The Magnetic Landscape of the Sun's Polar Region

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Abstract

We present the magnetic landscape of the polar region of the Sun that is unprecedented in terms of high spatial resolution, large field of view, and polarimetric precision. These observations were carried out with the Solar Optical Telescope aboard \emph{Hinode}. Using a Milne-Eddington inversion, we found many vertically-oriented magnetic flux tubes with field strength as strong as 1 kG that are scattered in latitude between 70-90 degree. They all have the same polarity, consistent with the global polarity of the polar region. The field vectors were observed to diverge from the center of the flux elements, consistent with a view of magnetic fields that expand and fan out with height. The polar region is also covered with ubiquitous horizontal fields. The polar regions are the source of the fast solar wind channelled along unipolar coronal magnetic fields whose photospheric source is evidently rooted in the strong field, vertical patches of flux. We conjecture that vertical flux tubes with large expansion around the photosphere-corona boundary serve as efficient chimneys for Alfven waves that accelerate the solar wind.

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