A study of coronal bright points at 20 cm wavelength

We present the results of a study of coronal bright points observed at 20 cm with the VLA on a day when the Sun was exceptionally quiet. Microwave maps of bright points were obtained using data for the entire observing period of 5 hours, as well as for shorter periods of a few minutes. Most bright points, especially those appearing in the full-period maps appear to be associated with small bipolar structures on the photospheric magnetogram. Overlays of bright point (B.P.) maps on the Ca⁺K picture, show that the brightest part of a B.P. tends to lie on the boundary of a supergranulation network. In general, the bright points exhibit rapid variations in intensity. There is no systematic correlation between the size of a B.P. and its intensity; the apparently slow variation of B.P. emission may have rapid fluctuations superimposed on it.     

Coronal bright points at 6 cm wavelength

We report the results of the first observations of solar coronal bright points at 6 cm wavelength using the Very Large Array (VLA), with a spatial resolution of 1.2. The maximum brightness temperature of the sources observed is 3 × 10⁴ K with a mean value of 1 × 10⁴ K (above the quiet Sun value). The lifetime of most sources is between 5 and 20 min. The average diameter of the sources is about 5–15 arc. The sources are gaussian-like near the footpoint of miniature loops and they appear in groups. The observations indicate that significant fluctuations in the brightness temperature (sometimes quasi-periodic) and in the spatial extents of these sources can occur over periods of a few minutes.On leave from Beijing Observatory, Beijing, Peoples Republic of China.     

Simultaneous measurements of Ca+ K,Ca+ H,Hα, Hβ, and He D3 emission in prominences

Simultaneously measured line intensities of Ca⁺ K and H, H, H and He D₃ are presented and compared with recent model calculations by Heasley and Milkey (1978). The model calculations are compatible with the observations. There is indication that the observed branching of the relation E(Ca⁺ K and H) E(H) depends on the widths of the Ca⁺-lines.     

Variability of the quiet photospheric network

High-resolution photographs of the photospheric network taken in the Caii K 3933 Å line and at 4308 Å are analysed in order to study the variation, in latitude and over the sunspot cycle, of its density (the density is defined as the number of network elements - also called facular points - per surface unity). It appears that the density of the photospheric network is not distributed uniformly at the surface of the Sun: on September 1983, during the declining phase of the current activity cycle, it was weakened at both the low (equatorial) and high (polar) active latitudes, while it was tremendously enhanced toward the pole. The density at the equator is varying in antiphase to the sunspot number: it increases by a factor 3 or more from maximum to minimum of activity. As a quantum of magnetic flux is associated to each network element, density variations of the photospheric network express in fact variations of the quiet Sun magnetic flux. It thus results that the quiet Sun magnetic flux is not uniformly distributed in latitude and not constant over the solar cycle: it probably varies in antiphase to the flux in active regions.The variation over the solar cycle and the latitude distribution of photospheric network density are compared to those of X-ray bright points and ephemeral active regions: there are no clear correlations between these three kinds of magnetic features.     

High spatial resolution microwave observations of the Sun

Over the past decade two large arrays — the Westerbork Synthesis Radio Telescope (WSRT) and the Very Large Array (VLA) built primarily for sidereal radio astronomy have been used for solar radio astronomical studies with spatial resolution of a few seconds of arc. In this review, we discuss some results obtained at Maryland using these instruments.The quiet Sun observations made with the WSRT have premitted us to produce synthesized maps of supergranulation network at 6 cm wavelength. The brightness temperatures of typical network elements and cells are respectively 2.5 × 10⁴ K and 1.5 × 10⁴ K; thus the contrast is 1.71 which compares with 1.31 for Ca ⁺ K and 20 for L networks. Limb profiles in both equatorial and polar directions have been obtained; limb brightening is observed at both west and south limbs, peak limb temperature being about 40% higher than disk temperature. We have produced synthesized maps of disk filaments which correspond well to H disk filaments and regions of reduced emission in He i 10 830 Å spectroheliograms. Using the WSRT synthesized maps at 6 cm, we have compared the structure of a sunspot associated source with model computations. Using a new method of analysis we have been able to map the vertical as well as the horizontal component of the sunspot magnetic field at specific locations in the low corona. Using the VLA, we have mapped coronal loops at 20 cm; the radio emission is attributed to bremsstrahlung near the loop footpoints whereas gyroresonance process dominates near the loop top. Using the VLA, we have carried out simultaneous observations of a microwave burst at 2 and 6 cm. The 6 cm burst source is apparently located near the top of a flaring loop, while the 2 cm emission originates from the loop footpoints. The 6 cm emission is attributed to gyrosynchrotron radiation of thermal electons in the bulk heated plasma at 4 × 10⁷ K, while the 2 cm emission is due to nonthermal particles released and accelerated during the flare process. A DC electric field flare model appears to explain the observed delay between the peaks at the two wavelengths. From the delay, the strength of the electric field in the flaring region is estimated.     

An attempt to compare the differential rotation of the Ca+-network with that of the photospheric plasma

In this third paper of a series we report on results obtained from almost simultaneous observations of the differential rotation of the Ca⁺-chromosphere and the photospheric plasma. The observations (tracings of Ca⁺-mottles, Doppler-shift-measurements in a photospheric line) were performed at the Locarno station during two extended periods in 1976. Both data sets were used to search for a large scale circulation pattern. A regular long-lived pattern could not be detected, but a single cell with radial outflow (40 ms^-1) extending over more than 50° in longitude has been found. Statistically significant temporal changes of the differential rotation law of the Ca⁺-chromosphere correlated with changes of meridional motions and differences in the rotation of the two hemispheres were observed. The data of 1976 show no significant difference in the equatorial velocity of the Ca⁺-chromosphere and the photosphere. A comparison of temporal variations of the rotation velocity of the Ca⁺-mottles and the photospheric plasma yielded no significant correlation. Finally, we correlated the measurements of the photospheric rotation performed within the equatorial belts at Locarno with those obtained at Mt. Wilson by a different method during the same periods. The Locarno data show small temporal variations (±50 m^-1s) with no correlation between the two hemispheres, while from the Mt. Wilson data larger variations (±100 m s^-1) with a very high correlation between the two hemispheres have been found. A comparison of both sets of data yielded no correlation at all demonstrating the need for further coordinated observations and a drastic increase of internal accuracy.Mitteilung des Fraunhofer-Instituts Nr. 162.     

Fine structure and time variation of the quiet Sun at 1.3 cm

The Hat Creek two-element interferometer has been used to study the quiet Sun at 22 GHz. A statistical analysis of output of the interferometer clearly shows the existence of time variations on the quiet Sun with time scales 180 s. The observations suggest that the fine structure on the quiet Sun might consist of two components - one which varies with the time scales 3 min and the other being relatively stable. The average visibility amplitude indicates that the fine structure on the Sun has a typical angular size of 6. The observation that the variance and the mean of the visibility amplitudes depend in the same way on the projected baseline suggests that the transient sources have angular size similar to the average size of the fine structure on the quiet Sun. Power spectra of the output of the interferometer show no significant periodicity.On leave of absence from Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Bombay, India.     

Fine Structures of Magnetic Field in Solar Quiet Region

In this paper, we present a time series of Fei 5250.2 Å photospheric filtergrams and corresponding magnetograms in a quiet region. The relationship between fine structures of granulation and magnetic fields is analyzed. It is found that although most bright filigree features in photospheric filtergrams are related to corresponding magnetic features, they are generally not cospatial. It is also found that some bright features and their corresponding photospheric magnetic fields show fast changes within several minutes.     

Compact,variable sources on the Sun at 2 centimeter wavelength

Very Large Array (VLA) observations of compact transient sources on the Sun at 2 cm wavelength are presented. These sources have angular sizes of 5–25, brightness temperatures of T _B 1–3 × 10⁵ K, and lifetimes ranging between a few minutes to several hours. The emission originates in regions of diffuse plage and quiet Sun, where the photospheric magnetic fields are relatively weak (H 100 G). In some cases the 2 cm radiation may be explained as the thermal bremsstrahlung of a dense (N _e 10¹⁰ cm^-3) plasma in the transition region. For other sources, the relatively high circular polarization ( _c 40–50 %) suggests a nonthermal emission mechanism, such as the gyrosynchrotron radiation of mildly relativistic electron with a power-law spectrum.     

Na i D brightening phenomena in quiescent prominences

The Na i D emission lines are found to brighten temporarily in restricted regions of quiescent prominences and we call the phenomena the Na i D brightenings. The comparison of observed intensities of Na i D lines with model calculations shows that the phenomena is attributed to a kind of local activation of quiescent prominences accompanied by mass motions. The Na i D lines are emitted from extraordinarily high pressure regions in which the pressure rises up to 0.37 2.7 dyn cm^–2 and the temperature seems to be in the range between 5800 7000 K. The line-of-sight velocity of the mass motions amounted to several tens of km s^–1 in some Na i D emitting prominences investigated. The life time of the phenomena is estimated to be about several tens of minutes.     

Observations of quasiperiodic variations in the solar flux at 10.7 GHz

Observations of the continuum microwave flux at 2.8 cm from quiet regions of the solar disc reveal low amplitude, quasiperiodic fluctuations at periods of 234 s and 150 s. For oscillating elements 10 arc seconds in extent, the corresponding peak to peak temperature variations are 230 K and 190 K. The energy flux in the oscillations is estimated to be 2.5x10² ergs cm² s^–1, assuming they are caused by acoustic waves. If the oscillating elements are 1 arc second in extent, the energy flux is comparable to that required for coronal heating.No evidence is found for strong oscillations at periods greater than 250 s, although other authors have claimed microwave detection of strong fluctuations at periods of 280 s and 400 s.     

H αfiltergram observations of ellerman bombs and its magnetic reconnection model

From theH filtergram observations obtained at Ganyu station, identification and statistic works made for Ellerman bombs, it is found that they often occur in the superpenumbra area of a mature sunspot. We suggest a plasmoid model to account for the basic properties of a typical bomb: lifetime 11 min, diameter 5 × 10⁷ cm, accompanying jet velocity 40 km/s, total energy 10²⁷ erg,Te 10⁴ K. First, a numerical simulation is made to prove that plasmoids can be lifted from the solar convective zone by magnetic buoyancy. Between the plasmoid and its surroundings a strong current sheet builds up in which a peculiar MHD (with plasma ponderamotive force) - resistive instability takes place. After the magnetic reconnection has begun, a local explosive instability ensues whose growth rate is so high that it allows the exhaustion of the high temperature particles from the sheet in a short period. In this way, the temperature of a bomb may be kept unchanged or only rise slightly.     

The prominence radiation theory

The present work is a review of papers related to the theory of prominence radiation. Special attention is paid to stationary equations and the theory of radiation diffusion in the lines and continua of hydrogen, helium and metals.We conclude that prominences are low-temperature formations T _e 7000 K, of low density 10¹² particles per cm³, n _e 10¹¹ cm^–3, effective thickness 10⁹ cm, and that the chemical composition of prominences and that of the Sun's atmosphere are the same. The prominence radiation in the lines of hydrogen, helium and metals is due mainly to quasiresonance scattering of the photospheric radiation.     

Solar oscillations in strong and weak fraunhofer lines over a quiet region

We have analysed a 35-min-long time sequence of spectra in the Caii H line, Nai D1 and D2 lines, and in a large number of strong and weak Fei lines taken over a quiet region at the center of the solar disk. The time series of these spectra have been observed simultaneously in these lines under high spatial, spectral, and temporal resolution at the Vacuum Tower Telescope (VTT) of the Sacramento Peak Observatory. We have derived the line profiles and their central intensity values at the sites of the chromospheric bright points, which are visible in the H line for easy identification. We have done a power spectrum analysis for all the lines, using their central intensity values to determine the period of oscillations. It is shown that the 3 Fei lines, present 23 Å away from the core of the H line representing the pure photospheric lines, Nai D1 and D2 lines, 6 Fei lines at the wings of H line, and Can H line exhibit 5-min, 4.05-min, 3.96-min, and 3.2-min periodicity in their intensity oscillations, respectively. Since all these lines form at different heights in the solar atmosphere from low photosphere to middle chromosphere and show different periodicities in their intensity oscillations, these studies may give an idea about the spatial and temporal relation between the photospheric and chromospheric intensities. Therefore these studies will help to better understand the physical mechanisms of solar oscillations. It is clearly seen that the period of intensity oscillations decreases outward from the low photosphere to the middle chromosphere. Since we have studied a single feature at a time on the Sun (i.e., bright points seen in the H line) in all these spectral lines simultaneously, this may explain about the footpoints of the bright points, the origin of 3-min oscillations, and the relation to other oscillations pertaining to these locations on the Sun. We have concluded that 80% of the bright points are associated with dark elements in the true continuum, and they may seem to have a relationship with the dark intergranular lanes of the photosphere, after carefully examining the brightness (bright threads) extending from the core to the far wings of the H line at the locations of a large number of bright points, using their time sequence of spectra.NRC Resident Research Associate, on leave from Indian Institute of Astrophysics, Bangalore 560034, India.     

Differential rotation,meridional and random motions of the solar Ca+ network

From high precision computer controlled tracings of bright Ca⁺-mottles we investigated differential rotation, meridional and random motions of these chromospheric fine structures. The equatorial angular velocity of the Ca⁺-mottles agrees well with that of sunspots (14°.50 per day, sidereal) and is 5 % higher than for the photosphere. The slowing down with increasing latitude is larger than for sunspots. Hence in higher latitudes Ca⁺-mottles rotate as fast as the photospheric plasma. A systematic meridional motion of about 0.1 km s^–1 for latitudes around 10° was found. The Ca⁺-mottles show horizontal random motions due to the supergranular flow pattern with an rms velocity of about 0.15 km s^–1. We finally investigated the correctness of the solar rotation elements i and derived by Carrington (1863).     

High resolution spectroscopy of the disk chromosphere

We compare temporal power spectra of solar atmospheric oscillations in plage and quiet Sun regions occurring on different parts of a time series of high-quality spectrograms. For periods shorter than 300 s, the oscillation amplitude in the photospheric and low chromospheric parts of the plage is reduced. There is a significant increase in long period power in the chromospheric plage. Our results provide no clear evidence that plages are heated by the dissipation of short-period waves.Operated by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy, Inc. under contract AST-78-17292 with the National Science Foundation.     

Constructing the Coronal Magnetic Field By Correlating Parameterized Magnetic Field Lines With Observed Coronal Plasma Structures

A method is presented for constructing the coronal magnetic field from photospheric magnetograms and observed coronal loops. A set of magnetic field lines generated from magnetogram data is parameterized and then deformed by varying the parameterized values. The coronal flux tubes associated with this field are adjusted until the correlation between the field lines and the observed coronal loops is maximized. A mathematical formulation is described which ensures that (i) the normal component of the photospheric field remains unchanged, (ii) the field is given in the entire corona over an active region, (iii) the field remains divergence-free, and (iv) electric currents are introduced into the field. It is demonstrated that a parameterization of a potential field, comprising a radial stretching of the field, can provide a match for a simple bipolar active region, AR 7999, which crossed the central meridian on 1996 November 26. The result is a non-force-free magnetic field with the Lorentz force being of the order of 10^–5.5 g cm s^–2 resulting from an electric current density of 0.079 A m^–2. Calculations show that the plasma beta becomes larger than unity at a relatively low height of 0.25 r supporting the non-force-free conclusion. The presence of such strong non-radial currents requires large transverse pressure gradients to maintain a magnetostatic atmosphere, required by the relatively persistent nature of the coronal structures observed in AR 7999. This scheme is an important tool in generating a magnetic field solution consistent with the coronal flux tube observations and the observed photospheric magnetic field.     

On the branching in the emission relations of Ca+ in prominences

Spatially well resolved prominence spectra of the three lines Ca⁺ K, H, and Ca⁺ 8542 are analysed. It is confirmed that the branching in the emission relations of Ca⁺ versus H correlates with the magnitude of non-thermal (turbulent) broadening.     

Plasma motion in umbrae and the surrounding photosphere derived from spectroscopic Doppler measurements and tracer measurements of spots

The rotational velocity of the Sun is determined by sunspot tracings and by spectroscopic measurements of the photospheric plasma using the non-Zeeman-split line Fe i 5576 and absolute iodine reference. Stationary line shifts as limb-effect and longperiodical shifts introduced by supergranulation are discussed. The dependence on solar activity as Ca⁺ emissivity and magnetic fields is investigated including line asymmetries. The results are: (a) The non active photospheric regions rotate with 1995 ± 30 m s^-1. Solar active regions yield a 60 m s^-1 higher value. (b) In quiet regions the absolute limb shift varies between 170 m s^-1 at the line core and 310 m s^-1 at I/I _cont 0.8 (C-shape); thus the limb shift is mainly due to entire line shifts. (c) In solar active regions (close to spots) asymmetries are widely reduced in line cores; this effect cannot be associated with a variation of the limb effect due to a large scatter of Doppler shifts near spots. (d) A reduced limb shift of 50 m s^-1 is found in network boundaries and is mainly due to a small scale downflow. (e) Observations with a smaller influence of stray light yield symmetric profiles in umbrae. (f) Differences between umbral rotation rates from tracer and spectroscopic measurements do not exceed 20 m s^-1, when considering straylight. The rotational velocity from umbrae exceeds that from the photosphere by 30–60 m s^-1. Some individual spots yield nearly the same rotation rate as the photosphere.     

Microwave and Soft X-ray Study of Solar Active Region Evolution

We have studied the properties and evolution of several active regions observed at multiple wavelengths over a period of about 10 days. We have used simultaneous microwave (1.5 and 17 GHz) and soft X-ray measurements made with the Very Large Array (VLA), the Nobeyama Radio Heliograph (NRH) and the Soft X-ray Telescope (SXT) on board the Yohkoh spacecraft, as well as photospheric magnetograms from KPNO. This is the first detailed comparison between observations at radio wavelengths differing by one order of magnitude. We have performed morphological and quantitative studies of active region properties by making inter-comparison between observations at different wavelengths and tracking the day-to-day variations. We have found good general agreement between the 1.5 and 17 GHz radio maps and the soft X-rays images. The 17 GHz emission is consistent with thermal bremsstrahlung (free-free) emission from electrons at coronal temperatures plus a small component coming from plasma at lower temperatures. We did not find any systematic limb darkening of the microwave emission from active regions. We discuss the difference between the observed microwave brightness temperature and the one expected from X-ray data and in terms of emission of a low temperature plasma at the transition region level. We found a coronal optical thickness of 10^-3 and 1 for radiation at 17 and 1.5 GHz, respectively. We have also estimated the typical coronal values of emission measure ( 5 × 10²⁸ cm^-5), electron temperature ( 4.5 × 10⁶6 K) and density ( 1.2 × 10⁹ cm₃). Assuming that the emission mechanism at 17 GHz is due to thermal free-free emission, we calculated the magnetic field in the source region using the observed degree of polarization. From the degree of polarization, we infer that the 17 GHz radiation is confined to the low-lying inner loop system of the active region. We also extrapolated the photospheric magnetic field distribution to the coronal level and found it to be in good agreement with the coronal magnetic field distribution obtained from microwave observations.