Observations of Extremely Strong Magnetic Fields in Active Region NOAA 12673 Using GST Magnetic Field Measurement |
|
Vasyl Yurchyshyn Submitted: 2022-04-14 08:12
We present a detailed study of very strong magnetic fields in the NOAA Active Region (AR) 12673, which was the
most flare productive AR in solar cycle 24. It produced four X-class flares including the X9.3 flare on 2017
September 6 and the X8.2 limb event on September 10. Our analysis is based on direct measurements of full
Zeeman splitting of the Fe I 1564.85 nm line using all Stokes I, Q, U, and V profiles. This approach allowed us to
obtain reliable estimates of the magnitude of magnetic fields independent of the filling factor and atmosphere
models. Thus, the strongest fields up to 5.5 kG were found in a light bridge (LB) of a spot, while in the dark umbra
magnetic fields did not exceed 4 kG. In the case of the LB, the magnitude of the magnetic field is not related to the
underlying continuum intensity, while in the case of umbral fields we observed a well-known anticorrelation between the continuum intensity and the field magnitude. In this study, the LB was cospatial with a polarity inversion line of a delta-sunspot, and we speculate that the 5.5 kG strong horizontal fields may be associated with a compact twisted flux rope at or near the photosphere. A comparison of the depth of the Zeeman π and \sigma components showed that in the LB magnetic fields are, on average, more horizontal than those in the dark umbra.
Authors: Vsevolod Lozitsky, Vasyl Yurchyshyn, Kwangsu Ahn, and Haimin Wang
Projects: BBSO/NST
|
Publication Status: Published in ApJ
Last Modified: 2022-04-15 08:28
|
 
 
 
 
|
|