Infrared lines as probes of solar magnetic features. VIII. Mg I 12 micron diagnostics of sunspots

Abstract

Due to their large Zeeman sensitivity, the MgI lines at 12μm are important diagnostics of solar magnetism. The formation of their central emission features is now understood, enabling quantitative modeling and diagnostic application of these lines. We supply the first systematic analysis of solar MgI 12μm Stokes profiles employing detailed line-profile synthesis. We compute Stokes profiles of MgI 12.32μm for the quiet Sun, for sunspot penumbrae and for the extended ("superpenumbral") magnetic canopies surrounding sunspots. We use these computations to analyze recent MgI 12μm observations by Hewagama et al. (1993). Our results are the following: (1) -Saha-Boltzmann temperature sensitivity explains that the emission peaks are stronger in penumbrae than in the quiet Sun, and that they disappear in umbrae. (2) -The formation heights of the emission features are approximately the same in penumbrae and in the quiet Sun, namely τ_500_=~10^-3^. (3) -The simple Seares formula allows relatively accurate determinations of field strength and magnetic inclination. (4) -The observed excess broadening of the σ-component peaks compared with the π component in penumbrae is well explained by primarily horizontal, smooth radial variation of the magnetic field strength. Additional small-scale variations are less than {DELTA}B =~200G. (5) -The vertical field gradients dB/dz in penumbrae range from 0.7G/km to 3G/km; the larger gradients occur near the umbra, the smaller ones near the outer edge of the penumbra. (6) -The MgI 12μm lines are well-suited to measure the base heights of superpenumbral magnetic canopies. These heights range between 300km and 500km above τ_500_=1 out to twice the sunspot radius, in excellent agreement with determinations from other infrared lines