Intense magnetic fields and umbral dots

Intense magnetic fields (of one or two kilogauss) situated in a background of weak field, and umbral dots (regions of weak field) situated in a background of intense field (the sunspot) have both received considerable, though largely unrelated, discussion in the recent literature. Here we suggest that the two phenomena may in fact be less disparate than hitherto presumed. Applying a simple (hydrostatic) model calculation to both phenomena, and assuming temperature differences to be constant with height, we are able to estimate the depth of each of these structures.This work was supported in part by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration under grant NGL 14-001-001.