Independent of the normal solar cycle, a decrease in the sunspot magnetic field strength has been observed using the Zeeman-split 1564.8nm Fe I spectral line at the NSO Kitt Peak McMath-Pierce telescope. Corresponding changes in sunspot brightness and the strength of molecular absorption lines were also seen. This trend was seen to continue in observations of the first sunspots of the new solar Cycle 24, and extrapolating a linear fit to this trend would lead to only half the number of spots in Cycle 24 compared to Cycle 23, and imply virtually no sunspots in Cycle 25.

We examined synoptic observations from the NSO Kitt Peak Vacuum Telescope and initially (with 4000 spots) found a change in sunspot brightness which roughly agreed with the infrared observations. A more detailed examination (with 13,000 spots) of both spot brightness and line-of-sight magnetic flux reveals that the relationship of the sunspot magnetic fields with spot brightness and size remain constant during the solar cycle. There are only small temporal variations in the spot brightness, size, and line-of-sight flux seen in this larger sample. Because of the apparent disagreement between the two data sets, we discuss how the infrared spectral line provides a uniquely direct measurement of the magnetic fields in sunspots.

The generation of magnetic flux in the solar interior and its transport to the outer solar atmosphere will be in the focus of solar physics research for the next decades. One key-ingredient is the process of magnetic flux emergence into the solar photosphere, and the reorganization to form the magnetic phenomena of active regions like sunspots and pores.

On July 4, 2009, we observed a region of emerging magnetic flux, in which a proto-spot without penumbra forms a penumbra within some 4.5 hours. This process is documented by multi-wavelength observations at the German VTT: (a) imaging, (b) data with high resolution and temporal cadence acquired in Fe I 617.3 nm with the 2D imaging spectropolarimter GFPI, and (c) scans with the slit based spectropolarimeter TIP in Fe I 1089.6 nm. MDI contiuum maps and magnetograms are used to follow the formation of the proto-spot, and the subsequent evolution of the entire active region.

During the formation of the penumbra, the area and the magnetic flux of the spot increases. The additional magnetic flux is supplied by the adjacent region of emerging magnetic flux: As emerging bipole separate, the poles of the spot polarity migrate towards the spot, and finally merge with it. As more and more flux is accumulated, a penumbra forms. From inversions we infer maps for the magnetic field and the Doppler velocity (being constant along the line-of-sight). We calculate the magnetic flux of the forming spot and of the bipole footpoints that merge with the proto-spot. We witness the onset of the Evershed flow and the associated enhance of the field inclination as individual penumbral filaments form. Prior to the formation of individual penumbral sectors we detect the existence of ‘counter’ Evershed flows. These in-flows turn into the classical radial Evershed outflows as stable penumbra segments form.

This review is an attempt to elucidate MHD phenomena relevant for stellar magnetic fields. The full MHD treatment of a star is a problem which is numerically too demanding. Mean-field dynamo models use an approximation of the dynamo action from the small-scale motions and deliver global magnetic modes which can be cyclic, stationary, axisymmetric, and non-axisymmetric. Due to the lack of a momentum equation, MHD instabilities are not visible in this picture. However, magnetic instabilities must set in as a result of growing magnetic fields and/or buoyancy. Instabilities deliver new timescales, saturation limits and topologies to the system probably providing a key to the complex activity features observed on stars.

We study the temporal variation of subsurface flows associated with active regions within 16 Mm of the solar surface. We have analyzed the subsurface flows of nearly 1000 active and quiet regions applying ring-diagram analysis to Global Oscillation Network Group (GONG) Dopplergram data. We find that newly emerging active regions are characterized by enhanced upflows and fast zonal flows in the near-surface layers, as expected for a flux tube rising from deeper layers of the convection zone. The subsurface flows associated with strong active regions are highly twisted, as indicated by their large vorticity and helicity values. The dipolar pattern exhibited by the zonal and meridional vorticity component leads to the interpretation that these subsurface flows resemble vortex rings, when measured on the spatial scales of the standard ring-diagram analysis.

We study the magnetic helicity properties of a set of peculiar active regions (ARs) including δ-islands and other high-tilt bipolar configurations. These ARs are usually identified as the most active in terms of flare and CME production. Due to their observed structure, they have been associated with the emergence of magnetic flux tubes that develop a kink instability. Our main goal is to determine the chirality of the twist and writhe components of the AR magnetic helicity in order to set constrains on the possible mechanisms producing the flux tube deformations. We determine the magnetic twist comparing observations of the AR coronal structure with force-free models of the magnetic field. We infer the flux-tube writhe from the rotation of the main magnetic bipole during the observed evolution. From the relation between the obtained twist and writhe signs we conclude that the development of the kink instability cannot be the single mechanism producing deformed flux-tubes.

Ca II H imaging observations by the Hinode Solar Optical Telescope (SOT) have revealed that the chromosphere is extremely dynamic and that ejections and jets are well observed in moat region around sunspots. X-ray and EUV observations show frequent occurrence of microflaring activities around sunspots; small emerging flux or moving magnetic features approaching opposite pre-existing magnetic flux can be identified on the footpoints for half of microflares studied, while no encounters of opposite polarities are observed at footpoints for the others even with SOT high spatial magnetorams (Kano et al. 2010). Another observations tell the involvement of twisted magnetic fields in the microflares accompanied by no polarity encounters at the footpoints. Some type of sunspot light bridges shows recurrent occurrence of chromospheric ejections, and photospheric vector magnetic field data suggests that twsited magnetic flux tubes lying along light bridge play vital roles in producing such ejections (Shimizu et al. 2009). This presentation reviewed observational findings from these studies. We will need to understand the 3D configuration of magnetic fields for better understanding of activity triggers in the solar atmosphere.

Active regions (ARs), involved in the Halloween events during October-November 2003, were the source of unusual activity during the following solar rotation. The flares on 18-20 November 2003 that occur in the AR NOAA10501 were accompanied by coronal mass ejections associated to some particularly geoeffective magnetic clouds.

Our analysis of the magnetic flux and helicity injection revealed that a new emerging bipole and consequent shearing motions continuously energized the region during its disk passage. The stored energy was eventually released through the interaction of the various systems of magnetic loops by several magnetic reconnection events. Active events on November 18 (filament eruptions and CMEs) were originated by shearing motions along a section of the filament channel that injected magnetic helicity with sign opposite to that of the AR. Two homologous flares, that occurred on November 20, were apparently triggered by different mechanisms as inferred from the flare ribbons evolution (filament eruption and CMEs). We studied in detail the behaviour of two North-South oriented filaments on November 20 2003. They merged and split following a process suggestive of ‘sling-shot’ reconnection between two coronal flux ropes. We successfully tested this scenario in a 3D MHD simulation that is presented in this paper.

The evolution of prolonged and unusually long solar cycles such as 23rd, 20th, and especially 4th is considered. Why the length of the 4th cycle was exceptionally large or really composed of two short cycles? Are the prolonged solar minima can be considered as precursor of low activity of the next cycles? Resolving these puzzles seems to be very important for dynamo theories trying to explain the solar long-term variations. We propose a possible model of the butterfly diagram during unusually long and prolonged cycles, based on (i) the Gnevyshev idea of sunspot distribution over the latitudes, and (ii) the phase differences of the northern and southern hemispheric activities.

Starspots are being observed with many different techniques but not always with coherent results. In particular not if model-dependent data analysis must be employed, e.g. through two-dimensional spot modelling of one-dimensional photometric light curves. I review the zoo of currently available physical spot parameters, i.e. their size, temperature and variability time scales, and also compare results from different techniques. Most of the current values come from Doppler imaging and multi-color photometry. I also list a few cases where starspot detections turned out to be very different to the solar analog.

Magnetic fields of cool stars can be directly investigated through the study of the Zeeman effect on photospheric spectral lines using several approaches. With spectroscopic measurement in unpolarised light, the total magnetic flux averaged over the stellar disc can be derived but very little information on the field geometry is available. Spectropolarimetry provides a complementary information on the large-scale magnetic topology. With Zeeman-Doppler Imaging (ZDI), this information can be retrieved to produce a map of the vector magnetic field at the surface of the star, and in particular to assess the relative importance of the poloidal and toroidal components as well as the degree of axisymmetry of the field distribution.

The development of high-performance spectropolarimeters associated with multi-lines techniques and ZDI allows us to explore magnetic topologies throughout the Hertzsprung-Russel diagram, on stars spanning a wide range of mass, age and rotation period. These observations bring novel constraints on magnetic field generation by dynamo effect in cool stars. In particular, the study of solar twins brings new insight on the impact of rotation on the solar dynamo, whereas the detection of strong and stable dipolar magnetic fields on fully convective stars questions the precise role of the tachocline in this process.

The supergiant star Alpha Orionis (Betelgeuse) is the only star other than the Sun to be spatially resolved either through direct imaging or through reconstruction of interferometric observations. Centimeter-radio wavelength, infrared and ultraviolet images reveal a few bright hot spots in the photosphere and chromosphere that possess characteristics different from sunspots. Large photospheric spots on Betelgeuse appear to result from convective motions, consistent with radiative hydrodynamic modeling; the chromospheric hot spots may be produced by shock waves in the chromosphere excited by the convective motions or pulsation in the photosphere. Bright chromospheric spots that cluster around the pole of Betelgeuse could be a natural result of shock breakout in a rotating star.

A time-latitude diagram where spotgroups are given proportional relevance to their area is presented. The diagram reveals that the spotted area distribution is higly dishomogeneous, most of it being concentrated in few, small portions (“knots”) of the Butterfly Diagram; because of this structure, the BD may be properly described as a cluster of knots. The description, assuming that spots scatter around the “spot mean latitude” steadily drifting equatorward, is challenged. Indeed, spots cluster around at as many latitudes as knots; a knot may appear at either lower or higher latitudes than previous ones, in a seemingly random way; accordingly, the spot mean latitude abruptly drifts equatorward or even poleward at any knot activation, in spite of any smoothing procedure. Preliminary analyses suggest that the activity splits, in any hemisphere, into two or more distinct “activity waves”, drifting equatorward at a rate higher than the spot zone as a whole.

Hot luminous stars show a variety of phenomena in their photospheres and in their winds which still lack clear physical explanations at this time. Among these phenomena are non-thermal line broadening, line profile variability (LPVs), discrete absorption components (DACs), wind clumping and stochastically excited pulsations. Cantiello et al. (2009) argued that a convection zone close to the surface of hot, massive stars, could be responsible for some of these phenomena. This convective zone is caused by a peak in the opacity due to iron recombination and for this reason is referred to as the “iron convection zone” (FeCZ). 3D MHD simulations are used to explore the possible effects of such subsurface convection on the surface properties of hot, massive stars. We argue that turbulence and localized magnetic spots at the surface are the likely consequence of subsurface convection in early type stars.

The flows in and around sunspots are rich in detail. Starting with the Evershed flow along low-lying flow channels, which are cospatial with the horizontal penumbral magnetic fields, Evershed clouds may continue this motion at the periphery of the sunspot as moving magnetic features in the sunspot moat. Besides these well-ordered flows, peculiar motions are found in complex sunspots, where they contribute to the build-up or relaxation of magnetic shear. In principle, the three-dimensional structure of these velocity fields can be captured. The line-of-sight component of the velocity vector is accessible with spectroscopic measurements, whereas local correlation or feature tracking techniques provide the means to assess horizontal proper motions. The next generation of ground-based solar telescopes will provide spectropolarimetric data resolving solar fine structure with sizes below 50 km. Thus, these new telescopes with advanced post-focus instruments act as a ‘zoom lens’ to study the intricate surface flows associated with sunspots. Accompanied by ‘wide-angle’ observations from space, we have now the opportunity to describe sunspots as a system. This review reports recent findings related to flows in and around sunpots and highlights the role of advanced instrumentation in the discovery process.

We study the evolution of magnetic shear angle in a flare productive active region NOAA 10930. The magnetic shear angle is defined as the deviation in the orientation of the observed magnetic field vector with respect to the potential field vector. The shear angle is measured in horizontal as well as vertical plane. The former is computed by taking the difference between the azimuth angles of the observed and potential field and is called the twist-shear, while the latter is computed by taking the difference between the inclination angles of the observed and potential field and is called the dip-shear. The evolution of the two shear angles is then tracked over a small region located over the sheared penumbra of the delta sunspot in NOAA 10930. We find that, while the twist-shear shows an increasing trend after the flare the dip-shear shows a significant drop after the flare.

Using Hinode SP and G-band observations, we examined the relationship between magnetic field structure and penumbral length as well as Evershed flow speed. The latter two are positively correlated with magnetic inclination angle or horizontal field strength within 1.5 kilogauss, which is in agreement with recent magnetoconvective simulations of Evershed effect. This work thus provides direct observational evidence supporting the magnetoconvection nature of penumbral structure and Evershed flow in the presence of strong and inclined magnetic field.

When consulting detailed photospheric catalogs for solar activity studies spanning long time intervals, solar physicists face multiple limitations in the existing catalogs: finite or fragmented time coverage, limited time overlap between catalogs and even more importantly, a mismatch in contents and conventions. In view of a study of new sunspot-based activity indices, we have conducted a comprehensive survey of existing catalogs.

In a first approach, we illustrate how the information from parallel catalogs can be merged to form a much more comprehensive record of sunspot groups. For this, we use the unique Debrecen Photoheliographic Data (DPD), which is already a composite of several ground observatories and SOHO data, and the USAF/Mount Wilson catalog from the Solar Optical Observing Network (SOON). We also describe our semi-interactive cross-identification method, which was needed to match the non-overlapping solar active region nomenclature, the most critical and subtle step when working with multiple catalogs. This effort, focused here first on the last two solar cycles, should lead to a better central database collecting all available sunspot group parameters to address future solar cycle studies beyond the traditional sunspot index time series Ri.

The Sunrise balloon-borne solar observatory consists of a 1m aperture Gregory telescope, a UV filter imager, an imaging vector polarimeter, an image stabilization system and further infrastructure. The first science flight of Sunrise yielded high-quality data that reveal the structure, dynamics and evolution of solar convection, oscillations and magnetic fields at a resolution of around 100 km in the quiet Sun. Here we describe very briefly the mission and the first results obtained from the Sunrise data, which include a number of discoveries.

Quasi-Separatrix Layers (QSLs) are 3D geometrical objects that define narrow volumes across which magnetic field lines have strong, but finite, gradients of connectivity from one footpoint to another. QSLs extend the concept of separatrices, that are topological objects across which the connectivity is discontinuous. Based on analytical arguments, and on magnetic field extrapolations of the Sun's coronal force-free field above observed active regions, it has long since been conjectured that QSLs are favorable locations for current sheet (CS) formation, as well as for magnetic reconnection, and therefore are good predictors for the locations of magnetic energy release in flares and coronal heating. It is only up to recently that numerical MHD simulations and solar observations, as well as a laboratory experiment, have started to address the validity of these conjectures. When put all together, they suggest that QSL reconnection is involved in the displacement of EUV and SXR brightenings along chromospheric flare ribbons, that it is related with the heating of EUV coronal loops, and that the dissipation of QSL related CS may be the cause of coronal heating in initially homogeneous, braided and turbulent flux tubes, as well as in coronal arcades rooted in the slowly moving and numerous small-scale photospheric flux concentrations, both in active region faculae and in the quiet Sun. The apparent ubiquity of QSL-related CS in the Sun's corona, which will need to be quantified with new generation solar instruments, also suggests that QSLs play an important role in stellar's atmospheres, when their surface radial magnetic fields display complex patterns.

Our understanding of the structure and dynamics of stellar coronae has changed dramatically with the availability of surface maps of both star spots and also magnetic field vectors. Magnetic field extrapolations from these surface maps reveal surprising coronal structures for stars whose masses and hence internal structures and dynamo modes may be very different from that of the Sun. Crucial factors are the fraction of open magnetic flux (which determines the spin-down rate for the star as it ages) and the location and plasma density of closed-field regions, which determine the X-ray and radio emission properties. There has been recent progress in modelling stellar coronae, in particular the relative contributions of the field detected in the bright surface regions and the field that may be hidden in the dark star spots. For the Sun, the relationship between the field in the spots and the large scale field is well studied over the solar cycle. It appears, however, that other stars can show a very different relationship.