Published online by Cambridge University Press: 14 August 2015
Observations of the longitudinal component of the photospheric magnetic fields near sunspots imply that surges and Ellerman bombs occur at neutral points in the magnetic fields (i.e. |B|=0) in the chromosphere. The neutral points appear above satellite sunspots, which are defined as polarity reversals (in B||) near the edges of large-spot penumbrae. A series of magnetograph observations shows a point of satellite polarity vanishing during a period of almost continuous surge activity. The lost magnetic energy is comparable to the energy release evidenced by the surge.