Studying Solar Eruptions from Reconstructed Coronal Magnetic Field

The Sun is the celestial body in the sky with the closest relationship with the Earth. The violent eruptive activities happening on the Sun can greatly impact the human living environment and lead to disastrous consequences. It is well accepted that solar eruptions including the solar flare, prominence eruption and coronal mass ejection are the different manifestations of a single physical process powered by the magnetic free energy gradually stored in the corona prior to eruptions. Therefore, mapping the three-dimensional structure of coronal magnetic field is a prerequisite to understand the initiation mechanism of solar eruptions. Due to the technological and methodological difficulties, routine observations of the coronal magnetic field are still unavailable. Therefore, a number of methods have been developed to reconstruct the coronal magnetic field. This paper mainly reviews the applications of various reconstruction methods to the studies of the solar eruptions in the recent ten years.     

Periodic variation of the north-south asymmetry of solar activity phenomena

We report here a study of various solar activity phenomena occurring in both north and south hemispheres of the Sun during solar cycles 8–23. In the study we have used sunspot data for the period 1832–1976, flare index data for the period 1936-1993, Hα flare data 1993–1998 and solar active prominences data for the period 1957–1998. Earlier Verma reported long-term cyclic period in N-S asymmetry and also that the N-S asymmetry of solar activity phenomena during solar cycles 21, 22, 23 and 24 will be south dominated and the N-S asymmetry will shift to north hemisphere in solar cycle 25. The present study shows that the N-S asymmetry during solar cycles 22 and 23 are southern dominated as suggested by Verma.     

Study of travelling interplanetary phenomena report

Scientific progress on the topic of energy, mass, and momentum transport from the Sun into the heliosphere is contingent upon interdisciplinary and international cooperative efforts on the part of many workers. Summarized here is a report of some highlights of research carried out during the SMY/SMA by the STIP (Study of Travelling Interplanetary Phenomena) Project that included solar and interplanetary scientists around the world. These highlights are concerned with coronal mass ejections from solar flares or erupting prominences (sometimes together); their large-scale consequences in interplanetary space (such as shocks and magnetic bubbles); and energetic particles and their relationship to these large-scale structures. It is concluded that future progress is contingent upon similar international programs assisted by real-time (or near-real-time) warnings of solar activity by cooperating agencies along the lines experienced during the SMY/SMA.     

X-ray emission from solar flares

Solar X-ray Spectrometer (SOXS), the first space-borne solar astronomy experiment of India was designed to improve our current understanding of X-ray emission from the Sun in general and solar flares in particular. SOXS mission is composed of two solid state detectors, viz., Si and CZT semiconductors capable of observing the full disk Sun in X-ray energy range of 4–56 keV. The X-ray spectra of solar flares obtained by the Si detector in the 4–25 keV range show evidence of Fe and Fe/Ni line emission and multi-thermal plasma. The evolution of the break energy point that separates the thermal and non-thermal processes reveals increase with increasing flare plasma temperature. Small scale flare activities observed by both the detectors are found to be suitable to heat the active region corona; however their location appears to be in the transition region.     

Energetic particles from the sun

This paper discusses solar cosmic ray phenomena and related topics from the solar physical point of view. Basic physics of the solar atmosphere and solar flare phenomena are, therefore, considered in some detail. Since solar cosmic rays are usually produced by solar flares, we must first understand the processes and mechanism of solar flares, especially the so-called proton flares, in order to understand the acceleration mechanism of solar cosmic rays and their behaviour in both the solar atmosphere and interplanetary space. For this reason, detailed discussion is given on various phenomena associated with solar flares, proton flare characteristics, and the mechanism of solar flares.Since the discovery of solar cosmic rays by Forbush, the interplanetary space has been thought of as medium in which solar cosmic rays propagate. In this paper, the propagation of solar cosmic rays in this space is, therefore, discussed briefly by referring to the observed magnetic properties of this space. Finally, some problems related to the physics of galactic cosmic rays are discussed.Astrophysics and Space Science Review Paper.     

DeepSun:machine-learning-as-a-service for solar flare prediction

Solar flare prediction plays an important role in understanding and forecasting space weather.The main goal of the Helioseismic and Magnetic Imager(HMI), one of the instruments on NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory, is to study the origin of solar variability and characterize the Sun's magnetic activity.HMI provides continuous full-disk observations of the solar vector magnetic field with high cadence data that lead to reliable predictive capability; yet, solar flare prediction effort utilizing these data is still limited. In this paper, we present a machine-learning-as-a-service(MLaa S) framework, called Deep Sun,for predicting solar flares on the web based on HMI's data products. Specifically, we construct training data by utilizing the physical parameters provided by the Space-weather HMI Active Region Patch(SHARP)and categorize solar flares into four classes, namely B, C, M and X, according to the X-ray flare catalogs available at the National Centers for Environmental Information(NCEI). Thus, the solar flare prediction problem at hand is essentially a multi-class(i.e., four-class) classification problem. The Deep Sun system employs several machine learning algorithms to tackle this multi-class prediction problem and provides an application programming interface(API) for remote programming users. To our knowledge, Deep Sun is the first MLaa S tool capable of predicting solar flares through the internet.     

Solar and stellar flares

Short-lived increases in the brightness of many red dwarfs have been observed for the last 30 yr, and a variety of more or less exotic models have been proposed to account for such flares. Information about flares in the Sun has progressed greatly in recent years as a result of spacecraft experiments, and properties of coronal flare plasma are becoming increasingly better known. In this paper, after briefly reviewing optical, radio and X-ray observations of stellar flares, we show how a simplified model which describes conductive plus radiative cooling of the coronal flare plasma in solar flares has been modified to apply to optical and X-ray stellar flare phenomena. This model reproduces many characteristic features of stellar flares, including the mean UBV colors of flare light, the direction of flare decay in the two-color diagram, precursors, Stillstands, secondary maxima, lack of sensitivity of flare color to flare amplitude, low flux of flare X-rays, distinction between so-called spike flares and slow flares, Balmer jumps of as much as 6–8, and emission line redshifts up to 3000 km s^–1. In all probability, therefore, stellar flares involve physical processes which are no more exotic (and no less!) than those in solar flares. Advantages of observing stellar flares include the possibilities of (i) applying optical diagnostics to coronal flare plasma, whereas this is almost impossible in the Sun, and (ii) testing solar flare models in environments which are not generally accessible in the solar atmosphere.     

The structure of the interplanetary medium during the first stip interval (September–October 1975) and prerelease of energetic solar particles

An analysis of the interplanetary medium structure is made during STIP 1. (September–October, 1975). Using a simple extrapolation method a reconstruction of the stream lines is made which shows that the interplanetary space during this time period was very quiet. Such a behaviour is expected because this interval is close to the minimum of the solar cycle activity.The evolution of two fast solar wind streams, which dominated the interplanetary medium for very long time periods, is studied.A peculiar solar proton event, with onset time before the optical flare, is explained according to Elliot mechanism — i.e., that energetic particles are stored for a long time and released, sometimes, before the optical flare.These particles can be seen only when the interplanetary medium is very quiet, (without shock waves) and the flare very isolated.     

Cosmic-ray variations related to solar,geomagnetic and interplanetary disturbances (23 March–7 April, 1976)

During the second interval of the Study of Travelling Interplanetary Phenomena (STIP, 20 March–5 May, 1976) a series of solar, interplanetary, geomagnetic and cosmic-ray events have occurred. These are surprising events, since this period falls into the minimum of the solar activity of the past solar cycle. The present analysis is concentrated on Forbush decreases, cosmic-ray increases, geomagnetic variations and the related solar wind disturbances recorded by the heliocentric satellites Helios-1, 2 and the geocentric IMP-8, in the period 23 March–7 April, 1976. The cosmic-ray enhancements on 26 March and 1 April were of geomagnetic origin and particularly expressed in middle latitude stations during the largeDst magnetic field depressions. The detected multiple Forbush decreases are related with the type IV solar flares, all produced by the same active region (McMath Plage 14143). The relative positions among the satellites Helios-1, 2, the Sun, and the Earth were very favorable in this period for studying these events, since Helios-1 approached the Sun to its perihelion and Helios-2 was lined-up with the Earth. Helios-2 detected two shock fronts on 30 March and 1 April, respectively, and Helios-1 detected a tangential discontinuity on 26 March. An attempt is made to relate these shock fronts with the erupted solar flares and Storm Sudden Commencements (SSC) recorded on the Earth and to estimate a lower limit of the deceleration distance of the involved shock waves.     

What helicity can tell us about solar magnetic fields

Concept of magnetic/current helicity was introduced to solar physics about 15 years ago. Earlier studies led to discovery of such fundamental properties as hemispheric helicity rule, and role of helicity in magnetic reconnection and solar eruptions. Later, the concept was successfully applied in studies of different solar processes from solar dynamo to flare and CME phenomena. Although no silver bullet, helicity has proven to be a very useful “tool” in answering many still-puzzling questions about origin and evolution of solar magnetic fields. I present an overview of some helicity studies and briefly analyze their findings.     

Laboratory Exploration of Solar Energetic Phenomena

The solar atmosphere displays a wide variety of dynamic phenomena driven by the interaction of magnetic fields and plasma. In particular, plasma jets in the solar chromosphere and corona, coronal heating, solar flares and coronal mass ejections all point to the presence of magnetic phenomena such as reconnection, flux cancellation, the formation of magnetic islands, and plasmoids. While we can observe the signatures and gross features of such phenomena we cannot probe the essential physics driving them, given the spatial resolution of current instrumentation. Flexible and well-controlled laboratory experiments, scaled to solar parameters, open unique opportunities to reproduce the relevant unsteady phenomena under various simulated solar conditions. The ability to carefully control these parameters in the laboratory allows one to diagnose the dynamical processes which occur and to apply the knowledge gained to the understanding of similar processes on the Sun, in addition directing future solar observations and models. This talk introduces the solar phenomena and reviews the contributions made by laboratory experimentation.     

An empirical model of the daily evolution of the coronal index

Global changes of the solar activity can be expressed by the coronal index that is based upon the total irradiance of the coronal 530.3 nm green line from observations at five stations. Daily mean values of the coronal index of solar activity and other well-correlated solar indices are analyzed for the period 1966–1998 covering over three solar cycles. The significant correlation of this index with the sunspot number and the solar flare index have led to an analytical expression which can reproduce the coronal index of solar activity as a function of these parameters. This expression explains well the existence of the two maxima during the solar cycles taking into account the evolution of the magnetic field that can be expressed by some sinusoidal terms during solar maxima and minima. The accuracy between observed and calculated values of the coronal index on a daily basis reaches the value of 71%. It is concluded that the representative character of the coronal index is preserved even when using daily data and can therefore allow us to study long-term, intermediate and short-term variations for the Sun as a star, in association with different periodical solar–terrestrial phenomena useful for space weather studies.     

The distribution of sunspots over the Sun

The distribution of the sunspots for the period 1967–1987 (solar cycles 20 and 21) is presented here. We find that the ±11–20° latitude belt is most prolific for the occurrence of various spot types irrespective of magnetic-field ranges. Furthermore, longitudinally sunspots occur most prolifically at six or more places on the Sun. Spatially 7–9 zones are present in each hemisphere (north or south) of the Sun where about 50% sunspots occur and occupy only about 4% area of the Sun. During the above cycles at least 5 flare zones were regularly present in each hemisphere. The existing models cannot explain these active zones on the Sun. Thus, the present analysis emphasizes the need for a new magnetic models of the Sun.     

Magnetohydrodynamic modelling of interplanetary disturbances between the Sun and Earth

A time-dependent, nonplanar, two-dimensional magnetohydrodynamic computer model is used to simulate a series, separately examined, of solar flare-generated shock waves and their subsequent disturbances in interplanetary space between the Sun and the Earth's magnetosphere. The ‘canonical’ or ansatz series of shock waves include initial velocities near the Sun over the range 500 to 3500 km s^?1. The ambient solar wind, through which they propagate, is taken to be a steady-state homogeneous plasma (that is, independent of heliolongitude) with a representative set of plasma and magnetic field parameters. Complete sets of solar wind plasma and magnetic field parameters are presented and discussed. Particular attention is addressed to the MHD model's ability to address fundamental operational questions vis-à-vis the long-range forecasting of geomagnetic disturbances. These questions are: (i) will a disturbance (such as the present canonical series of solar flare shock waves) produce a magnetospheric and ionospheric disturbance, and, if so, (ii) when will it start, (iii) how severe will it be, and (iv) how long will it last? The model's output is used to compute various solar wind indices of current interest as a demonstration of the model's potential for providing ‘answers’ to these questions.     

Solar observations with a millimeter-wavelength Array

Rapid developments in the techniques of interferometry at millimeter wavelengths now permit the use of telescope arrays similar to the Very Large Array at microwave wavelengths. These new arrays represent improvements of orders of magnitude in the spatial resolution and sensitivity of millimeter observations of the Sun, and will allow us to map the solar chromosphere at high spatial resolution and to study solar radio burst sources at millimeter wavelengths with high spatial and temporal resolution. Here we discuss the emission mechanisms at millimeter wavelengths and the phenomena which we expect will be the focus of such studies. We show that the flare observations study the most energetic electrons produced in solar flares, and can be used to constrain models for electron acceleration. We discuss the advantages and disadvantages of millimeter interferometry, and in particular focus on the use of and techniques for arrays of small numbers of telescopes.Paper presented at the 4th CESRA Workshop in Ouranopolis (Greece) 1991.     

太阳射电爆发的起因：耀斑或／和日冕物质抛射

本文分析了近二十年来的地面和空间太阳有关观测资料,得出太阳射电爆发的起因为耀斑和／ 或日冕物质抛射（ＣＭＥ） 而不仅仅是耀斑,这将有利于更深刻地了解太阳射电爆发和共生高能现象的物理过程     

Multispectral observations complementary to the study of high-energy solar phenomena

Non-thermal phenomena on the Sun are characterized by the transient acceleration of electrons and ions to energies ranging from several keV to tens of GeV, and the impulsive heating of plasma to temperatures exceeding 5 × 10⁷ K. These energetic processes result in the emission of a broad spectrum of electromagnetic radiation and of high-energy neutrons, as well as the escape of high energy electrons and ions from the acceleration region. The determination of the energy spectrum, polarization, and spatial distribution of these emissions, which contain detailed information on the acceleration and heating process, and the conditions at the sites at which this energy is generated and dissipated, is the principal objective of high-energy solar studies.The study of the evolution of magnetic structures in the solar convection zone and atmosphere which underlie the metastable conditions which precede these energetic processes, of the conditions that trigger the release of energy, and of the impact of the energy released on the solar atmosphere, is most effectively carried out by observations of thermal and quasi-thermal phenomena which precede, coincide with, and follow the impulsive acceleration and heating event itself. Multispectral observations of the phenomena associated with non-thermal events on the Sun are reviewed, and the requirements for visible, ultraviolet, extreme ultraviolet, and soft X-ray observations which are necessary for future advances are briefly described.     

Phase Relationship Between Sunspot Number, Flare Index and Solar Radio Flux

To understand better the variation of solar activity indicators originated at different layers of the solar atmosphere with respect to sunspot cycles, we carried out a study of phase relationship between sunspot number, flare index and solar radio flux at 2800 MHz from January 1966 to May 2008 by using cross-correlation analysis. The main results are as follows: (1) The flare index and sunspot number have synchronous phase for cycles 21 and 22 in the northern hemisphere and for cycle 20 in the southern hemisphere. (2) The flare index has a noticeable time lead with respect to sunspot number for cycles 20 and 23 in the northern hemisphere and for cycles 22 and 23 in the southern hemisphere. (3) For the entire Sun, the flare index has a noticeable time lead for cycles 20 and 23, a time lag for cycle 21, and no time lag or time lead for cycle 22 with respect to sunspot number. (4) The solar radio flux has a time lag for cycles 22 and 23 and no time lag or time lead for cycles 20 and 21 with respect to sunspot number. (5) For the four cycles, the sunspot number and flare index in the northern hemisphere are all leading to the ones in the southern hemisphere. These results may be instructive to the physical processes of flare energy storage and dissipation.     

Radio emission from flare stars

Observations of radio emission from flare stars are reviewed, including surveys of flare stars in the solar neighborhood and in stellar associations, studies of quiescent emission, and continuum and spectral studies of radio burst emission. The radio observations are placed in an observational context provided by soft X-ray, UV, and optical observations. It is stressed that, as is the case for the latter wavelength regimes, observations of rado bursts on flare stars are qualitatively similar to those on the Sun, albeit in a dramatically scaled-up fashion.     

Present and Future Observing Trends in Atmospheric Magnetoseismology

With modern imaging and spectral instruments observing in the visible, EUV, X-ray, and radio wavelengths, the detection of oscillations in the solar outer atmosphere has become a routine event. These oscillations are considered to be the signatures of a wave phenomenon and are generally interpreted in terms of magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) waves. With multiwavelength observations from ground- and space-based instruments, it has been possible to detect waves in a number of different wavelengths simultaneously and, consequently, to study their propagation properties. Observed MHD waves propagating from the lower solar atmosphere into the higher regions of the magnetized corona have the potential to provide excellent insight into the physical processes at work at the coupling point between these different regions of the Sun. High-resolution wave observations combined with forward MHD modeling can give an unprecedented insight into the connectivity of the magnetized solar atmosphere, which further provides us with a realistic chance to reconstruct the structure of the magnetic field in the solar atmosphere. This type of solar exploration has been termed atmospheric magnetoseismology. In this review we will summarize some new trends in the observational study of waves and oscillations, discussing their origin and their propagation through the atmosphere. In particular, we will focus on waves and oscillations in open magnetic structures (e.g., solar plumes) and closed magnetic structures (e.g., loops and prominences), where there have been a number of observational highlights in the past few years. Furthermore, we will address observations of waves in filament fibrils allied with a better characterization of their propagating and damping properties, the detection of prominence oscillations in UV lines, and the renewed interest in large-amplitude, quickly attenuated, prominence oscillations, caused by flare or explosive phenomena.