scholarly journals Case study on the identification and classification of small-scale flow patterns in flaring active region

2021 ◽  
Vol 645 ◽  
pp. A52
Author(s):  
E. Philishvili ◽  
B. M. Shergelashvili ◽  
S. Buitendag ◽  
J. Raes ◽  
S. Poedts ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Active Region ◽  
Solar Atmosphere ◽  
Sound Speed ◽  
Complex Structure ◽  
Emission Measure ◽  
Image Data ◽  
Flow Patterns ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Inversion Method ◽  
Solar Dynamics Observatory

Context. We propose a novel methodology to identity flows in the solar atmosphere and classify their velocities as either supersonic, subsonic, or sonic. Aims. The proposed methodology consists of three parts. First, an algorithm is applied to the Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) image data to locate and track flows, resulting in the trajectory of each flow over time. Thereafter, the differential emission measure inversion method is applied to six Atmospheric Imaging Assembly (AIA) channels along the trajectory of each flow in order to estimate its background temperature and sound speed. Finally, we classify each flow as supersonic, subsonic, or sonic by performing simultaneous hypothesis tests on whether the velocity bounds of the flow are larger, smaller, or equal to the background sound speed. Methods. The proposed methodology was applied to the SDO image data from the 171 Å spectral line for the date 6 March 2012 from 12:22:00 to 12:35:00 and again for the date 9 March 2012 from 03:00:00 to 03:24:00. Eighteen plasma flows were detected, 11 of which were classified as supersonic, 3 as subsonic, and 3 as sonic at a 70% level of significance. Out of all these cases, 2 flows cannot be strictly ascribed to one of the respective categories as they change from the subsonic state to supersonic and vice versa. We labeled them as a subclass of transonic flows. Results. The proposed methodology provides an automatic and scalable solution to identify small-scale flows and to classify their velocities as either supersonic, subsonic, or sonic. It can be used to characterize the physical properties of the solar atmosphere. Conclusions. We identified and classified small-scale flow patterns in flaring loops. The results show that the flows can be classified into four classes: sub-, super-, trans-sonic, and sonic. The flows occur in the complex structure of the active region magnetic loops. The detected flows from AIA images can be analyzed in combination with the other high-resolution observational data, such as Hi-C 2.1 data, and be used for the development of theories describing the physical conditions responsible for the formation of flow patterns.

scholarly journals Probing Upflowing Regions in the Quiet Sun and Coronal Holes

Solar Physics ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 296 (12) ◽  
Author(s):  
Conrad Schwanitz ◽  
Louise Harra ◽  
Nour E. Raouafi ◽  
Alphonse C. Sterling ◽  
Alejandro Moreno Vacas ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Solar Wind ◽  
Solar Corona ◽  
Extreme Ultraviolet ◽  
Complex Structure ◽  
Coronal Holes ◽  
Variable Structure ◽  
Doppler Velocity ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Solar Dynamics Observatory ◽  
Complex Behaviour

AbstractRecent observations from Parker Solar Probe have revealed that the solar wind has a highly variable structure. How this complex behaviour is formed in the solar corona is not yet known, since it requires omnipresent fluctuations, which constantly emit material to feed the wind. In this article we analyse 14 upflow regions in the solar corona to find potential sources for plasma flow. The upflow regions are derived from spectroscopic data from the EUV Imaging Spectrometer (EIS) on board Hinode determining their Doppler velocity and defining regions which have blueshifts stronger than $-6~\mbox{km}\,\mbox{s}^{-1}$ − 6 km s − 1 . To identify the sources of these blueshift data from the Atmospheric Imaging Assembly (AIA) and the Helioseismic and Magnetic Imager (HMI), on board the Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO), and the X-ray Telescope (XRT), on board Hinode, are used. The analysis reveals that only 5 out of 14 upflows are associated with frequent transients, like obvious jets or bright points. In contrast to that, seven events are associated with small-scale features, which show a large variety of dynamics. Some resemble small bright points, while others show an eruptive nature, all of which are faint and only live for a few minutes; we cannot rule out that several of these sources may be fainter and, hence, less obvious jets. Since the complex structure of the solar wind is known, this suggests that new sources have to be considered or better methods used to analyse the known sources. This work shows that small and frequent features, which were previously neglected, can cause strong upflows in the solar corona. These results emphasise the importance of the first observations from the Extreme-Ultraviolet Imager (EUI) on board Solar Orbiter, which revealed complex small-scale coronal structures.

scholarly journals ALMA observations of transient heating in a solar active region

2020 ◽  
Vol 643 ◽  
pp. A41
Author(s):  
J. M. da Silva Santos ◽  
J. de la Cruz Rodríguez ◽  
S. M. White ◽  
J. Leenaarts ◽  
G. J. M. Vissers ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Active Region ◽  
Emission Measure ◽  
Solar Active Region ◽  
Solar Chromosphere ◽  
Solar Dynamics Observatory ◽  
Transient Heating ◽  
High Brightness ◽  
Brightness Temperatures ◽  
Measure Analysis ◽  
Solar Dynamics

Aims. We aim to investigate the temperature enhancements and formation heights of solar active-region brightenings such as Ellerman bombs (EBs), ultraviolet bursts (UVBs), and flaring active-region fibrils (FAFs) using interferometric observations in the millimeter (mm) continuum provided by the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA). Methods. We examined 3 mm signatures of heating events identified in Solar Dynamics Observatory observations of an active region and compared the results with synthetic spectra from a 3D radiative magnetohydrodynamic simulation. We estimated the contribution from the corona to the mm brightness using differential emission measure analysis. Results. We report the null detection of EBs in the 3 mm continuum at ∼1.2″ spatial resolution, which is evidence that they are sub-canopy events that do not significantly contribute to heating the upper chromosphere. In contrast, we find the active region to be populated with multiple compact, bright, flickering mm-bursts – reminiscent of UVBs. The high brightness temperatures of up to ∼14 200 K in some events have a contribution (up to ∼7%) from the corona. We also detect FAF-like events in the 3 mm continuum. These events show rapid motions of > 10 kK plasma launched with high plane-of-sky velocities (37 − 340 km s−1) from bright kernels. The mm FAFs are the brightest class of warm canopy fibrils that connect magnetic regions of opposite polarities. The simulation confirms that ALMA should be able to detect the mm counterparts of UVBs and small flares and thus provide a complementary diagnostic for localized heating in the solar chromosphere.

Emission Measure Distribution for an Active Region Using Coordinated SERTS andYohkohSXT Observations

1999 ◽  
Vol 523 (1) ◽  
pp. 432-443 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. T. Schmelz ◽  
J. L. R. Saba ◽  
K. T. Strong ◽  
H. D. Winter ◽  
J. W. Brosius
Keyword(s):  
Active Region ◽  
Emission Measure ◽  
Measure Distribution

scholarly journals The Persistence of Apparent Non-Magnetostatic Equilibrium in NOAA 11035

2014 ◽  
Vol 10 (S305) ◽  
pp. 35-41
Author(s):  
Sarah A. Jaeggli
Keyword(s):  
Magnetic Field ◽  
Active Region ◽  
Strong Magnetic Field ◽  
Solar Atmosphere ◽  
Activity Cycle ◽  
Opposite Polarity ◽  
Unusual Feature ◽  
Complete Picture

AbstractNOAA 11035 was a highly sheared active region that appeared in December 2009 early in the new activity cycle. The leading polarity sunspot developed a highly unusual feature in its penumbra, an opposite polarity pore with a strong magnetic field in excess of 3500 G along one edge, which persisted for several days during the evolution of the region. This region was well observed by both space- and ground-based observatories, including Hinode, FIRS, TRACE, and SOHO. These observations, which span wavelength and atmospheric regimes, provide a complete picture of this unusual feature which may constitute a force-free magnetic field in the photosphere which is produced by the reconnection of magnetic loops low in the solar atmosphere.

scholarly journals Energetics of Hi-C EUV brightenings

2018 ◽  
Vol 615 ◽  
pp. A47 ◽  
Author(s):  
Srividya Subramanian ◽  
Vinay L. Kashyap ◽  
Durgesh Tripathi ◽  
Maria S. Madjarska ◽  
John G. Doyle
Keyword(s):  
High Resolution ◽  
Energy Loss ◽  
Extreme Ultraviolet ◽  
Thermal Structure ◽  
Emission Measure ◽  
Light Curves ◽  
Solar Dynamics Observatory ◽  
Differential Emission Measure ◽  
Dominant Mechanism ◽  
Solar Dynamics

We study the thermal structure and energetics of the point-like extreme ultraviolet (EUV) brightenings within a system of fan loops observed in the active region AR 11520. These brightenings were simultaneously observed on 2012 July 11 by the High-resolution Coronal (Hi-C) imager and the Atmospheric Imaging Assembly (AIA) on board the Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO). We identified 27 brightenings by automatically determining intensity enhancements in both Hi-C and AIA 193 Å light curves. The energetics of these brightenings were studied using the Differential Emission Measure (DEM) diagnostics. The DEM weighted temperatures of these transients are in the range log T(K) = 6.2−6.6 with radiative energies ≈1024−25 ergs and densities approximately equal to a few times 109 cm−3. To the best of our knowledge, these are the smallest brightenings in EUV ever detected. We used these results to determine the mechanism of energy loss in these brightenings. Our analysis reveals that the dominant mechanism of energy loss for all the identified brightenings is conduction rather than radiation.

scholarly journals Transient brightenings in the quiet Sun detected by ALMA at 3 mm

2020 ◽  
Vol 638 ◽  
pp. A62 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. Nindos ◽  
C. E. Alissandrakis ◽  
S. Patsourakos ◽  
T. S. Bastian
Keyword(s):  
Solar Atmosphere ◽  
Power Law ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Solar Chromosphere ◽  
Average Intensity ◽  
Quiet Sun ◽  
Brightness Temperatures ◽  
Weak Preference ◽  
Thermal Origin ◽  
First Time

Aims. We investigate transient brightenings, that is, weak, small-scale episodes of energy release, in the quiet solar chromosphere; these episodes can provide insights into the heating mechanism of the outer layers of the solar atmosphere. Methods. Using Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) observations, we performed the first systematic survey for quiet Sun transient brightenings at 3 mm. Our dataset included images of six 87″ × 87″ fields of view of the quiet Sun obtained with angular resolution of a few arcsec at a cadence of 2 s. The transient brightenings were detected as weak enhancements above the average intensity after we removed the effect of the p-mode oscillations. A similar analysis, over the same fields of view, was performed for simultaneous 304 and 1600 Å data obtained with the Atmospheric Imaging Assembly. Results. We detected 184 3 mm transient brightening events with brightness temperatures from 70 K to more than 500 K above backgrounds of ∼7200 − 7450 K. All events showed light curves with a gradual rise and fall, strongly suggesting a thermal origin. Their mean duration and maximum area were 51.1 s and 12.3 Mm2, respectively, with a weak preference of appearing at network boundaries rather than in cell interiors. Both parameters exhibited power-law behavior with indices of 2.35 and 2.71, respectively. Only a small fraction of ALMA events had either 304 or 1600 Å counterparts but the properties of these events were not significantly different from those of the general population except that they lacked their low-end energy values. The total thermal energies of the ALMA transient brightenings were between 1.5 × 1024 and 9.9 × 1025 erg and their frequency distribution versus energy was a power law with an index of 1.67 ± 0.05. We found that the power per unit area provided by the ALMA events could account for only 1% of the chromospheric radiative losses (10% of the coronal ones). Conclusions. We were able to detect, for the first time, a significant number of weak 3 mm quiet Sun transient brightenings. However, their energy budget falls short of meeting the requirements for the heating of the upper layers of the solar atmosphere and this conclusion does not change even if we use the least restrictive criteria possible for the detection of transient brightenings.

Plasma Diagnostics of Microflares observed by STIX and AIA

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jonas Saqri ◽  
Astrid Veronig ◽  
Ewan Dickson ◽  
Säm Krucker ◽  
Andrea Francesco Battaglia ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Solar Flares ◽  
Magnetic Energy ◽  
Emission Measure ◽  
Transport Processes ◽  
X Rays ◽  
Solar Dynamics Observatory ◽  
Energy Bands ◽  
Accurate Analysis ◽  
Great Opportunity ◽  
Wide Range

<p>Solar flares are generally thought to be the impulsive release of magnetic energy giving rise to a wide range of solar phenomena that influence the heliosphere and in some cases even conditions of earth. Part of this liberated energy is used for particle acceleration and to heat up the solar plasma. The Spectrometer/Telescope for Imaging X-rays (STIX) instrument onboard the Solar Orbiter mission launched on February 10th 2020 promises advances in the study of solar flares of various sizes. It is capable of measuring X-ray spectra from 4 to 150 keV with 1 keV resolution binned into 32 energy bins before downlinking. With this energy range and sensitivity, STIX is capable of sampling thermal plasma with temperatures of≳10 MK, and to diagnose the nonthermal bremsstrahlung emission of flare-accelerated electrons. During the spacecraft commissioning phase in the first half of the year 2020, STIX observed 68 microflares. Of this set, 26 events could clearly be identified in at least two energy channels, all of which originated in an active region that was also visible from earth. These events provided a great opportunity to combine the STIX observations with the multi-band EUV imagery from the Atmospheric Imaging Assembly (AIA) instrument on board the earth orbiting Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO). For the microflares that could be identified in two STIX science energy bands, it was possible to derive the temperature and emission measure (EM) of the flaring plasma assuming an isothermal source. For larger events where more detailed spectra could be derived, a more accurate analysis was performed by fitting the spectra assuming various thermal and nonthermal sources. These results are compared to the diagnostics derived from AIA images. To this aim, the Differential EmissionMeasure (DEM) was reconstructed from AIA observations to infer plasma temperatures and EM in the flaring regions. Combined with the the relative timing between the emission seen by STIX and AIA, this allows us to get deeper insight into the flare energy release and transport processes.</p>

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