) data. This is the first statistical study on the Jurcak criterion with ground-based data, and we compare it with the results from Hinode and HMI data. Eleven spectropolarimetric data sets from the GRIS slit-spectograph containing stable sunspots were selected from the GRIS archive (sdc.leibniz-kis.de). SIR inversions including a polarimetric straylight correction are used to produce maps of the magnetic field vector using the Fe 1564.8 and 1566.2 nm lines. Averages of $B_\perp$ along umbra-penumbra boundaries are analyzed for the 11 data sets. Geometric differences between contours at the resulting $B_\perp^{\rm const}$ value and contours in intensity, $ΔP$, are calculated. Averaged over the 11 sunspots, we find a value of $B_\perp=1787\pm100$ gauss. Contours at $B_\perp=B_\perp^{\rm const}$ and contours calculated in intensity maps match from a visual inspection and the geometric distance $ΔP$ was found to be on the order of 2 pixels. Furthermore, the standard deviation between different data sets of averages along umbra--penumbra contours is smaller for $B_\perp$ than for $B_\parallel$ by a factor of 2.4. Our results provide further support to the Jurcak criterion with the existence of an invariable value $B_\perp^{\rm const}$ at the umbra--penumbra boundary. We also found that the geometric difference, $ΔP$, between intensity contours and contours at $B_\perp=B_\perp^{\rm const}$ acts as an index of stability for sunspots.

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arXiv2019

Observations of solar small-scale magnetic flux-sheet emergence

Aims. Moreno-Insertis et al. (2018) recently discovered two types of flux emergence in their numerical simulations: magnetic loops and magnetic sheet emergence. Whereas magnetic loop emergence has been documented well in the last years, by utilising high-resolution full Stokes data from ground-based telescopes as well as satellites, magnetic sheet emergence is still an understudied process. We report here on the first clear observational evidence of a magnetic sheet emergence and characterise its development. Methods. Full Stokes spectra from the Hinode spectropolarimeter were inverted with the SIR code to obtain solar atmospheric parameters such as temperature, line-of-sight velocities and full magnetic field vector information. Results. We analyse a magnetic flux emergence event observed in the quiet-sun internetwork. After a large scale appearance of linear polarisation, a magnetic sheet with horizontal magnetic flux density of up to 194 Mx/cm$^{2}$ hovers in the low photosphere spanning a region of 2 to 3 arcsec. The magnetic field azimuth obtained through Stokes inversions clearly shows an organised structure of transversal magnetic flux density emerging. The granule below the magnetic flux-sheet tears the structure apart leaving the emerged flux to form several magnetic loops at the edges of the granule. Conclusions. A large amount of flux with strong horizontal magnetic fields surfaces through the interplay of buried magnetic flux and convective motions. The magnetic flux emerges within 10 minutes and we find a longitudinal magnetic flux at the foot points of the order of $\sim$$10^{18}$ Mx. This is one to two orders of magnitude larger than what has been reported for small-scale magnetic loops. The convective flows feed the newly emerged flux into the pre-existing magnetic population on a granular scale.

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arXiv2018

Photospheric Magnetic Fields of the Trailing Sunspots in Active Region NOAA 12396

The solar magnetic field is responsible for all aspects of solar activity. Sunspots are the main manifestation of the ensuing solar activity. Combining high-resolution and synoptic observations has the ambition to provide a comprehensive description of the sunspot growth and decay processes. Active region NOAA 12396 emerged on 2015 August 3 and was observed three days later with the 1.5-meter GREGOR solar telescope on 2015 August 6. High-resolution spectropolarimetric data from the GREGOR Infrared Spectrograph (GRIS) are obtained in the photospheric Si I $λ$ 1082.7 nm and Ca I $λ$1083.9 nm lines, together with the chromospheric He I $λ$1083.0 nm triplet. These near-infrared spectropolarimetric observations were complemented by synoptic line-of-sight magnetograms and continuum images of the Helioseismic and Magnetic Imager (HMI) and EUV images of the Atmospheric Imaging Assembly (AIA) on board the Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO).

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arXiv2017

High-resolution imaging spectroscopy of two micro-pores and an arch filament system in a small emerging-flux region

Aims. The purpose of this investigation is to characterize the temporal evolution of an emerging flux region, the associated photospheric and chromospheric flow fields, and the properties of the accompanying arch filament system. Methods. This study is based on imaging spectroscopy with the Göttingen Fabry-Pérot Interferometer at the Vacuum Tower Telescope, on 2008 August 7. Cloud model (CM) inversions of line scans in the strong chromospheric absorption H$α$ line yielded CM parameters, which describe the cool plasma contained in the arch filament system. Results. The observations cover the decay and convergence of two micro-pores with diameters of less than one arcsecond and provide decay rates for intensity and area. The photospheric horizontal flow speed is suppressed near the two micro-pores indicating that the magnetic field is sufficiently strong to affect the convective energy transport. The micro-pores are accompanied by an arch filament system, where small-scale loops connect two regions with H$α$ line-core brightenings containing an emerging flux region with opposite polarities. The chromospheric velocity of the cloud material is predominantly directed downwards near the footpoints of the loops with velocities of up to 12 km/s, whereas loop tops show upward motions of about 3 km/s. Conclusions. Micro-pores are the smallest magnetic field concentrations leaving a photometric signature in the photosphere. In the observed case, they are accompanied by a miniature arch filament system indicative of newly emerging flux in the form of $Ω$-loops. Flux emergence and decay take place on a time-scale of about two days, whereas the photometric decay of the micro-pores is much more rapid (a few hours), which is consistent with the incipient submergence of $Ω$-loops. The results are representative for the smallest emerging flux regions still recognizable as such.

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arXiv2017

Flows along arch filaments observed in the GRIS 'very fast spectroscopic mode'

A new generation of solar instruments provides improved spectral, spatial, and temporal resolution, thus facilitating a better understanding of dynamic processes on the Sun. High-resolution observations often reveal multiple-component spectral line profiles, e.g., in the near-infrared He I 10830 Å triplet, which provides information about the chromospheric velocity and magnetic fine structure. We observed an emerging flux region, including two small pores and an arch filament system, on 2015 April 17 with the 'very fast spectroscopic mode' of the GREGOR Infrared Spectrograph (GRIS) situated at the 1.5-meter GREGOR solar telescope at Observatorio del Teide, Tenerife, Spain. We discuss this method of obtaining fast (one per minute) spectral scans of the solar surface and its potential to follow dynamic processes on the Sun. We demonstrate the performance of the 'very fast spectroscopic mode' by tracking chromospheric high-velocity features in the arch filament system.

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arXiv2016

Horizontal flow fields in and around a small active region-- The transition period between flux emergence and decay

Aims. Combining high-resolution and synoptic observations aims to provide a comprehensive description of flux emergence at photospheric level and of the growth process that eventually leads to a mature active region. Methods. Small active region NOAA 12118 was observed on 2014 July 18 with the 1.5-meter GREGOR solar telescope on 2014 July 18. High-resolution time-series of blue continuum and G-band images acquired in the blue imaging channel (BIC) of the GREGOR Fabry-Pérot Interferometer (GFPI) were complemented by LOS magnetograms and continuum images obtained with the HMI onboard the SDO. Horizontal proper motions and horizontal plasma velocities were computed with local correlation tracking (LCT) and the differential affine velocity estimator, respectively. Morphological image processing was employed to measure the photometric/magnetic area, magnetic flux, and the separation profile of the EFR during its evolution. Results. The computed growth rates for photometric area, magnetic area, and magnetic flux are about twice as high as the respective decay rates. The space-time diagram using HMI magnetograms of five days traces a leaf-like structure, which is determined by the initial separation of the two polarities, a rapid expansion phase, a time when the spread stalls, and a period when the region slowly shrinks again. The separation rate of 0.26 km\s is highest in the initial stage, and it decreases when the separation comes to a halt. Horizontal plasma velocities computed at four evolutionary stages indicate a changing pattern of inflows. In LCT maps we find persistent flow patterns such as outward motions in the outer part of the two major pores, a diverging feature near the trailing pore marking the site of upwelling plasma and flux emergence, and low velocities in the interior of pores. We detected many elongated rapidly expanding granules between the two major polarities.

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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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arXiv2016

Magnetic field reconstruction based on sunspot oscillations

The magnetic field of a sunspot guides magnetohydrodynamic waves toward higher atmospheric layers. In the upper photosphere and lower chromosphere, wave modes with periods longer than the acoustic cut-off period become evanescent. The cut-off period essentially changes due to the atmospheric properties, e.g., increases for larger zenith inclinations of the magnetic field. In this work, we aim at introducing a novel technique of reconstructing the magnetic field inclination on the basis of the dominating wave periods in the sunspot chromosphere and upper photosphere. On 2013 August 21st, we observed an isolated, circular sunspot (NOAA11823) for 58 min in a purely spectroscopic multi-wavelength mode with the Interferometric Bidimensional Spectro-polarimeter (IBIS) at the Dunn Solar Telescope. By means of a wavelet power analysis, we retrieved the dominating wave periods and reconstructed the zenith inclinations in the chromosphere and upper photosphere. The results are in good agreement with the lower photospheric HMI magnetograms. The sunspot's magnetic field in the chromosphere inclines from almost vertical (0$^{\circ}$) in the umbra to around 60$^{\circ}$ in the outer penumbra. With increasing altitude in the sunspot atmosphere, the magnetic field of the penumbra becomes less inclined. We conclude that the reconstruction of the magnetic field topology on the basis of sunspot oscillations yields consistent and conclusive results. The technique opens up a new possibility to infer the magnetic field inclination in the solar chromosphere.

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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

The GREGOR Fabry-Pérot Interferometer

The GREGOR Fabry-Pérot Interferometer (GFPI) is one of three first-light instruments of the German 1.5-meter GREGOR solar telescope at the Observatorio del Teide, Tenerife, Spain. The GFPI uses two tunable etalons in collimated mounting. Thanks to its large-format, high-cadence CCD detectors with sophisticated computer hard- and software it is capable of scanning spectral lines with a cadence that is sufficient to capture the dynamic evolution of the solar atmosphere. The field-of-view (FOV) of 50" x 38" is well suited for quiet Sun and sunspot observations. However, in the vector spectropolarimetric mode the FOV reduces to 25" x 38". The spectral coverage in the spectroscopic mode extends from 530-860 nm with a theoretical spectral resolution R of about 250,000, whereas in the vector spectropolarimetric mode the wavelength range is at present limited to 580-660 nm. The combination of fast narrow-band imaging and post-factum image restoration has the potential for discovery science concerning the dynamic Sun and its magnetic field at spatial scales down to about 50 km on the solar surface.

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arXiv2012

Comparing simultaneous measurements by two high-resolution imaging spectropolarimeters: the `Goettingen' FPI@VTT and CRISP@SST

In July 2009, the leading spot of the active region NOAA11024 was observed simultaneously and independently with the 'Goettingen' FPI at VTT and CRISP at SST, i.e., at two different sites, telescopes, instruments and using different spectral lines. The data processing and data analysis have been carried out independently with different techniques. Maps of physical parameters retrieved from 2D spectro-polarimetric data observed with 'Goettingen' FPI and CRISP show an impressive agreement. In addition, the 'Goettingen' FPI maps also exhibit a notable resemblance with simultaneous TIP (spectrographic) observations. The consistency in the results demonstrates the excellent capabilities of these observing facilities. Besides, it confirms the solar origin of the detected signals, and the reliability of FPI-based spectro-polarimeters.

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arXiv2010

Detection of large acoustic energy flux in the solar atmosphere

We study the energy flux carried by acoustic waves excited by convective motions at sub-photospheric levels. The analysis of high-resolution spectropolarimetric data taken with IMaX/Sunrise provides a total energy flux of ~ 6400--7700 Wm$^{-2}$ at a height of ~ 250 km in the 5.2-10 mHz range, i.e. at least twice the largest energy flux found in previous works. Our estimate lies within a factor of 2 of the energy flux needed to balance radiative losses from the chromosphere according to Anderson & Athay (1989) and revives interest in acoustic waves for transporting energy to the chromosphere. The acoustic flux is mainly found in the intergranular lanes but also in small rapidly-evolving granules and at the bright borders, forming dark dots and lanes of splitting granules.

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