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Concluding Remarks
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 30 March 2016
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Recent interest in the subject of this discussion gained momentum by an observation which did not concern magnetic fields directly. The filigree which Dr. Richard Dunn on Sacramento Peak found 2 Angstrom off the center of Hαis a bright and crisp structure in the photosphere with a width o: 1/5 arcsec. It was described in proper detail by Dunn and Zirker (1973). Even in the printed pictures in their paper one clearly sees one step beyond the solar granulation. The filigree is certainly related to the small scale structure of the photospheric magnetic field, but it is not yet clear whether the flux elements are exactly cospatial and have the same small dimensions. Simon and Zirker (1974) concluded froi spectra that the field structure is wider than the filigree. On the other hand Harvey (1976) in his excellent review of the observations has also presented the arguments of several authors who conclude that the sizes of the flux elements are as small as those of the filigree. This discrepancy certainly needs further study before such even more delicate questions as the spatial extent of the downdraft inside and around the flux elements can be reliably answered from observations. The theoretical interpretation of the downdraft depends on this answer as different sources of the mass flow are involved: the overlying atmosphere and the convergent mass flow of the surrounding convection. The latter stays partly outside the flux element, partly diffuses into it with an efficiency that might be enhanced by convection of still smaller scale.
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- Copyright © Reidel 1977