Sunspots and their dynamics dominate the magnetic topology and evolution of both the photosphere and the overlying coronal active regions. Thus a comprehensive understanding of their behaviour is essential to understanding the solar magnetic field. A new technique is presented for applying multiple ellipse fits as a method for rotation tracking of sunspot umbrae. The method is applied to a sunspot in NOAA active region AR 12158 during an X-class flare event and the resulting rotation rate correlates well with other measurements from literature. The method also reveals an apparent difference in rotation rate between the edge and the innermost region of the sunspot umbra of up to 2 degrees per hour. Such differential rotation must lead to the large-scale twisting of sunspot magnetic flux tubes with implications for models of coronal loops and the build-up of instabilities that may lead to eruptions.

中文翻译：

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在 X 级耀斑期间观察太阳黑子本影内的差异旋转

太阳黑子及其动力学主导着光球层和上覆日冕活动区的磁拓扑和演化。因此，全面了解它们的行为对于了解太阳磁场至关重要。提出了一种应用多重椭圆拟合作为太阳黑子本影旋转跟踪方法的新技术。在 X 级耀斑事件期间，该方法应用于 NOAA 活动区 AR 12158 中的太阳黑子，并且由此产生的旋转速率与文献中的其他测量结果很好地相关。该方法还揭示了太阳黑子本影边缘和最内部区域之间每小时高达 2 度的明显旋转速率差异。