Magnetofrictional simulations of Active Region 13500 reproduce its transition from stability to eruption and show that a massive sigmoid flux rope formed during the decay phase. The eruption began when the current-carrying helicity ratio reached about 0.3, indicating that helicity-based markers can help diagnose the eruptive potential of active regions.
A statistical comparison between HMI vector magnetograms and line-of-sight–derived radial fields shows that LOS-based estimates systematically underestimate the true radial field, with the bias increasing toward the limb. A numerical modeling demonstrate that this center-to-limb variation in the underestimation of radial field arises from non-radial magnetic field inclinations.
We report a point spread function (PSF) and deconvolution procedure to remove stray light from the Helioseismic and Magnetic Imager (HMI) data. The deconvolution uses a Richardson-Lucy algorithm and takes less than one second per full-disk image. In 2018, the HMI team began providing full-disk, stray-light-corrected data daily. The results, on average, show decreases in umbral continuum intensity, a doubling of the granulation intensity contrast, increases in the total field strength, most notably in plage by ∼1.4–2.5 the original value, and a partial correction for the convective blueshift.
A robust, calibrated method for measuring sunspot areas from SOHO/MDI and SDO/HMI full-disk images enables a consistent, observer-independent, long-term catalogue of daily sunspot areas, revealing detailed patterns of sunspot group area evolution and solar cycle variability.
Through MHD simulations of flux eruptions, the study finds that the current helicity decreases prior to eruptions and then reverses to increase afterward. By examining multiple flare events, the authors identified observational evidence supporting these simulation results.
Multiple X-class flares and CMEs were produced by AR 13664/8 during the Mother’s Day week of 2024. This study suggests that predicting the locations of magnetically complex active regions, and studying and tracking their eruptive states using different proxy parameters can greatly improve the capability to forecast intense storms.
Each solar active region (AR) has its unique shape, size, and lifetime. In this work, the authors developed a method to ‘average’ bipolar ARs by normalizing their size, orientation, and timing, thereby revealing the typical properties of an AR and its evolutionary pattern.
It is widely known that magnetic fields suppress convection, but this effect has not been quantitatively assessed. Using vector magnetograms from HMI observations, the authors measured the advection speeds of magnetic flux as a function of field strength and found that the speeds steadily decrease with increasing field strength.
A deep convolutional neural network is trained using Hinode data that has been degraded to match the resolution and sensitivity of HMI observations. Once trained, the network can enhance HMI intensity and vector magnetic field data to the resolution and quality of Hinode.
The analysis of magnetic fields and electrical currents indicates that a specific configuration – currents in opposite magnetic regions flowing in the same direction and peaking concurrently – might create favorable conditions for the magnetic reconnection process that powers solar flares.