Studies of waves in sunspots using spectropolarimetric observations

We observe the acoustic velocity oscillations in and near active region NOAA 10960 on 8 June, 2007 using observations from the IBIS instrument at the Dunn Solar Telescope at NSO/Sacramento Peak and simultaneous Hinode BFI/SP data. Inversions were performed on the spectropolarimetric datasets in order to get magnetic field information for the AR. A time series of Doppler maps from line bisectors and Stokes V zero-crossing was constructed and allowed us to construct power maps for the AR. Past works by various authors have shown that acoustic power in the solar atmosphere is strongly influenced by magnetic field strength and inclination. Our study also explores this, but in addition, we also discuss the role of oscillations due to purely magnetized gas in the photosphere. Our preliminary results for this study are presented.

The IR Contrast of Magnetic Elements Obtained from High Spatial Resolution Observations at 1.6 μm

We report on new improved infrared (IR) imaging observations (1.6 μm) carried out with the National Solar Observatory's Vacuum Tower Telescope at Sacramento Peak, New Mexico (NSO/SP). Examples of high spatial resolution (up to 0.4″ images are shown, and results of comparisons between infrared and continuum at 526 nm and between infrared and the locations of enhanced magnetic field (“fluxtube regions” as defined by Mg I b1 line imaging) are given and discussed. Our results indicate that, close to disk center, magnetic elements have a positive contrast at the opacity minimum. This is contrary to the findings of several other authors (e.g., Worden 1975, Foukal et al. 1990). We emphasize the necessity of multi-color, high spatial and temporal resolution observations. The potential of present “almost-on-a-routine-basis” IR observations utilizing a fast video acquisition system developed at NSO/SP is pointed out.

High Resolution Observations of the Photosphere

High resolution observations, theoretical models, and simulations are discovering many new and exciting phenomena in the solar atmosphere. In recent years, there have been a number of very high quality observations of the solar surface and lower photosphere made on the ground at Sacramento Peak Observatory, Pic du Midi, and at the Swedish Solar Observatory, La Palma. In space the Solar Optical Universal Polarimeter (SOUP) has made diffraction limited (30 cm aperture) time sequences completely free from atmospheric disturbances. The recognition that significant progress is possible in non-linear dynamics has encouraged a number of theoretical groups to attack the problem of convection in the solar atmosphere. Two, two and a half, and three dimensional simulations yield the geometry of the flow below the surface and a prediction of the response of the atmosphere above the surface. Models of magnetic flux tubes are now very sophisticated, and modern high resolution observations should be able to test these theories. The development of the technique of Local Correlation Tracking (LCT) has allowed the direct measurement of horizontal velocities in the atmosphere near disk center. The combination of Doppler and LCT measurements allows a direct measurement of the photospheric vector flow field. Measurements from SOUP, Sacramento Peak, Pic du Midi, and La Palma have shown that mesoscale flows cover the surface and that there exist still larger scale flows associated with emerging pores and active regions. Much of the recent experimental and theoretical progress in processing and understanding high resolution data has resulted from the availability of powerful scientific workstations for user interaction, large amounts of memory for image storage, and supercomputers for the massive fluid dynamics calculations. We are now in the very early stages of learning how to use these new computer tools to identify and follow processes in the solar atmosphere.

On the Location of the foot-points of Sub-Arc-Second Magnetic Structures in the Quiet Sun Photosphere

We present the results of our study of a long sequence of high spatial resolution filtergrams obtained with the Universal Birefringent filter (UBF) at the Vacuum Tower Telescope of the National Solar Observatory, Sacramento Peak on July 14, 1987. The UBF has a band pass of 0.25A and was set sequentially in the following wavelengths, and filtergrams were obtained at each of the settings.