Asymmetry in the length scales of the solar supergranulation network

Abstract

Supergranulation is the horizontal velocity pattern on the solar surface with a typical size of 30,000 km and a lifetime of 24 hr. The network structure seen in chromospheric lines, such as Ca ii K 3934 Å, is the manifestation of supergranulation. The network seen in the extreme-ultraviolet lines like He ii 304 Å is the extension of the chromospheric network into the upper solar atmosphere. We have obtained the length scales of the supergranulation network from the autocorrelation function of calcium ii K spectroheliograms from the Kodaikanal archival data. The behavior of the length scales in the horizontal (parallel to the direction of rotation) and vertical (perpendicular to the direction of rotation) have been obtained in different latitudes for a period of about 100 yr. The time-averaged length scales show a nearly symmetric variation in the northern and southern hemispheres. The length scales also show a profound asymmetry in the horizontal and vertical directions, which is dependent on solar latitude. A comparison reveals that both length scales are almost equal near the equatorial latitudes, but the vertical length scales relatively become smaller toward higher latitudes. The asymmetry is independently verified from He ii 304 Å images from the Solar Dynamic Observatory/Atmospheric Imaging Assembly. As the length scales are related to the width of the network, the results point to the asymmetry in the supergranular cell boundary. Supergranulation is one of the basic length scales of solar convection, hence these results can have implications for the convection in Sun-like stars.