Coronal sources at meter and optical wavelengths during the declining phase of the solar cycle

We present observations of the corona at 169 MHz with the Nançay Radioheliograph during the summer of 1984. We compare synoptic maps of the metric radio emission on the solar disk with synoptic charts of the K-corona as well as of the green and the red lines. Local sources of radio emission are not located near regions of enhanced green or red line emission which, in turn, are in general above chromospheric faculae. Thus the radio emissions located in the surroundings of faculae are apparently related to different loop systems, with lower density. The comparison of the radio data with the K-corona showed one radio source associated with enhanced emission both at 1.3 and at 1.7 R , apparently a streamer. Other radio sources did not show any clear associations, but were nevertheless located within the coronal plasma sheet, delineated by the large-scale K-corona emission. Moreover the large-scale structure of the corona at 169 MHz was quite similar to the coronal plasma sheet observed at 1.3 R above the limb. The extent of the radio emission in latitude is very similar to that of the K-corona, while the coronal line emission is more concentrated near the solar equator.     

Decameter storm radiation,I

A log-periodic array, 3 km long in the E-W direction is in operation at the Clark Lake Radio Observatory. The solar brightness distribution is swept once per second in the 65-20 MHz frequency range. The analysis of the interferometer records allows the determination of one dimensional solar burst positions, to an accuracy of 0.1 R at 60 MHz and 0.3 R at 30 MHz, approximately.Six long duration noise storms have been observed over an eight month period, extending from January to September, 1971. The storms are described and their relation to chromospheric active regions and flares is discussed. Decametric storms are found to be related to complexes of interacting active regions. The interaction is studied in terms of the number of simultaneous flares observed to occur in the various active regions. On the average, twice as many simultaneous flares are observed than would be expected if flares occurred at random. An analysis of coronal magnetic field maps computed from longitudinal photospheric fields shows magnetic arcades and some divergent field lines at the site of storm regions. Decimeter and meter wavelength sources are found to be associated with all decameter storms. At decimeter wavelengths double or multiple sources are often seen above individual active regions forming part of the chromospheric complex.     

Chromospheric synoptic charts for the solar eclipse of November 3, 1994

The synoptic charts of the filaments and active regions near the solar limb are given for the eclipse of November 3, 1994, along with the positions of the prominences. A table helps to associate coronal and chromospheric structures.     

The effects of large- and small-scale density structures on the radio emission from coronal streamers

The radio observations of the coronal streamers obtained using Clark Lake radioheliograph at 73.8, 50.0, and 38.5 MHz during a period of minimum activity in September 1986 are presented. Streamers appear to correlate with two prominent disk sources whose intensities fluctuated randomly. The variations in half-power diameter of the radio Sun are found to correspond with the variations in the white-light extents of the coronal streamers. It appears that the shape of the radio Sun is not a function of the phase of the solar cycle; instead it depends on the relative positions of the streamers in the corona. The observed peak brightness temperatures,T _B , of the streamers are found to be very low, being 6 × 10⁴ K.We compute the brightness temperature distribution along the equator by tracing the rays in the coronal plasma. The rays are deflected away by the streamers before reaching the critical density level, whereas they penetrate deeper into the coronal hole for small angles between the line of sight and the streamer axis. As a consequence, it is found that the streamers and coronal holes appear in the calculated equatorial brightness distribution as irregular brightness depressions and enhancements, respectively. The fine structures are found to disappear when the scattering due to small-scale density inhomogeneities is included in the ray-tracing calculations. The required relative level of density fluctuations, ₁ = N/N, is found to be greater than 12% to reduce the peak brightness temperature from 10⁶ K to 6 × 10⁴ K for all the three frequencies.On leave from Indian Institute of Astrophysics, Bangalore 560034, India.     

Observations and interpretation of the slowly varying component of solar radio emission at decameter wavelengths

We have observed the slowly varying component of solar radio emission at a frequency of 34.5 MHz with half power beam widths of 26/40 in the east-west and north-south directions, respectively. It is found that the observed brightness temperatures vary within the limits of 0.3×10⁶K to 1.5×10⁶K, and the average half power widths of the brightness distribution on the Sun is about 3R . Thermal emission from coronal regions of various electron densities and temperatures with and without the magnetic field has been computed and compared with the observed results.     

X-ray and microwave emissions from the July 19, 2012 solar flare: Highly accurate observations and kinetic models

The M7.7 solar flare of July 19, 2012, at 05:58 UT was observed with high spatial, temporal, and spectral resolutions in the hard X-ray and optical ranges. The flare occurred at the solar limb, which allowed us to see the relative positions of the coronal and chromospheric X-ray sources and to determine their spectra. To explain the observations of the coronal source and the chromospheric one unocculted by the solar limb, we apply an accurate analytical model for the kinetic behavior of accelerated electrons in a flare. We interpret the chromospheric hard X-ray source in the thick-target approximation with a reverse current and the coronal one in the thin-target approximation. Our estimates of the slopes of the hard X-ray spectra for both sources are consistent with the observations. However, the calculated intensity of the coronal source is lower than the observed one by several times. Allowance for the acceleration of fast electrons in a collapsing magnetic trap has enabled us to remove this contradiction. As a result of our modeling, we have estimated the flux density of the energy transferred by electrons with energies above 15 keV to be ～5 × 10¹⁰ erg cm^?2 s^?1, which exceeds the values typical of the thick-target model without a reverse current by a factor of ～5. To independently test the model, we have calculated the microwave spectrum in the range 1–50 GHz that corresponds to the available radio observations.     

Evidence linking coronal transients to the evolution of coronal holes

The positions of X-ray coronal transients outside of active regions observed during Skylab were superposed on H synoptic charts and coronal hole boundaries for seven solar rotations. We confirmed a detailed spatial association between the transients and neutral lines. We found that most of the transients were related to large-scale changes in coronal hole area and tended to occur on the borders of evolving equatorial holes.Skylab Solar Workshop Post-Doctoral Appointee, 1975–1977.     

Solar brightness distribution and its variability at 3 millimeter wavelength

Solar mapping at 3.4 millimeter wavelength has shown the existence of various spatial structures in brightness distribution. The most prominent structure is presented by the local sources of the slowly varying component of the solar radio emission. Usually they coincide with active regions. Some sources have no corresponding optical counterparts. Using synoptic radio maps, latitudinal belts of enhanced brightness were detected at the north and south hemispheres. These belts seem to coincide with sunspot zones, but the enhanced emission exists independently of sunspot group appearance. Comparison of our maps with XUV images shows a noticeable resemblance. Sources above active regions and latitudinal belts of enhanced brightness are seen in both ranges as well as coronal holes.     

Synoptic charts of solar 9.1 cm and coronal hole data

Synoptic charts for Carrington rotations 1601–1605 (May–August, 1973) were prepared using the central meridian column of the daily 9.1 cm Stanford solar radio maps. These charts were especially contoured to emphasize temperatures near the quiet solar disk level. Synoptic charts of coronal holes from the ATM-Skylab were superimposed on the radio data to investigate the ability of the radio charts to show coronal holes. This brief period is unfortunately the only interval for which both sets of data are available. The conclusion reached is that in spite of certain problems due to active regions, side-lobe effects and a rather large beamwidth, the 9.1 cm synoptic charts can be of substantial value in identifying large coronal holes, especially during periods of low solar activity. Such synoptic charts, therefore, for the years 1962–1973 that Stanford data are available, could enhance significantly the meagre data pool for coronal holes prior to the Skylab mission.     

Measurements on the Lyman alpha corona

As a result of a collaborative rocket experiment carried out during the solar eclipse on 7 March, 1970, measurements have been made of the brightness of Lyman from the corona, at heights between 5 × 10⁴ and 5 × 10⁵ km above the limb. The emission is shown to occur primarily through the resonance scattering of chromospheric Lyman from the residual neutral hydrogen in the corona. Both the absolute value and radial fall-off of the brightness agree well with calculations based on solar density models. The Lyman emission has similar variations around the limb to the white light corona, showing in particular an equatorial enhancement.     

The quiet Sun brightness temperature at 127 MHz

A correction and analysis of routine total flux measurements made in Toru at 127 MHz allowed for the determination of the peak brightness temperature of the Sun (above 9 × 10⁵ K) in three periods grouped around the last minimum, and for estimation of the brightness temperature of the coronal holes: (7.3 ± 1.4) × 10⁵ K.     

Correlation and spectral analysis of daily solar radio flux

Correlation and spectral analysis of solar radio flux density and sunspot number near the maximum of the sunspot cycle has indicated the existence of

1. long period amplitude modulation of the slowly varying component (SVC) of radio emission
2. coronal storage over a period of the order of three solar rotations
3. fast decay (one solar rotation period or less) of gyromagnetic emissions from radio sources
4. shift in location of chromospheric sources compared to those of either the upper corona or the photosphere.

     

Synoptic Maps of Solar Wind: Comparison of IPS Data and the NOAA/SEC Version of the Wang and Sheeley Model

Since the 1970s, the Solar-Terrestrial Environment Laboratory, Japan, has been publishing synoptic maps of solar wind velocity prepared using the technique of interplanetary scintillation. These maps, known as V-maps, are useful to study the global distribution of solar wind in the heliosphere. As the Earth-orbiting satellites are unable to probe regions outside the ecliptic, it is important to exploit the scope of interplanetary scintillation to study the solar wind properties at these regions and their relation with coronal features. It has been shown by Wang and Sheeley that there exists an inverse correlation between rate of magnetic flux expansion and the solar wind velocity. The NOAA/Space Environment Center daily updated version of the Wang and Sheeley model has been used to produce synoptic maps of solar wind velocity and magnetic field polarity for individual Carrington rotations. The predictions of the model at 1 AU have been found to be in good agreement with the observed values of the same. The present work is a comparison of the synoptic maps on the source surface using the interplanetary scintillation measurements from Japan and the NOAA/SEC version of the Wang and Sheeley model. The two results agree near the equatorial regions and the slow solar wind locations are consistent most of the times. However, at higher latitudes within ±60°, the wind velocities differ considerably. In the Wang and Sheeley model the highest speed obtained is 600 km s^–1 whereas in the IPS results velocities as high as 800 km s^–1 have been detected. The paper discusses the possible causes for this discrepancy and suggestion to improve the agreement between the two results.     

Some features of the solar microwave emission and their connection with geomagnetic activity

The quiet component of the 9.1-cm solar radio emission is studied from the Stanford radioheliograms covering the period April–October 1964. The distribution of the brightness temperature in heliographic coordinates is not entirely uniform, but positive and negative departures from the average value appear at a number of stable locations. The most important negative departure crosses the central meridian 4 days before the maximum of the recurrent geomagnetic activity. Two out of three less important brightness depressions are connected with geomagnetic disturbances in the same manner. It is suggested that the brightness depressions are identical with M-regions.The result is confirmed by the construction of polytrope models for the solar wind, for various values of the parameters (the polytrope index) and T (the temperature in the inner corona). The velocities near the earth's orbit and in the inner corona are computed as functions of the model parameters, the density results from the observed proton flux at 1 AU. For quiet conditions the model with T = 1.26 × 10⁶ K and = 1.10 is appropriate. The corresponding density and temperature in the corona lead to a value of 4000 K for the contribution of the corona to the 9-cm brightness. For disturbed conditions the suitable model has the parameters T 2.0 × 10⁶ K, a 1.04. It being given that the proton flux at 1 AU is relatively constant, the equation of continuity leads to a low coronal density because of the high solar-wind velocity. The corresponding coronal contribution to the 9-cm brightness is of the order of 10 K. This confirms that the brightness temperature is considerably reduced in the regions where the enhanced solar wind originates. We suggest the name coronal depression for such regions.Papers II and III will appear in forthcoming issues of this journal.     

An Interpretation of the Coronal Holes’ Visibility in the Millimeter Wavelength Range

Various observations indicate that coronal holes generally appear as low brightness temperature regions (LTRs) in the centimeter and millimeter wavelength ranges. However, within their borders local enhancements of radiation, that is, high brightness temperature regions (HTRs), often occur. The theory behind the described behavior is not fully understood and therefore we analyze full-disk solar images obtained at a wavelength of 8 mm at Metsähovi Radio Observatory and compare them with data simultaneously taken in other wavelength ranges. The observational finding that the average brightness temperature of coronal holes is not much different from the quiet-Sun level (with localized deviations toward higher and lower intensities on the order of a few percent) is compared with theoretical models of the thermal bremsstrahlung radiation originating in the solar chromosphere, transition region, and corona. Special attention is devoted to the interpretation of the localized enhancements of radiation observed inside coronal holes at millimeter wavelengths. The main conclusion is that the most important contribution to the brightness temperature comes from an increased density in the transition region and low corona (i.e., at the heights where the temperature is below 10⁶ K). This can explain both the LTRs and HTRs associated with coronal holes.     

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.     

The source model of low-energy electrons responsible for type I and type III radio noise storms

We have made two-dimensional maps of the slowly varying component (SVC) of solar radio emission at a frequency of 34.5 MHz with half power beam width of 26/40. It is found that a majority of SVC sources have brightness temperatures of the order of 0.5 × 10⁶ K and half power widths of about 4 R . The shifts in the positions of the centroids of the SVC sources from the center of the Sun were in the range 1.5 to 2 R . These observations can be explained in terms of thermal emission from coronal regions of enhanced density and temperature located at distances of 1.5 to 2 R from the center of the Sun.     

Large-scale structure of the sun's corona from radio observations using the Clark Lake Radioheliograph

We present meterwave maps of the solar corona made with the Clark Lake Radioheliograph at 30.9, 50, and 73.8 MHz for one solar rotation. We compare and contrast them with optical data: 10830 Å maps, white-light coronagraph images (SOLWIND and Mauna Loa K coronameter) and forbidden line scans. Most of the sources in the radio maps persist for two days or more, and appear to rotate approximately with the solar rate. A coronal hole seen against the disk at all three frequencies shows interesting similarities and significant differences with the optical signatures of the hole. Elongated features of the 50 MHz corona correspond rather well to the azimuthal position of white light streamers seen in SOLWIND images. Synoptic charts made from the radio maps show overall similarities to synoptic charts constructed from (limb) coronagraph data. Some of the differences may result from the different weightings given by the radio and optical data to density and temperature, or by the different sensitivities to non-radial geometries. We show that the combined use of meter wave and optical images provide considerable new insights into the three-dimensional structure of the low to middle corona.     

Solar noise storms and magnetic sector structures

A synoptic study of the occurrence and polarization of 160 MHz noise storms recorded at Culgoora during the current solar cycle shows that the storm sources occur in large unipolar cells extending >90° in solar longitude and 60° in latitude, with lifetimes of 1 yr. From solar maximum onwards these large cells stretch across the solar equator to form a longitudinal sector pattern reminiscent of that observed in the interplanetary magnetic field. Comparisons with published heliospheric current sheet simulations support this conclusion. The noise storms occur in the strong magnetic fields above large, complex, flare-active sunspots. Unlike most active regions, those associated with noise storms do not always have dominant sunspots as leaders. Rather, about one-third have the dominant sunspot as a follower. The dominant sunspot polarities tend to agree with the long-lived sector structure, implying that emerging magnetic flux occurs at preferred longtitudes on the solar surface.     

Large-scale structure of the interplanetary medium

We introduce a method for constructing large-scale (0.25 AU) interplanetary magnetic field lines using only solar wind velocity from well-separated appropriately located spacecraft. The technique is based on labeling the field lines at each spacecraft with their coronal connection longitudes calculated in the EQRH (extrapolated quasi-radial hypervelocity) approximation (Nolte and Roelof, 1973). Even though the EQRH approximation is most applicable to quasi-steady solar wind, we propose that it should also be satisfactorily accurate for moderately evolving conditions. For strongly evolving conditions (e.g., flare-associated plasma) we propose a straightforward correction based on the inferred coronal longitudinal velocity profile. To illustrate the multispacecraft EQRH technique, we perform a calculation in which the interplanetary field lines in a model evolving solar wind disturbance are deduced from model observations at separated spacecraft. Since the expected agreement is found, we use data from Pioneers 8 and 9 and Vela to construct field lines for an unusually quiet period (April 26–30, 1969) and for a flare-associated disturbance accompanied by a Forbush decrease (March 23–25, 1969). The deduced field lines (even though strongly distorted by the disturbance), order the onsets of the Forbush decrease at the separated spacecraft, and the interplanetary plasma and field structures correspond to equatorial structures apparent in H synoptic charts of chromospheric magnetic features.