Narrow lanes of transverse magnetic field in sunspots
Zirin, H. and H. Wang, Narrow lanes of transverse magnetic field in sunspots, Nature, 363, 426-428 (1993) (ADS)
(click on the image for a larger version)
This cartoon describes "channels", narrow clefts of strong shear and powerful
horizontal currents.
The Archivist is not sure if this cartoon does justice to the significance
of the discovery of "a series of oppositely directed vertical-field
inversions separated by extremely narrow elongated channels of intense
horizontal fields."
The horizontal scale of the cartoon represents only a few arc sec.
Such channels form multiple
polarity inversion lines (PILs) on
fine spatial scales, and challenge the significance of a PIL generally.
Anyway,
DKIST is coming soon, along with a new solar
cycle, and this should help to clarify the physics here; the data reported
in the cartoon's paper could hardly resolve these narrow structures.
This cartoon describes "channels", narrow clefts of strong shear and powerful horizontal currents. The Archivist is not sure if this cartoon does justice to the significance of the discovery of "a series of oppositely directed vertical-field inversions separated by extremely narrow elongated channels of intense horizontal fields." The horizontal scale of the cartoon represents only a few arc sec. Such channels form multiple polarity inversion lines (PILs) on fine spatial scales, and challenge the significance of a PIL generally. Anyway, DKIST is coming soon, along with a new solar cycle, and this should help to clarify the physics here; the data reported in the cartoon's paper could hardly resolve these narrow structures.