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“Cool” Gas May Be At The Root Of Sunspots
During the initial stage of sunspot emergence and cooling, the formation of H2 may trigger a temporary “runaway” magnetic field intensification. The magnetic field prevents the flow of energy from inside the sun to the outside, and the sunspot cools as the energy shines into space. They form hydrogen molecules that take half the volume of the atoms, thus dropping pressure and concentrating the magnetic field, and so on. (adapted from Jaeggli, 2011; sunspot image by F. Woeger et al
Although well over 40 years old, the Dunn Solar Telescope at Sunspot, New Mexico isn’t going to be looking at a early retirement. On the contrary, it has been outfitted with the new Facility Infrared Spectropolarimeter (FIRS) and is already making news on its solar findings. FIRS provides simultaneous spectral coverage at visible and infrared wavelengths through the use of a unique dual-armed spectrograph. By utilizing adaptive optics to overcome atmospheric “seeing” conditions, the team took on seven active regions on the Sun – one in 2001 and six during December 2010 to December 2011 – as Sunspot Cycle 23 faded away. The full sunspot sample has 56 observations of 23 different active regions… and showed that hydrogen might act as a type of energy dissipation device which helps the Sun get a magnetic grip on its spots. (…)
Read the rest of “Cool” Gas May Be At The Root Of Sunspots (925 words)
© tammy for Universe Today, 2012. | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: convection, Dunn Solar Telescope, Hydrogen, magnetism, solar cycle, Solar Spectra, Spectropolarimeter, sunspots
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