Periodic oscillations found in the velocity field of a quiescent prominence

With the purpose of detecting periodic oscillations or waves in a quiescent prominence, temporal variations of a Ca ii K line profile have been studied. The most conspicuous phenomenon found here is the fact that the edge of the prominence showed, over some 20000 km along the spectrograph-slit, periodic velocity fluctuations of nearly the same phase with periods of 210–240 s and with an amplitude of up to ± 2 kms ^–1. At other portions, several different periods of peaks (160–400 s) can also be seen in the power spectra, but less distinctly. As to the intensity and the line width, however, no periodic variations have been detected.     

Brightness fluctuations in the K-line wings

A power-spectrum and cross-spectrum analysis has been made of measurements of temporal fluctuations of intensity observed in the K-line wing (2.07 Å from line center) and of simultaneous measurements of temporal fluctuations of Doppler displacement of the cores of 3931.122 Fe i and 3933 Ca ii (K₃). The measurements were made in a quiet region near the center of the Sun's disk. We find that the average power spectra of the intensity fluctuations have two significant peaks of about equal strength: one at 0.0033 Hz (300-s period); and one at about 0.001 Hz (1000-s period). The average rms value of these intensity fluctuations is 0.0435±0.0082. Maximum brightness comes before maximum violet displacement of the Fe i line. The mean of the best determined phases is 137° and of all the data 108°. At those places on the Sun where the 300-s oscillations can be identified in the k₃ core, the Doppler displacement of the Fe i line leads that of the K₃ core by a mean phase angle of 27°.     

Periodic oscillations found in coronal velocity fields

By making line profile analyses of the Fe xiv 5303 coronal line, temporal variations of three fundamental quantities, the line intensity, the FWHM, and the Doppler velocity, have been investigated for an active region. The power spectrum shows that the line-of-sight Doppler velocity fluctuated periodically at two locations with a period of nearly 300 seconds, while no periodic oscillations were found in line intensity. As to the FWHM, some evidence of periodic fluctuations are recognized but in a less distinct manner.The Sacramento Peak Observatory is operated by the Associated Universities for Research in Astronomy Inc. by contact with the National Science Foundation.     

Interpretation of oscillations in UV lines observed above sunspot umbrae

Our theory of a resonator for slow magneto-atmospheric waves in the chromosphere of a sunspot umbra has been used to check different models of the structure of the chromosphere and transition region. Oscillations of velocity and intensity in Civ, Siiv, and Oiv lines observed by Gurman et al. (1982) on the SMM spacecraft have been compared with the calculated oscillations. The observed spectrum of resonant peaks could well be explained by a gradient model of the umbral chromosphere. Different assumptions concerning the structure of the transition region do not influence the calculated resonance periods, but the amplitudes and phases of oscillations are modified. There is strong evidence for a concentration of the observed oscillations in cold fine structure elements of the transition region, even if the filling factor of such elements is very small (some few percent). Isothermal rather than adiabatic oscillations in the cold elements should be assumed in order to explain the observed fluctuations of line intensity; the relative amplitudes of pressure oscillations in the hot main component with a steep gradient of temperature are too small to explain the observed intensity fluctuations.     

SMM/UVSP observations of the distribution of transition region oscillations and other properties in a sunspot

Observations of a sunspot in the Civ line at 1548 Å formed in the transition region have been analyzed to obtain the time variations and/or mean values of the velocity, intensity, longitudinal magnetic field, and line width. Oscillations with periods between approximately 110 and 200 s are observed only over the umbra where the transition region magnetic field is highest and the line width is smallest. When periodic intensity variations occur at the same frequency as the velocity oscillations, the peak intensities occur slightly before the maximum upward motions. No periodic variations in the transition region magnetic field have been detected. Scatter diagrams are presented which show possible relationships between the flow velocity, emission line intensity, line width, and transition region magnetic field.     

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.     

Observations of longperiod mass velocity oscillations in the Sun's chromosphere

Observations made by the differential method in the H line have revealed longperiod (on a timescale of 40 to 80 min) line-of-sight velocity oscillations which increase in amplitude with distance from the centre to the solar limb and, as we believe, give rise to prominence oscillations. As a test, we present some results of simultaneous observations at the photospheric level where such periods are absent.Oscillatory processes in the solar chromosphere have been studied by many authors. Previous efforts in this vein led to the detection of shortperiod oscillations in both the mass velocities and radiation intensity (Deubner, 1981). The oscillation periods obtained do not, normally, exceed 10–20 min (Dubov, 1978). More recently, Merkulenko and Mishina (1985), using filter observations in the H line, found intensity fluctuations with periods not exceeding 78 min. However, the observing technique they used does not exclude the possibility that those fluctuations were due to the influence of the Earth's atmosphere. It is also interesting to note that in spectra obtained by Merkulenko and Mishina (1985), the amplitude of the 3 min oscillations is anomalously small and the 5 min period is altogether absent, while the majority of other papers treating the brightness oscillations in the chromosphere, do not report such periods in the first place. So far, we are not aware of any other evidence concerning the longperiod velocity oscillations in the chromosphere on a timescale of 40–80 min.Longperiod oscillations in prominences (filaments) in the range from 40 to 80 min, as found by Bashkirtsev et al. (1983) and Bashkirtsev and Mashnich (1984, 1985), indicate that such oscillations can exist in both the chromosphere and the corona (Hollweg et al., 1982).In this note we report on experimental evidence for the existence of longperiod oscillations of mass velocity in the solar chromosphere.     

Small-scale motions over concentrated magnetic regions of the quiet Sun

We have used a 5.5 min time-sequence of spectra in the Fe i lines 5576 (magnetically insensitive), 6301.5 and 6302.5 (magnetically sensitive) to study the association of concentrated magnetic regions and velocity in the quiet Sun. After the elimination of photospheric oscillations we found downflows of 100–300 m s ^–1, displaced by about 2 from the peaks of the magnetic field; this velocity is comparable to downflow velocity associated with the granulation and of the same order or smaller than the oscillation amplitude. Quasi-periodic time variations of the vertical component of the magnetic field up to ± 40% were also found with a period near 250 s, close to the values found for the velocity field. Finally we report a possible association of intensity maxima at the line center with peaks of the oscillation amplitude.     

Structure of the 5-minute solar oscillations 1976–1980

The discrete structure in the 5 min velocity oscillations of the solar surface has been confirmed by a re-analysis of data obtained between 1976 and 1979, and in addition a preliminary analysis of 1980 data show excellent consistency of the determined frequencies over the five year period. It is further shown that atmospheric transparency, as measured by the power in the solar intensity fluctuations, shows no correlation with the measured amplitude of the velocity fluctuations, over 2 orders of magnitude.Proceedings of the 14th ESLAB Symposium on Physics of Solar Variations, 16–19 September 1980, Scheveningen, The Netherlands.     

Limb observations of He I 1083 nm

Imaging spectroscopic data of the He i 1083 nm limb emission were taken on several dates in October and November 1995 with the NASA/NSO spectromagnetograph at the NSO/Kitt Peak vacuum telescope and on 9 December, 1993 with the Michigan infrared camera at the NSO/Sacramento Peak vacuum tower telescope. Emission line profiles were observed in quiet-Sun and coronal hole locations on the northern and southern solar poles and on the east solar limb. The height of the He i 1083 nm shell above the continuum limb at 1083 nm was measured to be 2.11 ± 0.12 Mm with the Kitt Peak data, and 1.74 ± 0.05 Mm with the Sacramento Peak data. The Kitt Peak data show (1) within the measurement error there is no significant difference in the height or thickness of the emission shell in coronal holes compared with the quiet Sun, (2) the 1083 nm emission intensity drops by 50% in coronal holes, (3) the line width decreases by about 2 km s^-1 in coronal holes (suggesting less inclined spicules), (4) the line width of the He i 1083 nm line jumps significantly as the line of sight crosses the solar limb (consistent with a higher temperature upper shell), (5) a quiescent prominence shows a smaller spectral line width (consistent with a cooler temperature or less velocity broadening), and (6) the entire emission shell and the prominence show a He i spectral component ratio of about 8 (suggesting optically thin emission).Operated by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy, Inc. (AURA), under cooperative agreement with the National Science Foundation.     

Spectroscopic Observation of Oscillations in the Corona During the Total Solar Eclipse of 22 July 2009

We performed high resolution spectroscopy of the solar corona during the total solar eclipse of 22 July 2009 in two emission lines: the green line at 5303 ? due to Fe xiv and the red line at 6374 ? due to Fe x, simultaneously from Anji (latitude 30°28.1′ N; longitude 119°35.4′ E; elevation 890 m), China. A two-mirror coelostat with 100 cm focal length lens produced a 9.2 mm image of the Sun. The spectrograph using 140 cm focal length lens in Littrow mode and a grating with 600 lines per millimeter blazed at 2 μm provided a dispersion of 30 m? and 43 m? per pixel in the fourth order around the green line and third order around the red line, respectively. Two Peltier cooled 1k × 1k CCD cameras, with a pixel size of 13 μm square and 14-bit readout at 10 MHz operated in frame transfer mode, were used to obtain the time sequence spectra in two emission lines simultaneously. The duration of totality was 341 s, but we could get spectra for 270 s after a trial exposure at an interval of 5 s. We report here on the detection of intensity, velocity, and line width oscillations with periodicity in the range of 25 – 50 s. These oscillations can be interpreted in terms of the presence of fast magnetoacoustic waves or torsional Alfvén waves. The intensity ratios of green to red emission lines indicate the temperature of the corona to be 1.65 MK in the equatorial region and 1.40 MK in the polar region, relatively higher than the expected temperature during the low activity period. The width variation of the emission lines in different coronal structures suggests different physical conditions in different structures.     

Intensity Oscillation in the Corona as Observed during the Total Solar Eclipse of 29 March 2006

We obtained the images of the eastern part of the solar corona in the Fe xiv 530.3 nm (green) and Fe x 637.4 nm (red) coronal emission lines during the total solar eclipse of 29 March 2006 at Manavgat, Antalya, Turkey. The images were obtained using a 35 cm Meade telescope equipped with a Peltier-cooled 2k × 2k CCD and 0.3 nm pass-band interference filters at the rates of 2.95 s (exposure times of 100 ms) and 2.0 s (exposure times of 300 ms) in the Fe xiv and Fe x emission lines, respectively. The analysis of the data indicates intensity variations at some locations with period of strongest power around 27 s for the green line and 20 s for the red line. These results confirm earlier findings of variations in the continuum intensity with periods in the range of 5 to 56 s by Singh et al. (Solar Phys. 170, 235, 1997). The wavelet analysis has been used to identify significant intensity oscillations at all pixels within our field of view. Significant oscillations with high probability estimates were detected for some locations only. These locations seem to follow the boundary of an active region and in the neighborhood, rather than within the loops themselves. These intensity oscillations may be caused by fast magneto-sonic waves in the solar corona and partly account for heating of the plasma in the corona.     

Intensity oscillation in Hα-fine structure

Using a new technique of directly measuring the intensity variation from the 16 mm time-lapse filtergram movies taken in the blue wing and in the line center of H, we found periodic intensity oscillations in the center of H-supergranulation network, in rosette centers and in plage granules. The oscillatory period of intensity in the network is of the order of 170 ± 44 seconds while in regions of stronger magnetic field, such as in plages and in rosettes, the period was found to be longer, on the order of 300 ± 50 seconds. It is suggested that observed intensity oscillation in the rosette center is related to the shooting out of dark mottles from rosettes. Oscillatory intensity fluctuations have been also observed in the sunspot umbra.     

Discussion of a possible magnetic transient in UVSP observations

As part of a search for possible magnetic transients in the transition region, polarization observations were made in the C iv line at 1548 Å during a flare on 1980, July 13. In contradiction to earlier informal reports, it is not possible to state that magnetic transients of several thousand gauss have really been detected. This conclusion is based primarily on the lack of correlation in the circular polarization signals observed in the two halves of the spectral line and also on the possible effects of rapid fluctuations of intensity, velocity, and line width and shape.     

Changeable hydrothermal media as potential cradle of life on a planet

According to the elaborated systemic concept, a prebiotic microsystem has a chance to be transformed into primary living unit (probiont) only under nonequilibrium oscillating conditions. This transition proceeds through three successive kinds of transformations. First, a prebiotic microsystem must acquire the specific critical properties being at the unstable state of the bifurcate transition. Then it should be relatively stabilized due to balanced oscillations between the initial and the forward states (there appears the paradoxical state of ‘stabilized instability’). The decisive transformation to the living state is connected with the inversion of the ratio of ‘free energy to entropy contribution’ when the free energy input in the microsystem becomes higher than the entropy input. Changeable nonequilibrium conditions are most typical to hydrothermal systems in comparison with other aqueous media of the Earth. In this context the hydrothermal medium seems very suitable to be considered as a potential cradle of life on a planet. To characterize a scale of the thermodynamic and physico-chemical fluctuations some hydrothermal systems in Kamchatka peninsula were explored. The period of the pressure microoscillations in Mutnovsky and Pauzhetsky hydrothermal systems range from 10 to 30 min, and the amplitude is 0.2-0.7 bar. From time to time the amplitude of the fluctuations significantly rises due to spontaneous increase of activity of the nearest volcanoes. Similar results were obtained during the exploration of thermodynamic and chemical fluctuations in Mura hydrothermal field in Slovenia: the period of the water pressure oscillations is 60-70 min, and the average amplitude about 0.5 bar. Temperature and some chemical parameters oscillate in this field with the same period. These data can be used to conduct advanced laboratory experiments on prebiotic organic synthesis under nonequilibrium oscillating conditions. Some universal aspects of this concept may allow us to better understand the origin-of-life process in the Universe.     

Structure and oscillations in quiescent filaments from observations in He i λ10830 å

Observations of two quiescent filaments show oscillatory variations in Doppler shift and central intensity of the He i 10830 Å line.The oscillatory periods range from about 5 to 15 min, with dominant periods of 5, 9, and 16 min. The 5-min period is also detected in the intensity variations, after correction for atmospheric effects. Doppler shifts precede intensity variations by about one period. The possibility that the oscillations are Alfvén waves is discussed.The Doppler signals of the filament form fibril-like structures. The fibrils are all inclined at an angle of about 25° to the long axis of the filament. The magnetic field has a similar orientation relative to the major direction of the filament, and the measured Doppler signals are apparently produced by motions along magnetic flux tubes threading the filament.The measured lifetimes of the small-scale fibrils of quiescent disk filaments are very likely a combined effect of intensity modulations and reshuffling of the structures.     

Intensity ratios of spectral cores Ca ii K to H across a sunspot

Ratios of the intensity in the core of the Ca ii K line to the intensity of the H line core across a sunspot (SPO 5007) were determined from measurements of spectra made simultaneously with the Echelle spectrograph at the Vacuum Tower Telescope, Sacramento Peak Observatory. The measured values averaged over the neighboring nonspot region, the penumbra and the umbra are found to be 1.13 ± 0.04, 1.19 ± 0.05, and 1.25 ± 0.03, respectively.This work was supported by the U.S.-Republic of Korea Cooperative Science Program (K-24).     

Closed magnetic structures in the chromosphere and in the transition region

Using simultaneous observations of the same solar regions in the lines H and Civ 1548 Å, we have derived schematic models of closed magnetic lines from dynamical constraints. We conclude that the magnetic loops are closed at higher levels above facular than above non-facular regions. This result remains valid whatever are the assumed density models and even if we take into account the 3 min oscillations. The center-to-limb behaviour is well predicted by taking into account the relative opacity in chromosphere and transition region.     

Detection of Periodic Oscillations in Sunspot-Associated Radio Sources

Using microwave observations made with the Nobeyama radioheliograph (=1.76 cm), we have studied temporal variations of sunspot-associated sources in the circularly polarized component. For all three cases of well-developed and rather stable sunspots we found nearly harmonic oscillations with periods in a range of 120–220 s. In one case of an unstable and quickly devolving active region, the fluctuations appear to be irregular with no dominant period. Sunspot-associated solar radio sources are known to be generated by cyclotron radiation of thermal electrons in magnetic tubes of sunspots at the level of the lower solar corona or chromosphere–corona transition region (CCTR). At the wavelength of 1.76 cm, the polarized emission arises in a layer where the magnetic field is B=2000 G (assuming the emission generated at the third harmonic of electron gyrofrequency). We suggest that the observed effect is a manifestation of the well-known 3-min oscillations observed in the chromosphere and photosphere above sunspots. The observed effects are believed to be a result of resonance oscillation of MHD waves inside a magnetic tube. Radio observations of this phenomenon open a new tool for studying regions of reflection of MHD waves near CCTR level. The method is very sensitive both to the height of the CCTR and magnetic fields above sunspots. Thus, detection of oscillations of the height of the transition region even with an amplitude of a few km are possible. The use of a spectrum of one of the observed sources obtained with the radio telescope RATAN-600 allows us to conclude that oscillations in magnetic field strength of about 4 G could be responsible for the effect and are reliably registered. The appearance of the famous 5-min oscillations in the solar atmosphere was also registered in some spectra of radio oscillations.     

Wave propagation in the photosphere

Using a 32 minutes sequence of observation, brightness and velocity fluctuations in the wings of the Mgi line at 5172.7 Å and Fe ii line at 5197.578 Å are analysed. The analysis of phase shifts and amplitude ratios leads to the following conclusions: