Bibcode
DOI
Socas-Navarro, H.; Manso Sainz, R.
Bibliographical reference
The Astrophysical Journal, Volume 620, Issue 1, pp. L71-L74.
Advertised on:
2
2005
Journal
Citations
23
Refereed citations
21
Description
We present observations of the quiet solar photosphere in the Fe I lines
at 6302 Å where at least four different spatial locations exhibit
upward-directed supersonic flows. These upflows can only be detected in
the circular polarization profiles as a double-peaked structure in the
blue lobe of both Fe I lines. We have detected cases of either magnetic
polarity in the data. The polarization signals associated with the
upflows are very weak, which is probably why they had not been seen
before in this type of observation. We propose that the observed flows
are the signature of aborted convective collapse, similar to the case
reported by Bellot Rubio et al. Our data indicate that this phenomenon
occurs frequently in the quiet Sun, which means that many magnetic
elements (although the fraction is still unknown) are destroyed even
before they are formed completely. The spectral signatures of supersonic
upflows reported here are probably present in most spectropolarimetric
observations of sufficient signal-to-noise ratio and spatial resolution.