Abstract
Two sunspot models are compared-shallow and deep. According to the former, a sunspot, as a region occupied by a strong regular field and comparatively cold plasma, penetrates into the solar convection zone to a shallow depth of about 4 Mm. This corresponds to both local seismology data and a series of compelling theoretical arguments. The deep model supposes that the sunspot magnetic field penetrates to the bottom of the convective zone, with the monotone increasing with depth without being turbulized, where it attains a strength of higher than 150 kG. It is shown that the deep model contradicts some basic concepts of solar physics and cannot be an alternative to the shallow sunspot model.
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Solov’ev, A.A., Kirichek, E.A. The sunspot—shallow or deep?. Geomagn. Aeron. 54, 915–919 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1134/S0016793214070123
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1134/S0016793214070123