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Solar magnetic fields: an introduction

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Space Solar Physics

Part of the book series: Lecture Notes in Physics ((LNP,volume 507))

Abstract

The magnetic field of the Sun is thought to be produced by a dynamo in the solar interior and exhibits its greatest influence on the solar plasma in the tenuous outer layers of the solar atmosphere, where it lies at the heart of almost every major phenomenon. Most direct observations of the magnetic field are restricted to the solar surface, however. Both observational and theoretical methods have been employed heavily to obtain information on and an understanding of solar magnetism. It is the aim of these lecture notes to impart some of this knowledge to the reader: knowledge both of the magnetic field and of some of the methods used to investigate it.

First a short overview of the structure of magnetic fields in the observable layers of the Sun is given. This is followed by an introduction to the Zeeman effect and polarized light, which are fundamental to the measurement of the solar magnetic field, and to the magnetohydrostatic description of solar magnetic fields. Finally, current understanding of the small (magnetic elements) and large (sunspots) magnetic features observed in the solar photosphere is summarized.

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  1. Institute of Astronomy, ETH-Zentrum, CH-8092, Zürich, Switzerland

    S. K. Solanki

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  1. S. K. Solanki
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Jean Claude Vial Karine Bocchialini Patrick Boumier

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© 1998 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg

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Solanki, S.K. (1998). Solar magnetic fields: an introduction. In: Vial, J.C., Bocchialini, K., Boumier, P. (eds) Space Solar Physics. Lecture Notes in Physics, vol 507. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/BFb0106916

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BFb0106916

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