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Material flow in sunspots
Author(s) -
Schmidt W.
Publication year - 2003
Publication title -
astronomische nachrichten
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.394
H-Index - 63
eISSN - 1521-3994
pISSN - 0004-6337
DOI - 10.1002/asna.200310133
Subject(s) - penumbra , sunspot , flow (mathematics) , physics , astrophysics , mass flow , mechanics , magnetic field , medicine , ischemia , quantum mechanics , cardiology
Observations nowadays reveal more and more details about the small‐scale structure of the penumbra and umbra. Recent measurements of the motions in the penumbra indicate that (i) the Evershed flow is confined to a thin photospheric layer and (ii) the material rises from and sinks to subphotospheric layers within the penumbra. This flow pattern solves the question of the mass budget of the Evershed flow in a natural way. The nature of umbral dots and their role for the spot's energy budget remains unclear, since they are obviously unresolved even in the best existing measurements.