Videomagnetograph studies of solar magnetic fields

Observations of magnetic field diffusion in weak plage regions have been made using the analog videomagnetograph at the California Institute of Technology. Points of magnetic flux, usually described as vertex points of the magnetic network, were found to have a mean lifetime of three to four days, and to disperse primarily by means of two mechanisms: a random walk with a step time short compared to 24 h, and a sudden transport of magnetic flux over distances of 5000 to 20000 km during a time span of one to three hours. The second mechanism is probably the predominant one. Similar observations have been made using K₃ spectroheliograms.