On the dynamic activity in sheared corridors of large delta spots

In the extraordinarily flare-prolific region of March 1989, NOAA region No. 5395, unusual dynamic activity in the photosphere was observed for the first time inside the large delta spot (Wanget al., 1991). Analyses of two additional large delta spots with sheared penumbral fibrils revealed that what occurred in the March 1989 delta spot is not an isolated case; similar complex dynamic activity was observed in the August and October 1989 delta spots. Both are flare-prolific regions as well, each producing 5 X-class flares. As in the March 1989 case, registered and highly time-compressed white-light movies were made from digital data obtained at Big Bear Solar Observatory. The new evidence confirmed the unusual activity: (1) penumbral motions in the directions of sheared penumbral fibrils near the inversion line as well as elsewhere in the delta complex, and (2) new spots emerging in the midst of penumbral motions. The manner and place of emergence are different from those in ordinary emerging flux regions, and often the spots are without observable opposite polarity flux. It is easy to see how the emergence of new spots in the midst of strong fields as well as the shear motions near the inversion line further enhance the flare productivity of the large delta spot regions. But we have yet to understand the origin of the dynamic activity observed.