Radiation transfer in prominences with filamentary structure

Observations concerning the structure of sunspots, obtained during the fourth flight of the Soviet Stratospheric Observatory (SSO), are discussed. Objects brighter than the mean photospheric background inside the sunspot penumbra retaining the stable position sometimes vary within time intervals of a few minutes. The brightness change in pores can be explained by their different location at highest levels of the photosphere. The same mechanism can cause the brightness difference of the penumbra filaments. The gradient of the brightness variation inside the pores is determined. The value of this gradient was found to be practically the same for all dark objects. Most penumbral filaments show no magnetic expansion with growing distance from the spot center.