Bibcode
Martínez Pillet, V.; Katsukawa, Y.; Puschmann, K. G.; Ruiz Cobo, B.
Bibliographical reference
The Astrophysical Journal Letters, Volume 701, Issue 2, pp. L79-L82 (2009).
Advertised on:
8
2009
Citations
15
Refereed citations
9
Description
We report on the discovery of mostly horizontal field channels just
outside sunspot penumbrae (in the so-called "moat" region) that are seen
to sustain supersonic flows (line-of-sight component of 6 km
s-1). The spectral signature of these supersonic flows
corresponds to circular polarization profiles with an additional,
satellite, third lobe of the same sign as the parent sunspot' Stokes V
blue lobe, for both downflows and upflows. This is consistent with an
outward directed flow that we interpret as the continuation of the
magnetized Evershed flow outside sunspots at supersonic speeds. In
Stokes Q and U, a clear signature of a transverse field connecting the
two flow streams is observed. Such an easily detectable spectral
signature should allow for a clear identification of these horizontal
field channels in other spectropolarimetric sunspot data. For the spot
analyzed in this paper, a total of five channels with this spectral
signature have been unambiguously found.
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