Flux Cancellation in the Solar Photosphere: a near-IR Line of Mn I as a Diagnostic Tool

Asensio Ramos, A.; Martínez González, M. J.; López Ariste, A.; Trujilo-Bueno, J.; Collados, M.
Bibliographical reference

Solar Polarization 5: In Honor of Jan Stenflo ASP Conference Series, Vol. 405, proceedings of the conference held 17-21 September, 2007 at Centro Stefano Franscini--Monte Veritá, Ascona, Switzerland. Edited by Svetlana V. Berdyugina, K. N. Nagendra, and Renzo Ramelli. San Francisco: Astronomical Society of the Pacific, 2009., p.215

Advertised on:
6
2009
Number of authors
5
IAC number of authors
0
Citations
1
Refereed citations
1
Description
Recently, cite{asensio_2_asensio_mn07} pointed out that the near-IR line of Mn I at 15262.702 Å provides a new diagnostic window for exploring the magnetism of the quiet Sun. In contrast with previously considered Mn I lines located at visible wavelengths this near-IR line has the advantage that the shape of its intensity profile is very sensitive to the presence of magnetic fields. This enhanced magnetic sensitivity is produced by the coincidence of two favorable facts: the enhanced Zeeman sensitivity of near-IR lines and because this line is subjected to particularly strong Paschen-Back perturbations due to the hyperfine structure of manganese. Of great diagnostic interest is that the intensity profile itself give us information on the unsigned magnetic flux, while the polarization profiles are sensitive to the net flux. An application to spectropolarimetric observations with the Tenerife Infrared Polarimeter has allowed us to obtain the first flux cancellation map in an enhanced network region.