Fully Resolved Quiet-Sun Magnetic flux Tube Observed with the SUNRISE/IMAX Instrument

Lagg, A.; Solanki, S. K.; Riethmüller, T. L.; Martínez-Pillet, V.; Schüssler, M.; Hirzberger, J.; Feller, A.; Borrero, J. M.; Schmidt, W.; del Toro Iniesta, J. C.; Bonet, J. A.; Barthol, P.; Berkefeld, T.; Domingo, V.; Gandorfer, A.; Knölker, M.; Title, A. M.
Bibliographical reference

The Astrophysical Journal Letters, Volume 723, Issue 2, pp. L164-L168 (2010).

Advertised on:
11
2010
Number of authors
17
IAC number of authors
2
Citations
100
Refereed citations
88
Description
Until today, the small size of magnetic elements in quiet-Sun areas has required the application of indirect methods, such as the line-ratio technique or multi-component inversions, to infer their physical properties. A consistent match to the observed Stokes profiles could only be obtained by introducing a magnetic filling factor that specifies the fraction of the observed pixel filled with magnetic field. Here, we investigate the properties of a small magnetic patch in the quiet Sun observed with the IMaX magnetograph on board the balloon-borne telescope SUNRISE with unprecedented spatial resolution and low instrumental stray light. We apply an inversion technique based on the numerical solution of the radiative transfer equation to retrieve the temperature stratification and the field strength in the magnetic patch. The observations can be well reproduced with a one-component, fully magnetized atmosphere with a field strength exceeding 1 kG and a significantly enhanced temperature in the mid to upper photosphere with respect to its surroundings, consistent with semi-empirical flux tube models for plage regions. We therefore conclude that, within the framework of a simple atmospheric model, the IMaX measurements resolve the observed quiet-Sun flux tube.
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