Photometric properties of magnetic elements: resolved and unresolved features

TL;DR

This paper uses numerical simulations to analyze how magnetic flux tubes in the solar photosphere appear in observations, considering physical properties and observational factors like resolution and wavelength, to improve interpretation of solar magnetic features.

Contribution

It provides a detailed analysis of the photometric signatures of magnetic flux tubes, accounting for observational effects, to aid in disentangling physical and observational influences in solar observations.

Findings

Contrast profiles depend on physical properties and observation specifics.

Observation resolution and wavelength significantly influence detected signatures.

Simulation results help interpret multi-wavelength solar magnetic observations.

Abstract

We investigate, by numerical simulations, the photometric signature of magnetic flux tubes in the solar photosphere. We show that the observed contrast profiles are determined not only by the physical properties of the tube and its surroundings, but also by the peculiarities of the observations, including the line/continuum formation height and the spatial and spectral resolution. The aim is to understand these contributions well enough so that multi-wavelength observations can begin to disentangle them.