Granulations on the photosphere of the Sun are caused by convection currents (thermal columns, Bénard cells) of plasma with in the Sun's convective zone. Granulations are caused by convection currents because the rising part of the granules is in the center where the plasma is hotter. The outer edge of the granules is darker due to the cooler descending plasma. In addition to the visible appearance, Doppler shift measurements of the light from individual granules provides evidence for the …show more content…
Supergranulation, it is up to 30,000 kilometers in diameter with lifespans of up to 24 hours. Supergranulation is a particular pattern of convection cells on the Sun's surface called super-granules. It was discovered in the 1950s by A.B.Hart using Doppler velocity measurements showing horizontal flows on the photosphere (flow speed about 300 to 500 m/s, a tenth of that in the smaller granules). Super-granules would be thus fragmented in their uppermost layers into smaller mesogranules, which in turn would split into even smaller granules at their surface.
Granulations represents the smallest clearly defined motion pattern on the sun. A typical granulation pattern as seen in intensity. We see this pattern as it is composed of bright irregular polygons separated by thin dark lanes. It is now that the bright regions contain upward motions and the dark lanes on the downward motions. The estimate is 0.7 kilometers for the upward flow and 1.1 kilometers for the downward flow. This was taken from filtergram observations of the iron