Speaker
Description
First Name: Ilaria
Last Name: Ermolli
Affiliation: INAF Osservatorio Astronomico di Roma
All Authors: Ilaria Ermolli, Fabrizio Giorgi, Mariarita Murabito, Theodosios Chatzistergos
Abstract: Both full-disk and high-resolution observations suggest the presence of a ring of enhanced continuum intensity surrounding large isolated sunspots. This brightness enhancement, typically about 0.5–1%, has been attributed to convective processes, although a contribution from weaker and more diffuse magnetic fields has not been excluded. Numerical simulations, however, do not show a systematic radial variation of intensity in the moat region. We report on our re-examination of sunspot bright rings using SO/PHI, SDO/HMI, IRIS, and ground-based Rome/PSPT observations. Combining all these datasets enabled us to refine the observational characteristics of sunspot bright rings, establish their occurrence rate, quantify the correlation between sunspot radius and ring brightness, and assess the role of very small-scale magnetic elements previously unresolved.