Propagating Spectropolarimetric Disturbances in a Large Sunspot

TL;DR

This study analyzes long-duration spectropolarimetric data of a large sunspot, revealing propagating magneto-hydrodynamic disturbances through polarization and intensity oscillations across multiple heights.

Contribution

It provides the first detailed observation of downward-propagating MHD surface modes in a large sunspot using multi-height spectropolarimetric measurements.

Findings

Detection of circular polarization oscillations at the umbra-penumbra boundary.

Observation of downward propagation of CP and intensity disturbances at 2.5-3 mHz.

Identification of a propagating magneto-hydrodynamic surface mode.

Abstract

We present results derived from the analysis of spectropolarimetric measurements of active region AR12546, which represents one of the largest sunspots to have emerged onto the solar surface over the last $20$ years. The region was observed with full-Stokes scans of the Fe I 617.3 nm and Ca II 854.2 nm lines with the Interferometric BIdimensional Spectrometer (IBIS) instrument at the Dunn Solar Telescope over an uncommon, extremely long time interval exceeding three hours. Clear circular polarization (CP) oscillations localized at the umbra-penumbra boundary of the observed region were detected. Furthermore, the multi-height data allowed us to detect the downward propagation of both CP and intensity disturbances at $2.5-3$~mHz, which was identified by a phase delay between these two quantities. These results are interpreted as a propagating magneto-hydrodynamic surface mode in the observed sunspot.