Analysis of a Fragmenting Sunspot using Hinode Observations

TL;DR

This study uses Hinode observations to analyze the detailed evolution and fragmentation process of a sunspot over eight days, revealing the roles of light bridges, magnetic field changes, and convection in sunspot decay.

Contribution

It provides a detailed observational analysis of sunspot fragmentation, highlighting the magnetic and convective processes involved, which were not previously documented with such high resolution.

Findings

Light bridge formation correlates with a sharp increase in brightness and a decrease in magnetic field strength.

The smaller umbral core detached after light bridge formation, leading to sunspot fragmentation.

Penumbra decay and regeneration are linked to magnetic field inclination changes.

Abstract

We employ high resolution filtergrams and polarimetric measurements from Hinode to follow the evolution of a sunspot for eight days starting on June 28, 2007. The imaging data were corrected for intensity gradients, projection effects, and instrumental stray light prior to the analysis. The observations show the formation of a light bridge at one corner of the sunspot by a slow intrusion of neighbouring penumbral filaments. This divided the umbra into two individual umbral cores. During the light bridge formation, there was a steep increase in its intensity from 0.28 to 0.7 I_QS in nearly 4 hr, followed by a gradual increase to quiet Sun (QS) values in 13 hr. This increase in intensity was accompanied by a large reduction in the field strength from 1800 G to 300 G. The smaller umbral core gradually broke away from the parent sunspot nearly 2 days after the formation of the light bridge rendering the parent spot without a penumbra at the location of fragmentation. The penumbra in the fragment disappeared first within 34 hr, followed by the fragment whose area decayed exponentially with a time constant of 22 hr. The depleted penumbra in the parent sunspot regenerated when the inclination of the magnetic field at the penumbra-QS boundary became within 40 deg. from being completely horizontal and this occurred near the end of the fragment's lifetime. After the disappearance of the fragment, another light bridge formed in the parent which had similar properties as the fragmenting one, but did not divide the sunspot. The significant weakening in field strength in the light bridge along with the presence of granulation is suggestive of strong convection in the sunspot which might have triggered the expulsion and fragmentation of the smaller spot. Although the presence of QS photospheric conditions in sunspot umbrae could be a necessary condition for fragmentation, it is not a sufficient one.