Characterization of horizontal flows around solar pores from high-resolution time series of images

TL;DR

This study uses high-resolution observations to analyze horizontal flows around solar pores, finding no moat flows but inflows, and reinforcing the link between moat flows and penumbral filament flows.

Contribution

It provides new evidence that solar pores lack moat flows and highlights the influence of exploding granulation events on surrounding flows.

Findings

No moat-like flows around solar pores.

Presence of inflows surrounding pores.

Exploding granulation influences flow patterns.

Abstract

Though there is increasing evidence linking the moat flow and the Evershed flow along the penumbral filaments, there is not a clear consensus regarding the existence of a moat flow around umbral cores and pores, and the debate is still open. Solar pores appear to be a suitable scenario to test the moat-penumbra relation as evidencing the direct interaction between the umbra and the convective plasma in the surrounding photosphere, without any intermediate structure in between. The present work studies solar pores based on high resolution ground-based and satellite observations. Local correlation tracking techniques have been applied to different-duration time series to analyze the horizontal flows around several solar pores. Our results establish that the flows calculated from different solar pore observations are coherent among each other and show the determinant and overall influence of exploding events in the granulation around the pores. We do not find any sign of moat-like flows surrounding solar pores but a clearly defined region of inflows surrounding them. The connection between moat flows and flows associated to penumbral filaments is hereby reinforced by this work.