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High-resolution photography of the solar chromosphere

V: The fibrils around isolated sunspots

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Abstract

High-quality Hα photographs of the solar chromosphere reveal the presence around isolated sunspots of a pattern of elongated dark elements (fibrils) bearing a strong resemblance to a greatly enlarged version of the white-light penumbra. Individual fibrils have a representative length of some 25″ of arc (18000 km) and a typical separation of 2–3″. Comparison of pairs of photographs separated by intervals ranging from 0.5 min to 42 min shows that the fibrils undergo continual changes in brightness, size, and shape; their average lifetime is about 17 min. The question is raised whether the fibril structure around a spot is related in any way to the observed inflow of material from the surrounding chromosphere (Evershed effect).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. C.S.I.R.O. Division of Physics, Sydney, Australia

    R. E. Loughhead

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  1. R. E. Loughhead
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Loughhead, R.E. High-resolution photography of the solar chromosphere. Sol Phys 5, 489–497 (1968). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00147015

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00147015

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