Soft X-ray line profiles in the impulsive phase of electron-heated solar flares

We have measured the motion of facular points and granules in the same region near a decaying sunspot. It is found that both features move away across the moat surrounding the sunspot. The mean speed of facular points is larger than that of granules: 0.65 km s^–1 and 0.4 km s^–1, respectively. These results are consistent with previous measurements of the speed of bright network features and moving magnetic fields, as well as of non-magnetic photospherical material. They support models in which a decaying sunspot is at the center of a supergranule, whose horizontal motions sweep out granules and magnetic flux tubes associated to the facular points. It is also found that granules are dragged by supergranular motions away of the moat.Contributions from the Kwasan and Hida Observatories, University of Kyoto.A part of this work was done while one of the authors (R.M.) was staying at the Kwasan and Hida Observatories, University of Kyoto, Japan, as a JSPS research fellow.