Vector Magnetic Field in Emerging Flux Regions

Schmieder, B. and E. Pariat, Vector Magnetic Field in Emerging Flux Regions, Astrophysics and Space Science Proceedings, 19, 505-506 (2010) (ADS)

The cartoon

(click on the image for a larger version)

The "emergence" of solar magnetic flux is how solar physicists describe the increase of B at the photosphere, as observed via Zeeman-split line profiles. This obviously complicated subject comes replete with other jargon, such as "flux submergence," "flux cancellation," "bipole," "Ellermann Bomb" (EB), "moustache," "arch filament system," "moving magnetic feature" (MMF), and so forth. It is not for nothing that we hear the "dermatology" smear!

      The newly-emerged flux can quickly lead to flares, on a time scale of a day or so in a major active region. This elegant and well-organized cartoon sketches some of the problems in the presently ill-understood physics here, which in the modern era has begun the hard task of incorporating 3D structures with ion-neutral electrodynamics.

Date: 2008 January 01

Update: 2019 November 27