The Correlation Lifetimes of Chromospheric Ca II K Network Cells

The lifetimes and spatial scales of emission network cells in the solar chromosphere were studied from a nearly continuous sequence of Caii K filtergrams, obtained from Antarctica. The temporal autocorrelation function (ACF) was calculated for spatially-aligned windows from the time sequence of filtergrams. The lifetime of network cells was found to be dependent on the activity of the region. The estimated lifetimes are 24–34 hours for quiet-region cells and 58–61 hours for active-region cells. The temporal ACF shows prominent undulations in some of the quiet-region windows. The spatial ACF reveals the periodicity of the emission network in quiet regions.     

Solar Wind and Chromospheric Network

A physical model of the transition region, including upflow of the plasma in magnetic field funnels that are open to the overlying corona, is presented. A numerical study of the effects of Alfvén waves on the heating and acceleration of the nascent solar wind originating in the chromospheric network is carried out within the framework of a two-fluid model for the plasma. It is shown that waves with reasonable amplitudes can, through their pressure gradient together with the thermal pressure gradient, cause a substantial initial acceleration of the wind (on scales of a few Mm) to locally supersonic flows in the rapidly expanding magnetic field trunks of the transition region network. The concurrent proton heating is due to the energy supplied by cyclotron damping of the high-frequency Alfvén waves, which are assumed to be created through small-scale magnetic activity. The wave energy flux of the model is given as a condition at the upper chromosphere boundary, located above the thin layer where the first ionization of hydrogen takes place.Among the new numerical results are the following: Alfvén waves with an assumed f ^-1 power spectrum in the frequency range from 1 to ⁴ Hz, and with an integrated mean amplitude ranging between 25 and 75 km s⁴, can produce very fast acceleration and also heating through wave dissipation. This can heat the lower corona to a temperature of 5× 10⁵ K at a height of h=12,000 km, starting from 5× 10⁴ K at h=3000 km. The resulting thermal and wave pressure gradients can accelerate the wind to speeds of up to 150 km s^-1 at h=12,000 km, starting from 20 km s^-1 at h=3000 km in a rapidly diverging flux tube. Thus the nascent solar wind becomes supersonic at heights well below the classical Parker-Type sonic point. This is a consequence of the fact that any large wave-energy flux, if it is to be conducted through the expanding funnel to the corona, implies the building-up of an associated wave-pressure gradient. Because of the diverging field geometry, this might lead to a strong initial acceleration of the flow. There is a multiplicity of solutions, depending mainly on the coronal pressure. Here we discuss two new (as compared with a static transition region model) possibilities, namely that either the flow remains supersonic or slows down abruptly by shock formation, which then yields substantial coronal heating up to the canonical 10⁶ K for the proton temperature.     

Variations of the Chromospheric Network with the Solar Cycle

We have digitized a small sample of Caii K spectroheliograms from the photographic archive of Arcetri Observatory for the period 1950–1970. For each digitized plate, active regions have been automatically identified and masked by applying an algorithm based on the geometrical connection between active pixels. Contrast histograms have been derived for the full disk and for quiet regions. Both of them show a neat Gaussian profile on the dark side and a significant tail on the bright side, due to the brightness enhancements associated with magnetic fields. A solar cycle dependence of the histogram asymmetry is clearly evident in quiet region data, thus confirming that the network component might provide a significant contribution to long-term variations of the total irradiance.     

Chromospheric Ca II H and K emission among subdwarfs

Echelle spectra have been obtained of the Ca  II H and K lines for a sample of metal-poor subdwarf stars as well as for a number of nearby Population I dwarfs selected from among those included in the Mount Wilson HK survey. The main conclusion of this paper is that Ca  II H- and K-line emission does occur among subdwarfs. It is particularly notable among those subdwarfs with colours of B − V ≥0.75; all such stars observed exhibit chromospheric emission, although emission is observed among some subdwarfs bluer than this colour. The Ca  II K emission profile in most subdwarfs exhibits an asymmetry of V / R >1, similar to that seen in the integrated light of the solar disc. Two quantitative indicators of the contrast between the peaks in the emission profile and the neighbouring photospheric line profile are introduced. Measurements of these indicators show that the level of Ca  II emission among the subdwarfs is similar to that among low-activity Population I dwarfs.     

Chromospheric Models of Solar Type Stars: The Vaughan-Preston Gap

We have built different models for stars of the same spectral type than the Sun but with different levels of chromospheric activity, to study the response of the S index of activity built from the emission of the Ca II H and K lines to changes in the chromospheric structure. We found that the fact that there are many stars with either strong or weak emission, but few with intermediate values of S, the so-called Vaughan–Preston gap, can be due to a discontinuity in the response of the Ca II lines to chromospheric heating. In fact, we are able to reproduce the observed distribution of the number of stars as a function of S.     

Plage and Enhanced Network Indices Derived from Ca II K Spectroheliograms

NSO Sacramento Peak Caii K images are analyzed for the years 1992 through September 1996 with about a 50% coverage. The plage, decayed plage, enhanced network, and quiet-Sun features are identified on each image with an algorithm that uses the criteria of intensity, size, and filling factor. These algorithms can be adapted for analyzing spectroheliograms from ground-based or space-based observatories. Plage and enhanced network indices, for these time periods, are shown. We present intensity contrasts for the plage, decayed plage, and enhanced network. We also find that these contrasts, which are an average of the structures intensity relative to the quiet Sun over the whole disk, remain essentially constant over the solar cycle.     

Ca II K emission arches

Arch-like features are often seen in spectrograms of very strong lines near the solar limb when the slit crosses the chromospheric network. We show how earlier kinetic-equilibrium (non-LTE) calculations for Ca ii can be used to predict such features for the K line with two-component atmospheric models.Publication of the Goethe Link Observatory, Indiana University, No. 144Now on leave at the High Altitude Observatory, National Center for Atmospheric Research, Boulder, Colorado. (NCAR is sponsored by the National Science Foundation.)     

Key Properties of Solar Chromospheric Line Formation Process

The distribution or wavelength-dependence of the formation regions of frequently used solar lines, Hα，Hβ，CaIIH and CaII8542,in quiet Sun,faint and bright flares is explored in the unpolarized case.We stress four aspects characterising the property of line formation process:1) width of line formation core;2) line formation region;3)influence of the temperature minimum region; and 4) wavelength ranges within which one can obtain pure chromospheric and photospheric filtergrams.It is shown that the above four aspects depend strongly on the atmospheric physical condition and the lines used. The formation regions of all the wavelength points within a line may be continuously distributed over one depth domain or discretely distributed because of no contribution coming from the temperature minimum region, an important domain in the solar atmosphere that determines the distribution pattern of escape photons. On the other hand, the formation region of one wavelength point may cover only one height range or spread over two domains which are separated again by the temperature minimum region. Different lines may form in different regions in the quiet Sun. However, these line formation regions become closer in solar flaring regions. Finally, though the stratification of line-of-sight velocity can alter the position of the line formation core within the line band and result in the asymmetry of the line formation core about the shifted line center, it can only lead to negligible changes in the line formation region or the line formation core width. All these results can be instructive to solar filtering observations.     

The Relation of Ca II K FEATURES TO MAGNETIC FIELD

We studied quantitatively the relation between the intensity of Caii K-line bright features and the intensity of the associated magnetic elements using two data sets obtained at the Big Bear Solar Observatory. Both network and intranetwork (IN) structures were considered. Magnetic field changes always affected the K-line emission; for example, the appearance of new bipoles was always followed by enhanced K-line emission. There is an almost linear correlation between the K-line intensity and the magnetic field strength of the stronger network elements (elements with absolute field strength higher than 11–19.5 G). We identified two classes of intranetwork K-line elements: magnetic and non-magnetic ones. The number of the magnetic K-line IN elements above a 1-sigma threshold was only 5%–10% of the number of the non-magnetic ones. The magnetic K-line IN elements were almost 3 to 4 times brighter compared to the non-magnetic elements. On the other hand, the non-magnetic elements were moving with typical velocities of 35–40 km s^–1 while the velocities of the magnetic K-line elements were of the order of 1 km s^–1.     

The solar Ca II K index and the Mg II core-to-wing ratio

The 1 index of the solar Ca II K line is compared with the core-to-wing ratio of satellite measurements of the Mg II h and k lines. The correlation coefficient r = 0.976 for the Nimbus-7 Mg II ratio during solar cycle 21 andr = 0.99 for the NOAA9 Mg II ratio in cycle 22. Linear regression analysis for the full dynamic range of both data sets is used to combine the Nimbus-7 and NOAA9 Mg II data. These relations permit the ground-based Ca K index to estimate the solar UV flux.     

耀斑色球压缩区的传播与谱线的不对称性

色球压缩区是耀斑大气动力学过程的一个基本特征，是产生色球谱线红不对称性的基础。本文基于压缩区从大气高层向低层传播的理论公式，在二种不同情况下，计算得到了压缩区内物质运动速度随高度和时间的变化．结果表明，色球蒸发区压力增量Δｐ为常数时压缩区之寿命比压缩区波阵面后的压力ｐ２为常数时要长得多，这就大大缓解了以往谱线不对称性的延续时间的理论值比观测值小的矛盾。形成高度不同的谱线具有不同程度的不对称性这一观测现象也同色球压缩区的传播特性相一致。     

On the Geometrical Properties of the Chromospheric Network

A sequence of Ca-K images obtained in a period of minimum solar activity, from July to November 1996, at the Rome Observatory with the PSPT (Precision Solar Photometric Telescope) prototype instrument have been used to analyze the geometrical properties of cells identified by the chromospheric network. In particular, we used 256 × 256 sub-arrays of the calibrated full-disk PSPT images. These sub-arrays, centered on the solar disk, are reduced to two-levels (binary) images by means of a suitable threshold after an FFT high-pass filtering. A medial axis transform, better known as skeleton, combined with a cellular automaton, is applied to the two-level images, in order to derive the cell boundaries. The regions corresponding to the cells are then filled by a growing algorithm. In this way we can derive a set of output parameters describing the cells geometry. The size distribution of the identified cells shows a continuous increase toward the smaller scales, rather than a small dispersion around a characteristic scale. Nevertheless the analysis of the inter-cell distances and of the area distribution pointed out a characteristic scale (square root of the area) of ± 24 Mm. To describe the cells irregularity and to probe the nature of solar turbulence, we apply a Mandelbrot fractal analysis to such irregularly shaped features. Examining the cell perimeter–area relationship we found the existence of a critical area at which a change in the geometrical properties occurs. This area corresponds to the scale of ± 24 Mm. The estimated fractal dimension for cells with area greater than the critical one is 1.35. This value, close to that predicted for isobars in the Kolmogorov 3-D turbulent theory, does not exclude a turbulent origin for such cells. The analysis seems to point to a common origin for solar granulation and supergranulation.     

Chromospheric Height and Density Measurements in a Solar Flare Observed with RHESSI – II. Data Analysis

We present an analysis of hard X-ray imaging observations from one of the first solar flares observed with the Reuven Ramaty High-Energy Solar Spectroscopic Imager (RHESSI) spacecraft, launched on 5 February 2002. The data were obtained from the 22 February 2002, 11:06 UT flare, which occurred close to the northwest limb. Thanks to the high energy resolution of the germanium-cooled hard X-ray detectors on RHESSI we can measure the flare source positions with a high accuracy as a function of energy. Using a forward-fitting algorithm for image reconstruction, we find a systematic decrease in the altitudes of the source centroids z(ε) as a function of increasing hard X-ray energy ε, as expected in the thick-target bremsstrahlung model of Brown. The altitude of hard X-ray emission as a function of photon energy ε can be characterized by a power-law function in the ε=15–50 keV energy range, viz., z(ε)≈2.3(ε/20 keV)^−1.3 Mm. Based on a purely collisional 1-D thick-target model, this height dependence can be inverted into a chromospheric density model n(z), as derived in Paper I, which follows the power-law function n _e(z)=1.25×10¹³(z/1 Mm)^−2.5 cm⁻³. This density is comparable with models based on optical/UV spectrometry in the chromospheric height range of h≲1000 km, suggesting that the collisional thick-target model is a reasonable first approximation to hard X-ray footpoint sources. At h≈1000–2500 km, the hard X-ray based density model, however, is more consistent with the `spicular extended-chromosphere model' inferred from radio sub-mm observations, than with standard models based on hydrostatic equilibrium. At coronal heights, h≈2.5–12.4 Mm, the average flare loop density inferred from RHESSI is comparable with values from hydrodynamic simulations of flare chromospheric evaporation, soft X-ray, and radio-based measurements, but below the upper limits set by filling-factor insensitive iron line pairs.     

Spectroscopic Properties of Dynamical Chromospheric Processes in a Confined Solar Flare

We present our results of high temporal resolution spectroscopic observation and study in Hα, Ca II, and He I lines for the 2B/M1.9 confined disk flare on September 9, 2001, combining with GOES soft X-ray (SXR) and Yohkoh hard X-ray (HXR) observations. Apparent redshifted and red-asymmetric profiles were observed in the initial phase. The redshift lasted until the late phase. The derived velocity depends on both the spectral line and the used method. The redshift velocities computed from the line centers of the observed emission profiles (υ₀) are of the order of 10 km s⁻¹ both inside and outside the streak area. However, the velocities determined from the excess profiles by the bisector method (υ) are larger in the streak (18–50 km s⁻¹). Both υ and the red full widths (RFWs) derived from the excess profiles show temporal variations similar to the HXR light-curve in the streak area. Moreover, the Hα line wings of nonthermal characteristics, the redshift velocities, and the lifetime of impulsive broadening suggest that the streak is related to nonthermal electron bombardment. Spectral simulations reveal that we cannot reproduce the observed profiles in the three lines simultaneously with a set of parameters, indicating that the flare atmosphere was not homogeneous along the line-of-sight. Most of the observed Hα profiles showed a ‘flat-top’ structure, implying the flare plasma was optically thick for this line. The electron temperatures (T_e) deduced from the line-center intensity of the three lines are similar and estimated to be higher than 7200 K. The obvious central reversal of the Hα profiles due to absorption of materials in the impulsive phase lasted more than 2 min. However, the far blue wings of the Ca II profiles in the impulsive phase showed low-intensity emission, which is suggestive of the existence of large turbulence or macroscopic motion (> 50 km s⁻¹), which is inconsistent with the current flare model.     

Speed Distributions of Merging X-Ray Sources During Chromospheric Evaporation in Solar Flares

We explore the speed distributions of X-ray source motions after the start of chromospheric evaporation in two Reuven Ramaty High Energy Solar Spectroscopic Imager (RHESSI) flares. First, we make CLEAN images at 15 energy bands with a 12 second integration window; then, we outline a flaring loop geometry to cover the looptop and footpoint sources as much as possible. Consistent with the previous steps, we find converging motion of the double footpoint sources along the flaring loop in these two events. This motion is dependent on the energy band and time and is typically seen at 3 – 25 keV, indicating a chromospheric evaporation origin. The speed distributions at various energy bands are measured for the 10 September 2002 flare, which exhibits a separation-to-mergence motion pattern well correlated with the rising-to-decay phases at 50 – 100 keV.     

Spectral Characteristics of Solar Flares in Different Chromospheric Lines and Their Implications

Using the spectral data of representative solar flares observed with the infrared detector system of the solar spectrograph at Purple Mountain Observatory, we study the spectroscopic characteristics of solar flares in the Hα, the Ca i i 8?542 Å, and the He i 10?830 Å lines in different phases and various locations of flares and discuss their possible implications coupled with space observations. Our results show that in the initial phase of a flare the Hα line displays a red shift only with no wide wing. Large broadenings of the Hα line are observed a few minutes after the flare onset within small regions of 3?–?5^′′ in both disk and limb flares with and without nonthermal processes. Far wings similar to those of damping broadening appear not only in the Hα line but in the He i 10?830 Å line as well in flares with nonthermal processes. Sometimes we even detect weak far-wing emission in the Ca i i 8?542 Å line in disk flares. Such large broadenings are observed in both the footpoints and the flare loop-top regions and possibly result from strong turbulence and/or macroscopic motions. Therefore, the so-called nonthermal wing of the Hα line profile is not a sufficient condition to distinguish whether nonthermal electrons are accelerated or not in a flare. The Ca i i 8?542 Å line shows lower intensity in the loop-top regions and higher intensity in the parts close to the solar surface. Emissions larger than nearby continuum in the He i 10?830 Å line are detected only in small regions with strong X-ray emissions and avoid sunspot umbrae.     

Latitude Dependence of the “Gnevyshev” Peaks and Gaps

The occurrence of double peaks near the maximum of sunspot activity was first emphasized by Gnevyshev (Solar Phys. 1, 107, 1967) for the peak years of solar cycle 19 (1954 – 1964). In the present analysis, it is shown that double peaks in sunspot numbers were clearly visible in solar latitudes 10 – 30° N but almost absent in the southern latitudes, where some single peaks were observed out of phase by several months from any of the peaks in the northern latitudes. The spacing between the double peaks increased from higher to lower northern latitudes, hinting at latitudinal migration. In the next cycle 20 (1965 – 1976), which was of about half the strength of cycle 19, no clear-cut double peaks were seen, and the prominent peak in the early part of 1967 in the northern latitudes was seen a few months later in the southern latitudes. A direct relationship of Gnevyshev peaks with changes in the solar polar magnetic fields seems to be dubious. The commencements do not match.     

Chromospheric activity in H and K lines of Arcturus on 1984 February 14

We have obtained a large amount of high-dispersion spectra of Arcturus using our coude spectrograph attached to our 1-metre telescope. From this collection, we picked out an unbroken sequence of 5 spectra of the CaII H and K lines taken in a period of 4 hours on 1984 February 14. Their analysis shows that we were possibly witnessing a chromospheric eruption on the star. The following sequence was seen: the line profile became asymmetrical — the asymmetry remained while the peak emission increased — the profile became symmetrical once again. The largest asymmetry was 20% between the red and violet components of K₂, and the maximum peak emission was some 20% above normal. There were also changes in K₁. At the peak emission of K₂ emission core appeared in the self-absorbed centre of K₃.     

Ca II K bright points and the solar cycle

We have made number counts of the bright points that populate the interior of the Ca II network in the solar chromosphere for four solar cycles. We find that the number of these fine structures during the solar maximum exceeds that during the minimum phase on an average by 30%. The contribution due to this excess number would need to be taken into account while explaining the variation in the Ca II K emission profiles of the integrated sunlight from the solar minimum to the maximum.     

Ca II K Emission Line Asymmetries Among Red Giants

In the spectra of red giants the chromospheric emission feature found in the core of the Ca II K line often exhibits an asymmetric profile. This asymmetry can be documented by a parameter V/R which is classified as > 1, 1, or < 1 if the violet wing of the emission profile is of greater, equal, or lower intensity than the redward wing. A literature search has been conducted to compile a V/R dataset which builds on the large survey of bright field giants made by Wilson (1976). Among stars of luminosity classes II–III–IV the majority of those with V/R > 1 are found to be bluer than B-V =1.3, while those with V/R < 1 are mostly redder than this colour. Stars with nearly symmetric profiles, V/R≈ 1, are found throughout the colour range 0.8 < B-V < 1.5. There is no sharp transition line separating stars of V/R > 1 and < 1 in the colour-magnitude diagram, but rather a ‘transition zone’ centered at B-V ≈ 1.3. The center of this zone coincides closely with a ‘coronal dividing line’ identified by Haish, Schmitt and Rosso (1991) as the red envelope in the H–R diagram of giants detected in soft x-ray emission by ROSAT. It is suggested that both the transition to a Ca II K emission asymmetry of V/R < 1 and the drop in soft x-ray activity across the coronal dividing line are related to changes in the dynamical state of the chromospheres of red giants. By contrast, the onset of photometric variability due to pulsation occurs among stars of early-M spectral type, that are redward of the mid-point of the Ca II V/R ‘transition zone’, suggesting that the chromospheric motions which produce an asymmetry of V/R < 1 are established prior to the onset of pulsation. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.