Bibcode
Bellot Rubio, L. R.; Orozco-Suárez, D.
Bibliographical reference
The Astrophysical Journal, Volume 757, Issue 1, article id. 19 (2012).
Advertised on:
9
2012
Journal
Citations
36
Refereed citations
32
Description
This paper investigates the distribution of linear polarization signals
in the quiet-Sun internetwork using ultra-deep spectropolarimetric data.
We reduce the noise of the observations as much as is feasible by adding
single-slit measurements of the Zeeman-sensitive Fe I 630 nm lines taken
by the Hinode spectropolarimeter. The integrated Stokes spectra are
employed to determine the fraction of the field of view covered by
linear polarization signals. We find that up to 69% of the quiet solar
surface at disk center shows Stokes Q or U profiles with amplitudes
larger than 0.032% (4.5 times the noise level of 7 ×
10-5 reached by the longer integrations). The mere
presence of linear polarization in most of the quiet Sun implies that
the weak internetwork fields must be highly inclined, but we quantify
this by inverting those pixels with Stokes Q or U signals well above the
noise. This allows for a precise determination of the field inclination,
field strength, and field azimuth because the information carried by all
four Stokes spectra is used simultaneously. The inversion is performed
for 53% of the observed field of view at a noise level of 1.3 ×
10-4 I c. The derived magnetic distributions
are thus representative of more than half of the quiet-Sun internetwork.
Our results confirm the conclusions drawn from previous analyses using
mainly Stokes I and V: internetwork fields are very inclined, but except
in azimuth they do not seem to be isotropically distributed.
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Magnetism, Polarization and Radiative Transfer in Astrophysics
Magnetic fields pervade all astrophysical plasmas and govern most of the variability in the Universe at intermediate time scales. They are present in stars across the whole Hertzsprung-Russell diagram, in galaxies, and even perhaps in the intergalactic medium. Polarized light provides the most reliable source of information at our disposal for the
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