Abstract
Solar flares occur due to the sudden release of energy stored in active-region magnetic fields. To date, the precursors to flaring are still not fully understood, although there is evidence that flaring is related to changes in the topology or complexity of an active-region’s magnetic field. Here, the evolution of the magnetic field in active region NOAA 10953 was examined using Hinode/SOT-SP data over a period of 12 hours leading up to and after a GOES B1.0 flare. A number of magnetic-field properties and low-order aspects of magnetic-field topology were extracted from two flux regions that exhibited increased Ca ii H emission during the flare. Pre-flare increases in vertical field strength, vertical current density, and inclination angle of ≈ 8° toward the vertical were observed in flux elements surrounding the primary sunspot. The vertical field strength and current density subsequently decreased in the post-flare state, with the inclination becoming more horizontal by ≈ 7°. This behavior of the field vector may provide a physical basis for future flare-forecasting efforts.
Solar Flare Magnetic Fields and Plasmas
Guest Editors: Y. Fan and G.H. Fisher
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
References
Amari, T., Luciani, J.F., Aly, J.J., Mikic, Z., Linker, J.: 2003, Astrophys. J. 585, 1073. doi:10.1086/345501.
Antiochos, S.K.: 1998, Astrophys. J. Lett. 502, L181. doi:10.1086/311507.
Aschwanden, M.J.: 2005, Physics of the Solar Corona. An Introduction with Problems and Solutions (2nd edn.), Springer, New York.
Canfield, R.C., Pevtsov, A.A.: 1998, In: Balasubramaniam, K.S., Harvey, J., Rabin, D. (eds.) Synoptic Solar Physics CS-140, Astron. Soc. Pac., San Francisco, 131.
Canfield, R.C., Leka, K.D., Wülser, J.: 1991, In: Uchida, Y., Canfield, R.C., Watanabe, T., Hiei, E. (eds.) Flare Physics in Solar Activity Maximum 22, Lecture Notes in Physics 387, Springer, Berlin, 96. doi:10.1007/BFb0032602.
Canfield, R.C., de La Beaujardiere, J., Fan, Y., Leka, K.D., McClymont, A.N., Metcalf, T.R., Mickey, D.L., Wuelser, J., Lites, B.W.: 1993, Astrophys. J. 411, 362. doi:10.1086/172836.
Canou, A., Amari, T.: 2010, Astrophys. J. 715, 1566. doi:10.1088/0004-637X/715/2/1566.
Chandra, R., Schmieder, B., Aulanier, G., Malherbe, J.M.: 2009, Solar Phys. 258, 53. doi:10.1007/s11207-009-9392-z.
Charbonneau, P.: 1995, Astrophys. J. Suppl. 101, 309. doi:10.1086/192242.
Conlon, P.A., Gallagher, P.T., McAteer, R.T.J., Ireland, J., Young, C.A., Kestener, P., Hewett, R.J., Maguire, K.: 2008, Solar Phys. 248, 297. doi:10.1007/s11207-007-9074-7.
Conlon, P.A., McAteer, R.T.J., Gallagher, P.T., Fennell, L.: 2010, Astrophys. J. 722, 577. doi:10.1088/0004-637X/722/1/577.
Crouch, A.D., Barnes, G.: 2008, Solar Phys. 247, 25. doi:10.1007/s11207-007-9096-1.
Freeland, S.L., Handy, B.N.: 1998, Solar Phys. 182, 497.
Gallagher, P.T., Moon, Y., Wang, H.: 2002, Solar Phys. 209, 171. doi:10.1023/A:1020950221179.
Gary, G.A., Hagyard, M.J.: 1990, Solar Phys. 126, 21.
Georgoulis, M.K., LaBonte, B.J.: 2007, Astrophys. J. 671, 1034. doi:10.1086/521417.
Hewett, R.J., Gallagher, P.T., McAteer, R.T.J., Young, C.A., Ireland, J., Conlon, P.A., Maguire, K.: 2008, Solar Phys. 248, 311. doi:10.1007/s11207-007-9028-0.
Hudson, H.S., Fisher, G.H., Welsch, B.T.: 2008, In: Howe, R., Komm, R.W., Balasubramaniam, K.S., Petrie, G.J.D. (eds.) Subsurface and Atmospheric Influences on Solar Activity CS-383, Astron. Soc. Pac., San Francisco, 221.
Kosugi, T., Matsuzaki, K., Sakao, T., Shimizu, T., Sone, Y., Tachikawa, S., Hashimoto, T., Minesugi, K., Ohnishi, A., Yamada, T., Tsuneta, S., Hara, H., Ichimoto, K., Suematsu, Y., Shimojo, M., Watanabe, T., Shimada, S., Davis, J.M., Hill, L.D., Owens, J.K., Title, A.M., Culhane, J.L., Harra, L.K., Doschek, G.A., Golub, L.: 2007, Solar Phys. 243, 3. doi:10.1007/s11207-007-9014-6.
Lagg, A., Woch, J., Krupp, N., Solanki, S.K.: 2004, Astron. Astrophys. 414, 1109. doi:10.1051/0004-6361:20031643.
Leka, K.D., Barnes, G., Crouch, A.: 2009, In: Lites, B., Cheung, M., Magara, T., Mariska, J., Reeves, K. (eds.) The Second Hinode Science Meeting: Beyond Discovery – Toward Understanding CS-415, Astron. Soc. Pac., San Francisco, 365.
Leka, K.D., Barnes, G., Crouch, A.D., Metcalf, T.R., Gary, G.A., Jing, J., Liu, Y.: 2009, Solar Phys. 260, 83. doi:10.1007/s11207-009-9440-8.
Li, J., Metcalf, T.R., Canfield, R.C., Wuelser, J., Kosugi, T.: 1997, Astrophys. J. 482, 490. doi:10.1086/304131.
Li, Y., Jing, J., Tan, C., Wang, H.: 2009, Sci. China Ser. G 52, 1702. doi:10.1007/s11433-009-0238-3.
Liu, C., Deng, N., Liu, Y., Falconer, D., Goode, P.R., Denker, C., Wang, H.: 2005, Astrophys. J. 622, 722. doi:10.1086/427868.
Liu, Y., Zhang, H.: 2001, Astron. Astrophys. 372, 1019. doi:10.1051/0004-6361:20010550.
Mandrini, C.H.: 2006, In: Choudhary, D.P., Sobotka, M. (eds.) IAU Joint Discussion 3 – Solar Active Regions and 3D Magnetic Structure, Highlights in Astronomy 14, Cambridge Univ. Press, New York, 3.
Metcalf, T.R.: 1994, Solar Phys. 155, 235. doi:10.1007/BF00680593.
Metcalf, T.R., Canfield, R.C., Hudson, H.S., Mickey, D.L., Wulser, J., Martens, P.C.H., Tsuneta, S.: 1994, Astrophys. J. 428, 860. doi:10.1086/174295.
Metcalf, T.R., Leka, K.D., Barnes, G., Lites, B.W., Georgoulis, M.K., Pevtsov, A.A., Balasubramaniam, K.S., Gary, G.A., Jing, J., Li, J., Liu, Y., Wang, H.N., Abramenko, V., Yurchyshyn, V., Moon, Y.: 2006, Solar Phys. 237, 267. doi:10.1007/s11207-006-0170-x.
Okamoto, T.J., Tsuneta, S., Lites, B.W., Kubo, M., Yokoyama, T., Berger, T.E., Ichimoto, K., Katsukawa, Y., Nagata, S., Shibata, K., Shimizu, T., Shine, R.A., Suematsu, Y., Tarbell, T.D., Title, A.M.: 2009, Astrophys. J. 697, 913. doi:10.1088/0004-637X/697/1/913.
Petrie, G., Sudol, J.J.: 2009, Bull. Am. Astron. Soc. 40, 26.
Pevtsov, A.A., Canfield, R.C., Zirin, H.: 1996, Astrophys. J. 473, 533. doi:10.1086/178164.
Priest, E.R., Forbes, T.G.: 2002, Astron. Astrophys. Rev. 10, 313. doi:10.1007/s001590100013.
Régnier, S., Canfield, R.C.: 2006, Astron. Astrophys. 451, 319. doi:10.1051/0004-6361:20054171.
Régnier, S., Priest, E.R.: 2007, Astron. Astrophys. 468, 701. doi:10.1051/0004-6361:20077318.
Rust, D.M.: 1992, Adv. Space Res. 12, 289. doi:10.1016/0273-1177(92)90119-I.
Rust, D.M., Sakurai, T., Gaizauskas, V., Hofmann, A., Martin, S.F., Priest, E.R., Wang, J.: 1994, Solar Phys. 153, 1. doi:10.1007/BF00712489.
Schmieder, B., Demoulin, P., Aulanier, G., Golub, L.: 1996, Astrophys. J. 467, 881. doi:10.1086/177662.
Schrijver, C.J.: 2007, Astrophys. J. Lett. 655, L117. doi:10.1086/511857.
Schrijver, C.J.: 2009, Adv. Space Res. 43, 739. doi:10.1016/j.asr.2008.11.004.
Schrijver, C.J., Zwaan, C.: 2000, Solar and Stellar Magnetic Activity, Cambridge Univ. Press, Cambridge.
Su, Y., van Ballegooijen, A., Lites, B.W., Deluca, E.E., Golub, L., Grigis, P.C., Huang, G., Ji, H.: 2009, Astrophys. J. 691, 105. doi:10.1088/0004-637X/691/1/105.
Sudol, J.J., Harvey, J.W.: 2005, Astrophys. J. 635, 647. doi:10.1086/497361.
Suematsu, Y., Tsuneta, S., Ichimoto, K., Shimizu, T., Otsubo, M., Katsukawa, Y., Nakagiri, M., Noguchi, M., Tamura, T., Kato, Y., Hara, H., Kubo, M., Mikami, I., Saito, H., Matsushita, T., Kawaguchi, N., Nakaoji, T., Nagae, K., Shimada, S., Takeyama, N., Yamamuro, T.: 2008, Solar Phys. 249, 197. doi:10.1007/s11207-008-9129-4.
Tanaka, K.: 1986, Astrophys. Space Sci. 118, 101. doi:10.1007/BF00651116.
Tsuneta, S., Ichimoto, K., Katsukawa, Y., Nagata, S., Otsubo, M., Shimizu, T., Suematsu, Y., Nakagiri, M., Noguchi, M., Tarbell, T., Title, A., Shine, R., Rosenberg, W., Hoffmann, C., Jurcevich, B., Kushner, G., Levay, M., Lites, B., Elmore, D., Matsushita, T., Kawaguchi, N., Saito, H., Mikami, I., Hill, L.D., Owens, J.K.: 2008, Solar Phys. 249, 167. doi:10.1007/s11207-008-9174-z.
Unno, W.: 1956, Publ. Astron. Soc. Japan 8, 108.
Wang, H., Ewell, M.W. Jr., Zirin, H., Ai, G.: 1994, Astrophys. J. 424, 436. doi:10.1086/173901.
Wang, H., Spirock, T.J., Qiu, J., Ji, H., Yurchyshyn, V., Moon, Y., Denker, C., Goode, P.R.: 2002, Astrophys. J. 576, 497. doi:10.1086/341735.
Zirin, H., Wang, H.: 1993, Nature 363, 426. doi:10.1038/363426a0.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2011 Springer Science+Business Media B.V.
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Murray, S.A., Bloomfield, D.S., Gallagher, P.T. (2011). The Evolution of Sunspot Magnetic Fields Associated with a Solar Flare. In: Fan, Y., Fisher, G. (eds) Solar Flare Magnetic Fields and Plasmas. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-3761-1_5
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-3761-1_5
Publisher Name: Springer, New York, NY
Print ISBN: 978-1-4614-3760-4
Online ISBN: 978-1-4614-3761-1
eBook Packages: Physics and AstronomyPhysics and Astronomy (R0)