2003/04/25 by V. I. Zhukov, В. И. Жуков, Zhukov, V. I.
Physics and Astronomy · #Astrophysics (astro-ph) #FOS: Physical sciences #Historical Astronomy and Related Studies #Solar and Space Plasma Dynamics #astro-ph
paper · pdf · doi:10.48550/arxiv.astro-ph/0304456
10 pages in LaTeX, 5 figures (JPEG)
arxiv created 2003/04/25 · openalex publication_date 2003/04/25 · arxiv updated 2009/12/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28
The process of sunspot formation is considered with the account of heat effects. According to the Le Chatelier principle, a local overheating must precede to the cooling of solar surface in the places of sunspot formation. The sunspot dynamics is a process close to the surface nucleate-free boiling in a thin layer with formation of bubbles (or craters), so we focus on the analogy between these two processes. Solar spots and surface nucleate-free boiling in a thin layer have similarities in formation conditions, results of impact on the surface were they have been formed, periodicity, and their place in the hierarchy of self-organization in complex systems. The difference is in the working medium and method of channelling of extra energy from the overheated surface -for boiling process, the energy is forwarded to generation of vapor, and in sunspots the solar energy is consumed to formation of a strong magnetic field. This analogy explains the problem of a steady brightness (temperature) of a spot that is independent of the spot size and other characteristics.