Investigation of intergranular bright points from the New Vacuum Solar Telescope. (May 2016)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Ji, Kai-Fan; Xiong, Jian-Ping; Xiang, Yong-Yuan; Feng, Song; Deng, Hui; Wang, Feng; Yang, Yun-Fei
• Is Part Of: Research in astronomy and astrophysics. Volume 16:Number 5(2016:May)
• Publication Date: 2016-05
• Subjects: techniques: image processing -- Sun: photosphere -- methods: data analysis -- methods: statistical; Astronomy -- Periodicals; Astrophysics -- Periodicals; 520.5
• DOI: 10.1088/1674-4527/16/5/078
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1674-4527

Abstract

Abstract: Six high-resolution TiO-band image sequences from the New Vacuum Solar Telescope (NVST) are used to investigate the properties of intergranular bright points (igBPs). We detect the igBPs using a Laplacian and morphological dilation algorithm (LMD) and automatically track them using a three-dimensional segmentation algorithm, and then investigate the morphologic, photometric and dynamic properties of igBPs in terms of equivalent diameter, intensity contrast, lifetime, horizontal velocity, diffusion index, motion range and motion type. The statistical results confirm previous studies based on G-band or TiO-band igBPs from other telescopes. These results illustrate that TiO data from the NVST are stable and reliable, and are suitable for studying igBPs. In addition, our method is feasible for detecting and tracking igBPs with TiO data from the NVST. With the aid of vector magnetograms obtained from the Solar Dynamics Observatory/Helioseismic and Magnetic Imager, the properties of igBPs are found to be strongly influenced by their embedded magnetic environments. The areal coverage, size and intensity contrast values of igBPs are generally larger in regions with higher magnetic flux. However, the dynamics of igBPs, including the horizontal velocity, diffusion index, ratio of motion range and index of motion type are generally larger in the regions with lower magnetic flux. This suggests that the absence of strong magnetic fields in the medium makes it possible for the igBPs to look smaller and weaker, diffuse faster, and move faster and further along a straighter path.