The rise and fall of sunspot group 18962 - A case of magnetic submergence

Normal sunspot groups emerge from below the surface as a big arch; the footpoints form a dipole that moves apart and the fields eventually diffuse and disappear. BBSO 18962 was a small dipole with elements which, after spreading apart in the first day of existence, drew back together and disappeared below the surface. It is proposed that the flux loop was pulled back down by magnetic tension and submerged. The circumstances suggest that this behavior may not be uncommon. It implies that some dipoles do not decouple from subsurface fields.