EVIDENCE OF MAGNETIC RECONNECTION FROM Hα, SOFT X-RAY AND PHOTOSPHERIC MAGNETIC FIELD OBSERVATIONS

A conventional view of magnetic reconnection is mainly based on the 2-D picture of an X-type neutral point, or on the extension of it to 3-D, and it is thought to be accompanied by flux transport across separatrices (places where the field-line mapping is discontinuous). This view is too restrictive when we realize the variety of configurations that are seen flaring. We designed an algorithm, called Source Method (SM), to determine the magnetic topology of active regions (ARs). The observed photospheric field was extrapolated to the corona using subphotospheric sources and the topology was defined by the link between these sources. H flare brightenings were found to be located at the intersection with the chromosphere of the separatrices so defined. These results and the knowledge we gained on the properties of magnetic field-line linkage, led us to generalize the concept of separatrices to quasi-separatrix layers (QSLs) and to design a new method (quasi-separatrix layers method, QSLM) to determine the magnetic topology of ARs. QSLs are regions where the magnetic field-line linkage changes drastically (discontinuously when they behave like separatrices) and the QSLM can be applied to ARs where the photospheric field has been extrapolated using any kind of technique. In this paper we apply the QSLM to observed flaring regions presenting very different configurations and also to a decaying AR where a minor phenomenon, like an X-ray bright point (XBP), is observed. We find that the locations of flare and XBP brightenings are related to the properties of the field-line linkage of the underlying magnetic region, as expected from recent developments of 3-D magnetic reconnection. The extrapolated coronal field lines representing the structures involved in the analyzed events have their photospheric footpoints located at both sides of QSLs. Our results strongly support the hypothesis that magnetic reconnection is at work in various coronal phenomena, ranging from the less energetic ones to large-scale eruptions.     

Topology of Magnetic Field and Coronal Heating in Solar Active Regions – II. The Role of Quasi-Separatrix Layers

The photospheric vector magnetic fields, H and soft X-ray images of AR 7321 were simultaneously observed with the Solar Flare Telescope at Mitaka and the Soft X-ray Telescope of Yohkoh on October 26, 1992, when there was no important activity in this region. Taking the observed photospheric vector magnetic fields as the boundary condition, 3D magnetic fields above the photosphere were computed with a new numerical technique. Then quasi-separatrix layers (QSLs), i.e., regions where 3D magnetic reconnection takes place, were determined in the computed 3D magnetic fields. Since Yohkoh data and Mitaka data were obtained in well-arranged time sequences during the day, the evolution of 3D fields, H features and soft X-ray features in this region can be studied in detail. Through a comparison among the 3D magnetic fields, H features and soft X-ray features, the following results have been obtained: (a) H plages are associated with the portions of QSLs in the chromosphere; (b) diffuse coronal features (DCFs) and bright coronal features (BCFs) are morphologically confined by the coronal linkage of the field lines related to the QSLs; (c) BCFs are associated with a part of the magnetic field lines related to the QSLs. These results suggest that as the likely places where energy release may occur by 3D magnetic reconnection, QSLs play an important role in the chromospheric and coronal heating in this active region.     

X-ray bright point flares due to magnetic reconnection

Ground-based optical observations coordinated with Yohkoh/SXT X-ray observations of an old, disintegrating bipolar active region AR NOAA 7493 (May 1, 1993) provided a multiwavelength data base to study a flaring active region X-ray bright point (XBP) of about 16 hr lifetime, and the activity related to it in different layers of the solar atmosphere. The XBP appeared to be related to a new minor bipole of about 10²⁰ Mx. Superposed on a global evolution of soft X-ray brightness, the XBP displayed changes of brightness, lasting for 1–10 min. During the brightenings the XBP apparently had a spatial structure, which was (tiny) loop-like rather than point-like. The X-ray brightenings were correlated with chromospheric activity: (i) brightenings of underlying chromospheric faculae, and (ii) appearance of strong turbulent velocities in the arch filament system. We propose that the XBP brightenings were due to reconnection of the magnetic field lines (sketched in 3D) between the new bipole and a pre-existing plage field induced by the motion of one of the new pores (v = 0.2 km s^–1) towards the plage, and that the XBP itself was a reconnected hot loop between them.     

Multiwavelength Flare Observations: Temporal Evolution of the 20 August 1992 Flare

The 20 August 1992 flare around 14:28 UT was observed in H, H and Ca ii H with the imaging spectrographs at Locarno-Monti, Switzerland, with the radiotelescopes in Bern, and in soft and hard X-rays by the Yohkoh satellite. In this paper we discuss the analysis of the temporal and spatial evolution of this flare, well observed at chromospheric and coronal layers. We find that the chromospheric electron density shows well-correlated rises with the hard X-rays emphasizing the direct response of the chromosphere to the energy deposition. Although both footpoints of the loops show simultaneous rises of the electron density, non-thermal electron injection is only observed in one of the footpoints, while an additional heating mechanism, like thermal conduction, must be assumed for the other footpoint. However, it is puzzling that all the chromospheric observations in both footpoints are delayed by 3 s compared to the hard X-ray light curve. Although this would be compatible with the thermal heating of one footpoint, it is in contradiction to the non-thermal heating of the other one. Finally, we observed evidence that during the first part of the flare a thermal conduction front propagates at a speed of 2000 km s^-1 into a second loop, in which the energy release occurs in the second part of the flare.     

The Importance of Photospheric Intense Flux Tubes for Coronal Heating

Dissipation of magnetic energy in the corona requires the creation of very fine scale-lengths because of the high magnetic Reynolds number of the plasma. The formation of current sheets is a natural possible solution to this problem and it is now known that a magnetic field that is stressed by continous photospheric motions through a series of equilibria can easily form such sheets. Furthermore, in a large class of 3D magnetic fields without null points there are locations, called quasi-separatrix layers (QSLs), where the field-line linkage changes drastically. They are the relevant generalisation of normal separatrices to configurations without nulls: along them concentrated electric currents are formed by smooth boundary motions and 3D magnetic reconnection takes place when the layers are thin enough. With a homogenous normal magnetic field component at the boundaries, the existence of thin enough QSL to dissipate magnetic energy rapidly requires that the field is formed by flux tubes that are twisted by a few turns. However, the photospheric field is not homogeneous but is fragmented into a large number of thin flux tubes. We show that such thin tubes imply the presence of a large number of very thin QSLs in the corona. The main parameter on which their presence depends is the ratio between the magnetic flux located outside the flux tubes to the flux inside. The thickness of the QSLs is approximately given by the distance between neighbouring flux tubes multiplied by the ratio of fluxes to a power between two and three (depending on the density of flux tubes). Because most of the photospheric magnetic flux is confined in thin flux tubes, very thin QSLs are present in the corona with a thickness much smaller than the flux tube size. We suggest that a turbulent resistivity is triggered in a QSL, which then rapidly evolves into a dynamic current sheet that releases energy by fast reconnection at a rate that we estimate to be sufficient to heat the corona. We conclude that the fragmentation of the photospheric magnetic field stimulates the dissipation of magnetic energy in the corona.     

A current ribbon model for energy storage and release with application to the flare of 7 January 1992

Observations of the flare on 7 January 1992 are interpreted using a topological model of the magnetic field. The model, developed here, applies a theory of three-dimensional reconnection to the inferred magnetic field configuration for 7 January. In the model field a new bipole ( 10²¹ Mx) emerges amidst pre-existing active region flux. This emergence gives rise to two current ribbons along the boundaries (separators) separating the distinct, new and old, flux systems. Sudden reconnection across these boundary curves transfers 3 ×10²⁰ Mx of flux from the bipole into the surrounding flux. The model also predicts the simultaneous (sympathetic) flaring of the two current ribbons. This explains the complex two-loop structure noted in previous observations of this flare. We subject the model predictions to comparisons with observations of the flare. The locations of current ribbons in the model correspond closely with those of observed soft X-ray loops. In addition the footpoints and apexes of the ribbons correspond with observed sources of microwave and hard X-ray emission. The magnitude of energy stored by the current ribbons compares favorably to the inferred energy content of accelerated electrons in the flare.     

The department of defense Selenodetic Control System and the force function of the moon

The figure of the moon as defined by the DOD-66 Selenodetic Control System is first studied. Then, using the derived equation for the surface and adopting the density law = _c + ^p , we have evaluated the volume integrals relating the form of the surface to the gravity harmonics.     

ON THE GRADIENT OF CORONAL MAGNETIC FIELDS FROM RADIO OBSERVATIONS

A technique is proposed to estimate the magnetic field and its derivative in coronal layers above solar active regions. On the basis of the theory of quasi-transverse propagation of microwaves, the measurable degree of circular polarization is related to the gradient of the coronal magnetic field. The relation is applied to the analyses of a set of microwave sunspot-associated sources at the time when they reverse the sense of their circular polarization.Here we present the characteristic values of coronal fields H= 20 G, H/ l = 10^-9 G cm^-1 at a height of 10¹⁰ cm, estimated using spectral-polarization observations with the radiotelescope RATAN-600 ( =18–36 at = 2.0–4.0 cm). The steepest gradient of 2 × 10^-5 G cm^-1 at h=5 × 10⁹ cm is obtained in the case of coronal magnetic fields overlying a sunspot with a high photospheric proper motion.     

Non-inductive current driven by Alfvén waves in solar coronal loops

It has been shown that Alfvén waves can drive non-inductive current in solar coronal loops via collisional or collisionless damping. Assuming that all the coronal-loop density of dissipated wave power (W= 10–3 erg cm^–3 s^–1), which is necessary to keep the plasma hot, is due to Alfvén wave electron heating, we have estimated the axial current density driven by Alfvén waves to be jz 10³–10⁵ statA cm^–2. This current can indeed support the quasi-stationary equilibrium and stability of coronal loops and create the poloidal magnetic field up to B 1–5 G.     

Magnetic properties of x-ray bright points

Using high resolution KPNO magnetograms and sequences of simultaneous S-054 soft X-ray solar images we have compared the properties of X-ray bright points (XBP) and ephemeral active regions (ER). All XBP appear on the magnetograms as bipolar features, except for very newly emerged or old and decayed XBP. We find that the separation of the magnetic bipoles increases with the age of the XBP, with an average emergence growth rate of 2.2 ± 0.4 km s^–1. The total magnetic flux in a typical XBP living about 8 hr is found to be 2 x 10¹⁹ Mx. A proportionality is found between XBP lifetime and total magnetic flux, equivalent to 10²⁰ Mx per day of lifetime.Operated by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy, Inc. under contract with the National Science Foundation.     

Stability of the libration points of a rotating triaxial ellipsoid

The problem of stability of the equilibrium points (the libration points) in the problem of motion of a mass point in the neighbourhood of a rotating triaxial ellipsoid is investigated in the strict sense.In the plane of parameters, depending on the form and dynamical characteristics of the ellipsoids, the regions of stability and instability of the libration points are obtained.It is shown that the libration points of the ellipsoids, the form and dynamical characteristics of which are close to the planets of the solar system, are stable.

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The formation of flare loops by magnetic reconnection and chromospheric ablation

Slow-mode shocks produced by reconnection in the corona can provide the thermal energy necessary to sustain flare loops for many hours. These slow shocks have a complex structure because strong thermal conduction along field lines dissociates the shocks into conduction fronts and isothermal subshocks. Heat conducted along field lines mapping from the subshocks to the chromosphere ablates chromospheric plasma and thereby creates the hot flare loops and associated flare ribbons. Here we combine a non-coplanar compressible reconnection theory with simple scaling arguments for ablation and radiative cooling, and predict average properties of hot and cool flare loops as a function of the coronal vector magnetic field. For a coronal field strength of 100 G the temperature of the hot flare loops decreases from 1.2 × 10⁷ K to 4.0 × 10⁶ K as the component of the coronal magnetic field perpendicular to the plane of the loops increases from 0% to 86% of the total field. When the perpendicular component exceeds 86% of the total field or when the altitude of the reconnection site exceeds 10⁶km, flare loops no longer occur. Shock enhanced radiative cooling triggers the formation of cool H flare loops with predicted densities of 10¹³ cm^–3, and a small gap of 10³ km is predicted to exist between the footpoints of the cool flare loops and the inner edges of the flare ribbons.     

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.     

Solar flare activity and the structure of the coronal neutral line

In this study we analyse the positions of major flares from 1978 and 1979, with respect to the magnetic structure of the solar corona, as described by a potential field model. We find that major flares exhibit no strong association with the neutral line at the chromospheric level. However, when we calculate the neutral line's position at higher and higher altitudes in the corona, we find that major flares show an increasing tendency to be found close to these high-altitude coronal neutral lines. The correlation between flares and higher-altitude coronal neutral lines reaches a maximum at an altitude of 0.35R , and thereafter decreases as the neutral line is moved out to the source surface at an altitude of 1.50R . This indicates that major flares are strongly associated with coronal structure at the 0.35R level ( 250 000 km) - an altitude surprisingly high in the corona. This reinforces the idea that flares are associated with large-scale coronal magnetic fields and also indicates that the region of coronal magnetic topology important to solar flare processes may be larger than previously thought.     

Changes in coronal condensations emission after solar bursts at microwaves

The amount of circular polarization of the total solar radio emission at 7 GHz present permanent changes after the occurrence of certain radio bursts associated with larger flares. For isolated S-components, associated with such flares the changes of the polarization degree _sranges between 0.004 to 0.1, and appears to be a function of the flare importance. A semi-qualitative interpretation associates _swith magnetic field reductions at the S-component, agreeing fairly well with a flare mechanism based on collisionless dissipation of magnetic energy, corresponding to energies in the range of 10³⁰ to 10³² ergs, assuming an average model for the coronal condensations.     

Образобание изотопа11В В углеродном слое зведьы под деиствием нейтрино

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Comparisons of interplanetary type III storm footpoints with solar features

The trajectories of 38 type III storms in the interplanetary medium have been deduced from ISEE-3 radio observations and extrapolated back to the Sun to determine the Carrington coordinates of their footpoints. The analysis assumes radial motion of the solar wind, and the trajectories are projected radially back toward the surface for the last few solar radii. To identify the storm sources, the footpoints were compared to a variety of solar features: to the large-scale neutral line at the base of the current sheet, to active regions, to the small-scale neutral lines and H filaments which trace out active regions, and to coronal holes. Most of the footpoints were found to lie near active regions, in agreement with metric storm locations. There is a weak correlation with H filaments, no apparent association with the current sheet, and an anticorrelation with coronal holes. There is a small excess of storms in the leading half of magnetic sectors.     

Fast Solar Wind Velocity in a Polar Coronal Hole during Solar Minimum

We present a study of the outflow velocity of the fast wind in the northern polar coronal hole observed on 21 May 1996, during the minimum of solar activity, in the frame of a joint observing program of the SOHO (Solar Heliospheric Observatory) mission. The outflow velocity is inferred from an analysis of the Doppler dimming of the intensities of the Ovi 1032, 1037 and Hi L 1216 lines observed between 1.5 R and 3.5 R with the Ultraviolet Coronagraph Spectrometer (UVCS), operating onboard SOHO. The analysis shows that for a coronal plasma characterized by low density, as derived for a polar hole at solar minimum by Guhathakurta et al. (1999), and low temperature, as directly measured at the base of this coronal hole by David et al. (1998), the oxygen outflow speed derived spectroscopically is consistent with that implied by the proton flux conservation. The hydrogen outflow is also consistent with flux conservation if the deviation from isotropy of the velocity distribution of the hydrogen atoms is negligible. Hence, for this cool and tenuous corona, the oxygen ions and neutral hydrogen atoms flow outward roughly at the same speed, which increases from 40 km s^–1 at 1.5 R to 360 km s^–1 at 3.1 R , with an average acceleration of the order of 4.5×10³ cm s^–2. The highly anisotropic velocity distributions of the Ovi ions found in the analysis confirm that the process which is heating the oxygen ions acts preferentially across the magnetic field.     

EVOLUTION OF A DELTA GROUP IN THE PHOTOSPHERE AND CORONA

We present a study of the evolution of NOAA AR 7205 in the photosphere and corona, including an analysis of sunspot motions, and show the evolutionary aspects of flare activity using full-disc white-light observations from Debrecen, vector magnetograms from Mees Observatory, Hawaii, and Yohkoh soft X-ray observations. NOAA AR 7205 was born on the disc on 18 June, 1992. During the first 3 days it consisted of intermittent minor spots. A vigorous evolution started on 21 June when, through the emergence and merging (v 100–150 m s^-1) of several bipoles, a major bipolar sunspot group was formed. Transverse magnetic fields and currents indicated the presence of shear (clockwise twist) already on 21 June (with 0.015 Mm^-1). On 23 June, new flux emerged in the trailing part of the region with the new negative polarity spot situated very close to the big positive polarity trailing spot of the main bipole. The secondary bipole seemed to emerge with high non-potentality (currents). From that time the AR became the site of recurrent flare activity. We find that all 14 flares observed with the Yohkoh satellite occurred between the highly sheared new bipole and the double-headed principal bipole. Currents observed in the active region became stronger and more extended with time. We propose that the currents have been (i) induced by sunspot motions and (ii) increased by non-potential flux emergence leading to the occurrence of energetic flares (X1.8 and X3.9). This observation underlines the importance of flare analysis in the context of active region evolution.     

Electrostatic Wave Instability and Plasma Radiation from Coronal Loops

Polarization properties of solar and stellar radio emission require, in some cases, emission below the third or fourth coronal electron gyro level, < 3,_c; 4, _c. In the context of plasma radiation, the source parameters should be such that the intermediate magnetic field condition 1 < _p ² / _c ² < 3 is satisfied. Supposing this condition, we investigate the generation of electrostatic waves in a warm background plasma with a high-energy component of magnetically trapped electrons. We invoke the conversion of upper-hybrid waves and Bernstein waves into electromagnetic radiation as being responsible for intense radio emission from a coronal magnetic loop. Moreover, odd-half harmonic emissions in the solar radio spectrum as well as the o-mode polarization at the second harmonic of the plasma frequency are natural consequence of this proposed model.