Abstract
The temporal variation of the horizontal velocity in sub-surface layers beneath three different types of active region is studied using the technique of ring diagrams. In this study, we select active regions (ARs) 10923, 10930, 10935 from three consecutive Carrington rotations: AR 10930 contains a fast-rotating sunspot in a strong emerging active region while other two have non-rotating sunspots with emerging flux in AR 10923 and decaying flux in AR 10935. The depth range covered is from the surface to about 12 Mm. In order to minimize the influence of systematic effects, the selection of active and quiet regions is made so that these were observed at the same heliographic locations on the solar disk. We find a significant variation in both components of the horizontal velocity in active regions as compared to quiet regions. The magnitude is higher in emerging-flux regions than in the decaying-flux region, in agreement with earlier findings. Further, we clearly see a significant temporal variation in depth profiles of both zonal and meridional flow components in AR 10930, with the variation in the zonal component being more pronounced. We also notice a significant influence of the plasma motion in areas closest to the rotating sunspot in AR 10930, while areas surrounding the non-rotating sunspots in all three cases are least affected by the presence of the active region in their neighborhood.
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Acknowledgements
This work utilizes data obtained by the Global Oscillation Network Group (GONG) project, managed by the National Solar Observatory, which is operated by AURA, Inc. under a cooperative agreement with the National Science Foundation. The data were acquired by instruments operated by the Big Bear Solar Observatory, High Altitude Observatory, Learmonth Solar Observatory, Udaipur Solar Observatory, Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias, and Cerro Tololo Interamerican Observatory. It also utilizes data from the Solar Oscillations Investigation/Michelson Doppler Imager on the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory. SOHO is a mission of international cooperation between ESA and NASA. This work was partially supported by NASA grant NNG08EI54I and NSF Award 1062054 to the National Solar Observatory.
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Jain, K., Komm, R.W., González Hernández, I. et al. Subsurface Flows in and Around Active Regions with Rotating and Non-rotating Sunspots. Sol Phys 279, 349–363 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11207-012-0039-0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11207-012-0039-0