Small Scale Field Emergence and Its Impact on Photospheric Granulation

TL;DR

This study investigates how small-scale magnetic flux emergence affects solar granulation, revealing different footprint types depending on the flux intensity, with implications for understanding solar surface dynamics.

Contribution

It provides new observational evidence linking small-scale magnetic flux emergence to specific changes in solar granulation patterns.

Findings

Emerging flux creates distinct granulation footprints.

Stronger fields form filamentary structures with bright points.

Weaker fields produce bright patches inside granules.

Abstract

We used photospheric intensity images and magnetic field measurements from the New Solar Telescope in Big Bear and Helioseismic Magnetic Imager on board Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) to study the the effect that the new small-scale emerging flux induces on solar granulation. We report that emerging flux appears to leave different types of footprint on solar granulation: i) diffuse irregular patches of increased brightness, ii) well defined filament-like structures and accompanied bright points, and iii) bright point-like features that appear inside granules. We suggest that the type of the footprint depends on the intensity of emerging fields. Stronger fields, emerging as a part of large magnetic structure, create on the solar surface a well defined filamentary pattern with bright points at the ends of the filaments, while weak turbulent fields are associated with bright patches inside the host granule.