Long-Term Evolution of Three Light Bridges Developed on the Same Sunspot

TL;DR

This study investigates the long-term evolution and atmospheric properties of three light bridges within the same sunspot, revealing their typical magnetic and thermal behaviors and unique individual characteristics.

Contribution

It provides detailed analysis of three light bridges' physical parameters and their evolution, using spectroscopic data and inversions, highlighting their common and distinct features.

Findings

Light bridges have magnetic and temperature properties between umbra and penumbra.

They are largely non-magnetic, especially at their axes.

Light bridges cool, with decreasing magnetic field strength and increasing inclination at higher atmospheric layers.

Abstract

One important feature of sunspots is the presence of light bridges. These structures are elongated and bright (as compared to the umbra) features that seem to be related to the formation and evolution of sunspots. In this work, we studied the long-term evolution and the stratification of different atmospheric parameters of three light bridges formed in the same host sunspot by different mechanisms. To accomplish this, we used data taken with the GREGOR Infrared Spectrograph installed at the GREGOR telescope. These data were inverted to infer the physical parameters of the atmosphere where the observed spectral profiles were formed of the three light bridges. We find that, in general, the behaviour of the three light bridges is typical of this kind of structure with the magnetic field strength, inclination, and temperature values between the values at the umbra and the penumbra. We also find that they are of a significantly non-magnetic character (particularly at the axis of the light bridges) as it is deduced from the filling factor. In addition, within the common behaviour of the physical properties of light bridges, we observe that each one exhibits a particular behaviour. Another interesting result is that the light bridge cools down, the magnetic field decreases, and the magnetic field lines get more inclined higher in the atmosphere. Finally, we studied the magnetic and non-magnetic line-of-sight velocities of the light bridges. The former shows that the magnetic component is at rest and, interestingly, its variation with optical depth shows a bi-modal behaviour. For the line-of-sight velocity of the non-magnetic component, we see that the core of the light bridge is at rest or with shallow upflows and clear downflows sinking through the edges.