Large-scale coronal heating by the small-scale magnetic field of the Sun

Nature ◽  
10.1038/28108 ◽  
1998 ◽  
Vol 394 (6689) ◽  
pp. 152-154 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. J. Schrijver ◽  
A. M. Title ◽  
K. L. Harvey ◽  
N. R. Sheeley ◽  
Y.-M. Wang ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Magnetic Field ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Coronal Heating ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
The Sun

scholarly journals How to make the Sun look less like the Sun and more like a star?

2016 ◽  
Vol 12 (S328) ◽  
pp. 237-239
Author(s):  
A. A. Vidotto
Keyword(s):  
Magnetic Field ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Vector Fields ◽  
Radial Component ◽  
Field Vector ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
General Context ◽  
The Sun ◽  
Flux Transport ◽  
Large Scale Magnetic Field

AbstractSynoptic maps of the vector magnetic field have routinely been made available from stellar observations and recently have started to be obtained for the solar photospheric field. Although solar magnetic maps show a multitude of details, stellar maps are limited to imaging large-scale fields only. In spite of their lower resolution, magnetic field imaging of solar-type stars allow us to put the Sun in a much more general context. However, direct comparison between stellar and solar magnetic maps are hampered by their dramatic differences in resolution. Here, I present the results of a method to filter out the small-scale component of vector fields, in such a way that comparison between solar and stellar (large-scale) magnetic field vector maps can be directly made. This approach extends the technique widely used to decompose the radial component of the solar magnetic field to the azimuthal and meridional components as well, and is entirely consistent with the description adopted in several stellar studies. This method can also be used to confront synoptic maps synthesised in numerical simulations of dynamo and magnetic flux transport studies to those derived from stellar observations.

Solar Dynamo

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert Cameron
Keyword(s):  
Magnetic Field ◽  
Magnetic Fields ◽  
Magnetic Flux ◽  
Differential Rotation ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Toroidal Field ◽  
Solar Dynamo ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
The Sun ◽  
The Magnetic Field

The solar dynamo is the action of flows inside the Sun to maintain its magnetic field against Ohmic decay. On small scales the magnetic field is seen at the solar surface as a ubiquitous “salt-and-pepper” disorganized field that may be generated directly by the turbulent convection. On large scales, the magnetic field is remarkably organized, with an 11-year activity cycle. During each cycle the field emerging in each hemisphere has a specific East–West alignment (known as Hale’s law) that alternates from cycle to cycle, and a statistical tendency for a North-South alignment (Joy’s law). The polar fields reverse sign during the period of maximum activity of each cycle. The relevant flows for the large-scale dynamo are those of convection, the bulk rotation of the Sun, and motions driven by magnetic fields, as well as flows produced by the interaction of these. Particularly important are the Sun’s large-scale differential rotation (for example, the equator rotates faster than the poles), and small-scale helical motions resulting from the Coriolis force acting on convective motions or on the motions associated with buoyantly rising magnetic flux. These two types of motions result in a magnetic cycle. In one phase of the cycle, differential rotation winds up a poloidal magnetic field to produce a toroidal field. Subsequently, helical motions are thought to bend the toroidal field to create new poloidal magnetic flux that reverses and replaces the poloidal field that was present at the start of the cycle. It is now clear that both small- and large-scale dynamo action are in principle possible, and the challenge is to understand which combination of flows and driving mechanisms are responsible for the time-dependent magnetic fields seen on the Sun.

scholarly journals Flux Separation in Photospheric Magnetoconvection

2001 ◽  
Vol 203 ◽  
pp. 219-221 ◽  
Author(s):  
N. O. Weiss ◽  
M. R. E. Proctor
Keyword(s):  
Magnetic Field ◽  
Magnetic Flux ◽  
Numerical Experiments ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Initial Conditions ◽  
Three Dimensional ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
The Sun ◽  
Intermediate Regime ◽  
Magnetic Features

Numerical experiments on three-dimensional magnetoconvection in a stratified compressible layer reveal a range of different patterns, depending on the strength of the imposed magnetic field. As the field is decreased there is a transition from small-scale plumes, in the magnetically dominated regime, to large-scale vigorous plumes when the field is dominated by the motion. In the intermediate regime magnetic flux separates from the motion, so that there are almost field-free regions, with clusters of vigorous plumes, surrounded by regions where the Lorentz force is strong enough to control the dynamics. There is a range of field strengths where either small-scale plumes or flux-separated solutions can persist, depending on initial conditions for the computation. These results can be related to magnetic features at the surface of the Sun.

scholarly journals Global magnetic fields: variation of solar minima

2011 ◽  
Vol 7 (S286) ◽  
pp. 113-122
Author(s):  
Andrey G. Tlatov ◽  
Vladimir N. Obridko
Keyword(s):  
Magnetic Field ◽  
Magnetic Fields ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Sunspot Cycle ◽  
Magnetic Activity ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
The Sun ◽  
Large Scale Magnetic Field ◽  
Scale Field ◽  
Large Scale Field

AbstractThe topology of the large-scale magnetic field of the Sun and its role in the development of magnetic activity were investigated using Hα charts of the Sun in the period 1887-2011. We have considered the indices characterizing the minimum activity epoch, according to the data of large-scale magnetic fields. Such indices include: dipole-octopole index, area and average latitude of the field with dominant polarity in each hemisphere and others. We studied the correlation between these indices and the amplitude of the following sunspot cycle, and the relation between the duration of the cycle of large-scale magnetic fields and the duration of the sunspot cycle.The comparative analysis of the solar corona during the minimum epochs in activity cycles 12 to 24 shows that the large-scale magnetic field has been slow and steadily changing during the past 130 years. The reasons for the variations in the solar coronal structure and its relation with long-term variations in the geomagnetic indices, solar wind and Gleissberg cycle are discussed.We also discuss the origin of the large-scale magnetic field. Perhaps the large-scale field leads to the generation of small-scale bipolar ephemeral regions, which in turn support the large-scale field. The existence of two dynamos: a dynamo of sunspots and a surface dynamo can explain phenomena such as long periods of sunspot minima, permanent dynamo in stars and the geomagnetic field.

scholarly journals On the origin of variable structures in the winds of hot luminous stars

2013 ◽  
Vol 440 (1) ◽  
pp. 2-9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yannick J. L. Michaux ◽  
Anthony F. J. Moffat ◽  
André-Nicolas Chené ◽  
Nicole St-Louis
Keyword(s):  
Magnetic Field ◽  
Empirical Evidence ◽  
Temporal Variability ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Ionization Zone ◽  
Corotating Interaction Regions ◽  
Wind Variability ◽  
Global Magnetic Field ◽  
Interaction Regions

Abstract Examination of the temporal variability properties of several strong optical recombination lines in a large sample of Galactic Wolf–Rayet (WR) stars reveals possible trends, especially in the more homogeneous WC than the diverse WN subtypes, of increasing wind variability with cooler subtypes. This could imply that a serious contender for the driver of the variations is stochastic, magnetic subsurface convection associated with the 170 kK partial-ionization zone of iron, which should occupy a deeper and larger zone of greater mass in cooler WR subtypes. This empirical evidence suggests that the heretofore proposed ubiquitous driver of wind variability, radiative instabilities, may not be the only mechanism playing a role in the stochastic multiple small-scaled structures seen in the winds of hot luminous stars. In addition to small-scale stochastic behaviour, subsurface convection guided by a global magnetic field with localized emerging loops may also be at the origin of the large-scale corotating interaction regions as seen frequently in O stars and occasionally in the winds of their descendant WR stars.

MHD and Ion Kinetic Waves in Field-aligned Flows Observed by Parker Solar Probe

2021 ◽  
Vol 922 (2) ◽  
pp. 188
Author(s):  
L.-L. Zhao ◽  
G. P. Zank ◽  
J. S. He ◽  
D. Telloni ◽  
L. Adhikari ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Magnetic Field ◽  
Solar Wind ◽  
Whistler Wave ◽  
Spectral Energy ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
The Sun ◽  
Fast Mode ◽  
Magnetic Fluctuations ◽  
Background Magnetic Field ◽  
Ion Cyclotron

Abstract Parker Solar Probe (PSP) observed predominately Alfvénic fluctuations in the solar wind near the Sun where the magnetic field tends to be radially aligned. In this paper, two magnetic-field-aligned solar wind flow intervals during PSP’s first two orbits are analyzed. Observations of these intervals indicate strong signatures of parallel/antiparallel-propagating waves. We utilize multiple analysis techniques to extract the properties of the observed waves in both magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) and kinetic scales. At the MHD scale, outward-propagating Alfvén waves dominate both intervals, and outward-propagating fast magnetosonic waves present the second-largest contribution in the spectral energy density. At kinetic scales, we identify the circularly polarized plasma waves propagating near the proton gyrofrequency in both intervals. However, the sense of magnetic polarization in the spacecraft frame is observed to be opposite in the two intervals, although they both possess a sunward background magnetic field. The ion-scale plasma wave observed in the first interval can be either an inward-propagating ion cyclotron wave (ICW) or an outward-propagating fast-mode/whistler wave in the plasma frame, while in the second interval it can be explained as an outward ICW or inward fast-mode/whistler wave. The identification of the exact kinetic wave mode is more difficult to confirm owing to the limited plasma data resolution. The presence of ion-scale waves near the Sun suggests that ion cyclotron resonance may be one of the ubiquitous kinetic physical processes associated with small-scale magnetic fluctuations and kinetic instabilities in the inner heliosphere.

II. Spots and Intense Flux Tubes

1988 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
pp. 58-63
Author(s):  
J.C. Henoux
Keyword(s):  
Magnetic Field ◽  
Solar Activity ◽  
High Resolution ◽  
Solar Magnetic Field ◽  
Solar Physics ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
The Sun ◽  
Flux Tubes ◽  
Flux Concentration ◽  
Scientific Meetings

The development of research on starspots, stellar activity, and the suspected relationship between coronal heating and magnetic field have reenforced the interest of the study of the solar magnetic field and the study of the associated thermodynamic structures. Several proceedings of scientific meetings appeared from 1984 to 1987 (Measurements of Solar Vector Magnetic Fields, 1985 (I); The Hydrodynamics of the Sun, 1984 (II); High Resolution in Solar Physics, 1985 (III); Theoritical Problems in High Resolution Solar Physics, 1985 (IV); Small Scale Magnetic Flux Concentration in the Solar Atmosphere, 1986 (V)). The finding that the solar irradiance in affected by solar activity has renewed interest in photometry of sunspots and faculae. Sunspots have been used for investigating solar differential and meridional motions. Some results are also found in Section III.

scholarly journals Reconstruction of Sun-as-Star Magnetic Field Structure and Evolution Using Filament Observations

1998 ◽  
Vol 167 ◽  
pp. 493-496
Author(s):  
Dmitri I. Ponyavin
Keyword(s):  
Magnetic Field ◽  
Solar Cycle ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Solar Magnetic Field ◽  
Close Association ◽  
Field Structure ◽  
The Sun ◽  
Magnetic Field Structure ◽  
Large Scale Magnetic Field ◽  
Field Organization

AbstractA technique is used to restore the magnetic field of the Sun viewed as star from the filament distribution seen on Hα photographs. For this purpose synoptic charts of the large-scale magnetic field reconstructed by the McIntosh method have been compared with the Sun-asstar solar magnetic field observed at Stanford. We have established a close association between the Sun-as-star magnetic field and the mean magnetic field inferred from synoptic magnetic field maps. A filtering technique was applied to find correlations between the Sun-as-star and large-scale magnetic field distributions during the course of a solar cycle. The correlations found were then used to restore the Sun-as-star magnetic field and its evolution in the late 1950s and 1960s, when such measurements of the field were not being made. A stackplot display of the inferred data reveals large-scale magnetic field organization and evolution. Patterns of the Sun-as-star magnetic field during solar cycle 19 were obtained. The proposed technique can be useful for studying the solar magnetic field structure and evolution during times with no direct observations.

scholarly journals Optical and Radio Observations of Large Scale Magnetic Fields on the Sun

1971 ◽  
Vol 43 ◽  
pp. 609-615 ◽  
Author(s):  
G. Daigne ◽  
M. F. Lantos-Jarry ◽  
M. Pick
Keyword(s):  
Magnetic Field ◽  
Magnetic Fields ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Interplanetary Medium ◽  
Coronal Magnetic Field ◽  
The Sun ◽  
Radio Observations ◽  
Active Centers ◽  
Field Patterns

It is possible to deduce information concerning large scale coronal magnetic field patterns from the knowledge of the location of radioburst sources.As the method concerns active centers responsible for corpuscular emission, the knowledge of these structures may have important implications in the understanding of corpuscular propagation in the corona and in the interplanetary medium.

scholarly journals Mean-Field Magnetohydrodynamics as a Basis of Solar Dynamo Theory

1976 ◽  
Vol 71 ◽  
pp. 323-344 ◽  
Author(s):  
K.-H. Rädler
Keyword(s):  
Magnetic Field ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Mean Field ◽  
Strong Relationship ◽  
Solar Radius ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Dynamo Theory ◽  
The Magnetic Field ◽  
Complicated Situation ◽  
Insight Into

One of the most striking features of both the magnetic field and the motions observed at the Sun is their highly irregular or random character which indicates the presence of rather complicated magnetohydrodynamic processes. Of great importance in this context is a comprehension of the behaviour of the large scale components of the magnetic field; large scales are understood here as length scales in the order of the solar radius and time scales of a few years. Since there is a strong relationship between these components and the solar 22-years cycle, an insight into the mechanism controlling these components also provides for an insight into the mechanism of the cycle. The large scale components of the magnetic field are determined not only by their interaction with the large scale components of motion. On the contrary, a very important part is played also by an interaction between the large and the small scale components of magnetic field and motion so that a very complicated situation has to be considered.

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