High-resolution spectro-polarimetry of a flaring sunspot penumbra

TL;DR

This study provides high-resolution spectro-polarimetric observations of a sunspot during a weak flare, revealing detailed magnetic and flow structures associated with flare initiation and confinement.

Contribution

It presents the first high-resolution spectro-polarimetric analysis of a confined flare in a sunspot penumbra, linking magnetic discontinuities and flux emergence to flare triggering.

Findings

Confined flare associated with a separatrix boundary.

Magnetic azimuth discontinuities coincide with flare ribbons.

Flux emergence and magnetic shear trigger the flare.

Abstract

We present simultaneous photospheric and chromospheric observations of the trailing sunspot in NOAA 10904 during a weak flare eruption (GOES magnitude B7.8), obtained with the Swedish Solar Telescope (SST) in La Palma, Canary Islands. High-resolution \ion{Ca}{ii} $H$ images show a typical two-ribbon structure that has been hitherto only known for larger flares, and the flare appears in a confined region that is discernible by a bright border. The underlying photosphere shows a disturbed penumbral structure with intersecting branches of penumbral filaments. High-resolution Doppler- and vector-magnetograms exhibit oppositely directed Evershed flows and magnetic field vectors in the individual penumbral branches, resulting in several regions of magnetic azimuth discontinuity and several islands where the vertical magnetic field is reversed. The discontinuity regions are co-spatial with the locations of the onset of the flare ribbons. From the results, we conclude that the confined flare region is detached from the global magnetic field structure by a separatrix marked by the bright border visible in \ion{Ca}{ii} $H$. We further conclude that the islands of reversed vertical field appear because of flux emergence and that the strong magnetic shear appearing in the regions of magnetic azimuth discontinuity triggers the flare.