WE OBSERVED THAT


  • Both sunspots were surrounded by intense, nearly radial moat flows (diameter about 70").
  • MMFS originated at the penumbral boundary and migrate outside through the moat.
  • Most of the MMFs appeared in closely spaced pairs of opposite-polarity magnetic elements.
  • Usually, the magnetic element of sunspot polarity came out first and only then, the second magnetic element of the opposite polarity appeared on the scene.
  • Frequently magnetic elements in a pair were not equally visible: opposite (to the sunspot) polarity element was often observed as a loose and weak magnetic structure.

©BBSO/NJIT Seminar on OCT 99, 2000