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Do Quasi-Regular Structures Really Exist in the Solar Photosphere? I. Observational Evidence

2006/10/24 by А. В. Гетлинг, A. V. Getling · 2 citations
Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology · Physics and Astronomy · #Astro and Planetary Science #Geomagnetism and Paleomagnetism Studies #Solar and Space Plasma Dynamics #astro-ph

paper · pdf · doi:10.1007/s11207-006-0231-1

published as Solar Phys. 239 (2006) 93-111 · 21 page, 8 figures; accepted by "Solar Physics"

arxiv created 2006/10/24 · openalex publication_date 2006/11/28 · arxiv updated 2009/12/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/29

Abstract

Two series of solar-granulation images -- the La Palma series of 5 June 1993 and the SOHO MDI series of 17--18 January 1997 -- are analysed both qualitatively and quantitatively. New evidence is presented for the existence of long-lived, quasi-regular structures (first reported by Getling and Brandt (2002)), which no longer appear unusual in images averaged over 1--2-h time intervals. Such structures appear as families of light and dark concentric rings or families of light and dark parallel strips (``ridges'' and ``trenches'' in the brightness distributions). In some cases, rings are combined with radial ``spokes'' and can thus form ``web'' patterns. The characteristic width of a ridge or trench is somewhat larger than the typical size of granules. Running-average movies constructed from the series of images are used to seek such structures. An algorithm is developed to obtain, for automatically selected centres, the radial distributions of the azimuthally averaged intensity, which highlight the concentric-ring patterns. We also present a time-averaged granulation image processed with a software package intended for the detection of geological structures in aerospace images. A technique of running-average-based correlations between the brightness variations at various points of the granular field is developed and indications are found for a dynamical link between the emergence and sinking of hot and cool parcels of the solar plasma. In particular, such a correlation analysis confirms our suggestion that granules -- overheated blobs -- may repeatedly emerge on the solar surface. Based on our study, the critical remarks by Rast (2002) on the original paper by Getling and Brandt (2002) can be dismissed.

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