Cancellation of Small-Scale Magnetic Features

Abstract: We investigate small-scale flux cancellations in a young active region observed with the high-resolution imaging magnetograph IMaX on the Sunrise balloon-borne solar observatory. We identified 11 opposite-polarity cancelling pairs using an automatic detection code, and derived their statistical properties.We classified the cancellations into two groups. Class I events are those for which cancellation happens between a pre-existing large magnetic feature of one polarity and a smaller feature of the other polarity that emerged/appeared nearby. For Class II events cancellations occur between two pre-existing, previously unconnected features that converge toward each other. All studied events have an apparent cancellation time less than 10 minutes and display a significant transient linear polarization signal along the polarity inversion line. The cancellation events are characterized by a flux decay rate of about 10$^{15}$~Mx s$^{-1}$. Horizontal convergence speeds of Class II pairs fall between 0.3 and 1.22~km s$^{-1}$. The elements often do not converge directly towards each other, so that the proper motion speeds of the individual elements is higher, in the range of 1 - 2.7~km s$^{-1}$. We propose that these cancellation events result from either field-line submergence (Class I), or reconnection followed by submergence (Class II and/or Class I). Ohmic dissipation of magnetic energy could also play a role for both classes. We propose that, at least for the Class II events, the granular motions could possibly be driving magnetic reconnection, rather than the supergranular motions proposed for the larger cancellation events studied earlier. Specific flux cancellation rates of the Class II events seem to indicate that they belong to somewhat different category of cancellations when compared with those studied in SOT/Hinode and MDI/SOHO data.