Hinode Observations of Horizontal Quiet Sun Magnetic Flux and the ``Hidden Turbulent Magnetic Flux''

Lites, Bruce; Socas-Navarro, Hector; Kubo, Masahito; Berger, Thomas; Frank, Zoe; Shine, Richard A.; Tarbell, Theodore D.; Title, Alan M.; Ichimoto, Kiyoshi; Katsukawa, Yukio; Tsuneta, Saku; Suematsu, Yoshinori; Shimizu, Toshifumi
Referencia bibliográfica

Publications of the Astronomical Society of Japan, Vol.59, No.SP3, pp.S571--S576

Fecha de publicación:
11
2007
Número de autores
13
Número de autores del IAC
0
Número de citas
59
Número de citas referidas
44
Descripción
We present observations of magnetic fields of the very quiet Sun near disk center using the Spectro-Polarimeter of the Solar Optical Telescope aboard the Hinode satellite. These observations reveal for the first time the ubiquitous presence of horizontal magnetic fields in the internetwork regions. The horizontal fields are spatially distinct from the vertical fields, demonstrating that they are not arising mainly from buffeting of vertical flux tubes by the granular convection. The horizontal component has an average ``apparent flux density'' of 55Mxcm-2 (assuming the horizontal field structures are spatially resolved), in contrast to the average apparent vertical flux density of 11Mxcm-2. The vertical fields reside mainly in the intergranular lanes, whereas the horizontal fields occur mainly over the bright granules, with a preference to be near the outside edge of the bright granules. The large apparent imbalance of vertical and horizontal flux densities is discussed, and several scenarios are presented to explain this imbalance.