Soho Observations of the Structure and Dynamics of Sunspot Region Atmospheres

We present results from a study of the spatial distributions of line emission and relative line-of-sight velocity in the atmosphere above 17 sunspot regions, from the chromosphere, through the transition region and into the corona, based on simultaneous observations of ten EUV emission lines with the Coronal Diagnostic Spectrometer – CDS on SOHO. We find that the spatial distributions are nonuniform over the sunspot region and introduce the notation 'sunspot loop' to describe an enhanced transition region emission feature that looks like a magnetic loop, extending from inside the sunspot to the surrounding regions. We find little evidence for the siphon flow. Attention is given to the time variations since we observe both a rapid variation with a characteristic time of a few to several minutes and a slow variation with a time constant of several hours to 1 day. The most prominent features in the transition region intensity maps are the sunspot plumes. We introduce an updated criterion for the presence of plumes and find that 15 out of 17 sunspots contain a plume in the temperature range logT5.2–5.6. The relative line-of-sight velocity in sunspot plumes is high and directed into the Sun in the transition region. Almost all the sunspot regions contain one or a few prominent, strongly redshifted velocity channels, several of the channels extend from the sunspot plume to considerable distances from the sunspot. The flow appears to be maintained by plasmas at transition region temperatures, moving from regions located at a greater height outside the sunspots and towards the sunspot. The spatial correlation is high to moderate between emission lines formed in the transition region lines, but low between the transition region lines and the coronal lines. From detailed comparisons of intensity and velocity maps we find transition region emission features without any sign of coronal emission in the vicinity. A possible explanation is that the emission originates in magnetic flux tubes that are too cold to emit coronal emission. The comparisons suggest that gas at transition region temperature occur in loops different from loops with coronal temperature. However, we cannot exclude the presence of transition region temperatures close to the footpoints of flux tubes emitting at coronal temperatures. Regions with enhanced transition region line emission tend to be redshifted, but the correlation between line emission and relative line-of-sight velocity is weak. We extend our conditional probability studies and confirm that there is a tendency for line profiles with large intensities and red shifts (blue shifts) above the average to constitute an increasing (decreasing) fraction of the profiles as the wavelength shift increases.     

High-Velocity Flows in an Active Region Loop System Observed with the Coronal Diagnostic Spectrometer (Cds) on Soho

EUV spectra of coronal loops above an active region show clear evidence of strong dynamical activity. We present an example where the Ov 629 Å line, formed at 240 000 K, is shifted from its reference position corresponding to line-of-sight velocities greater than 50 km s^-1 with the shift extending over a large fraction of a loop. The observations were made with the Coronal Diagnostic Spectrometer (CDS) on the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO), and are from active region NOAA 7981 on the east solar limb on 27 July 1996. An animation has been prepared showing the variation of the shift or flow velocity along the loop. This animation is to be found on the enclosed CD-ROM and gives a clear impression of the dynamical condition present in the loop. The appearance of the loop system in different lines formed over a range in temperature as well as the observed dynamics indicates that loops at different temperatures are not closely co-located. Finally, the results are discussed and related to mechanisms that may cause line shifts.     

Spectroscopic studies of solar corona VI: Trend in line-width variation of coronal emission lines with height independent of the structure of coronal loops

We have obtained spectroscopic observations in coronal emission lines by choosing two lines simultaneously, one [Fe x] 6374 Å and the other [Fe xi] 7892 Å or [Fe xiii] 10747 Å or [Fe xiv] 5303 Å. We found that in 95 per cent of the coronal loops observed in 6374 Å, the FWHM of the emission line increases with height above the limb irrespective of the size, shape and orientation of the loop and that in case of 5303 Å line decreases with height in about 89 per cent of the coronal loops. The FWHM of 7892 Å and 10747 Å emission lines show intermediate behavior. The increase in the FWHM of 6374 Å line with height is the steepest among these four lines. We have also studied the intensity ratio and ratio of FWHM of these lines with respect to those of 6374 Å as a function height above the limb. We found that the intensity ratio of 7892 Å and 10747 Å lines with respect to 6374 Å line increases with height and that of 5303 Å to 6374 Å decreases with height above the limb. This implies that temperature in coronal loops will appear to increase with height in the intensity ratio plots of 7892 Å and 6374 Å; and 10747 Å and 6374 Å whereas it will appear to decrease with height in intensity ratio of 5303 Å to 6374 Å lineversus height plot. These findings are up to a height of about 200 arcsec above the limb. The varying ratios with height indicate that relatively hotter and colder plasma in coronal loops interact with each other. Therefore, the observed increase in FWHM with height above the limb of coronal emission lines associated with plasma at about 1 MK may not be due to increase in non-thermal motions caused by coronal waves but due to interaction with the relatively hotter plasma. These findings also do not support the existing coronal loop models, which predict an increase in temperature of the loop with height above the limb.     

Coronal line intensity as an integrated index of solar activity

The relation between coronal green line intensity and high-speed streams of solar wind emitted by coronal holes or by loop structures of the corona is studied. As well as these exclusive regions of coronal radiative emission, other factors of solar activity have been taken into account in this relation, such as proton events, sunspot number, faculae, and solar magnetic fields.Although the investigated time period (1964–1974) is very short, because of lack of data, we attempted to define the intensity of the coronal green line as an integrated index of the solar activity which can express all the photospheric and coronal phenomena of the Sun. The contraction of the low-density coronal-hole regions and the presence of bright loops during solar maximum provide a theoretical explanation of the above-mentioned relation.     

Two-dimensional pressure structure of a coronal loop

The steady-state pressure structure of a solar coronal loop is discussed using the theory of magneto-hydrodynamical turbulence in cylindrical geometry. The steady state is represented by the superposition of two Chandrasekhar-Kendall functions. This representation, in principle can delinetate the three dimensional temperature structure of the coronal loop. In this paper, we have restricted ourselves to a two dimensional modeling since only this structure submits itself to the scrutiny of the available observations. The radial as well as the axial variations of the pressure in a constant density loop are calculated. These variations are found to conform to the observed features of cool core and hot sheath of the loops as well as to the location of the temperature maximum at the apex of the loop. We find that these features are not present uniformly all along either the length of the loop or across the radius as will be shown in the text. We have also discussed the possible oscillatory nature of these pressure variations and the associated time periods have been estimated.     

Three-Dimensional Nonlinear Force-Free Field Reconstruction of Solar Active Region 11158 by Direct Boundary Integral Equation

A three-dimensional coronal magnetic field is reconstructed for the NOAA active region 11158 on 14 February 2011. A GPU-accelerated direct boundary integral equation (DBIE) method is implemented which is approximately 1000 times faster than the original DBIE used on solar non-linear force-free field modeling. Using the SDO/HMI vector magnetogram as the bottom boundary condition, the reconstructed magnetic field lines are compared with the projected EUV loop structures as observed in the front-view (SDO/AIA) and the side-view (STEREO-A/B) images for the first time; they show very good agreement three-dimensionally. A quantitative comparison with some stereoscopically reconstructed coronal loops shows that the average misalignment angles in our model are at the same order as the state-of-the-art results obtained from reconstructed coronal loops. It is found that the observed coronal loop structures can be grouped into a number of closed and open field structures with some central bright coronal loop features around the polarity inversion line. The reconstructed highly sheared magnetic field lines agree very well with the low-lying sigmoidal filament along the polarity inversion line. This central low-lying magnetic field loop system must have played a key role in powering the flare. It should be noted that while a strand-like coronal feature along the polarity inversion line may be related to the filament, one cannot simply interpret all the coronal bright features along the polarity inversion line as manifestation of the filament without any stereoscopic information.     

Similarities and Differences between Coronal Holes and the Quiet Sun: Are Loop Statistics the Key?

Coronal holes (CH) emit significantly less at coronal temperatures than quiet-Sun regions (QS), but can hardly be distinguished in most chromospheric and lower transition region lines. A key quantity for the understanding of this phenomenon is the magnetic field. We use data from SOHO/MDI to reconstruct the magnetic field in coronal holes and the quiet Sun with the help of a potential magnetic model. Starting from a regular grid on the solar surface we then trace field lines, which provide the overall geometry of the 3D magnetic field structure. We distinguish between open and closed field lines, with the closed field lines being assumed to represent magnetic loops. We then try to compute some properties of coronal loops. The loops in the coronal holes (CH) are found to be on average flatter than in the QS. High and long closed loops are extremely rare, whereas short and low-lying loops are almost as abundant in coronal holes as in the quiet Sun. When interpreted in the light of loop scaling laws this result suggests an explanation for the relatively strong chromospheric and transition region emission (many low-lying, short loops), but the weak coronal emission (few high and long loops) in coronal holes. In spite of this contrast our calculations also suggest that a significant fraction of the cool emission in CHs comes from the open flux regions. Despite these insights provided by the magnetic field line statistics further work is needed to obtain a definite answer to the question if loop statistics explain the differences between coronal holes and the quiet Sun.     

Evidence for moving features in the corona from emission line profiles observed during eclipses

Using the line profiles of [Fe x] 6374 å and [Fe XIV] 5303 å emission lines observed during five total solar eclipses, we address the problem whether the solar corona is static or contains moving features. Many of the profiles of both emission lines have complicated shapes, which we interpret as an evidence for the existence of many, small, moving features in the corona. The line-of-sight velocities observed by other investigators (e.g. Desai, Chandrasekhar & Angreji 1982) also support this view. On the other hand, about 15 recent interferometric and multislit investigations of coronal emission lines have not shown evidence of moving elements. We suggest that this is due to insufficient spatial resolution.     

Thermal cyclotron radiation from hot coronal loops and peculiarities of the polarization structure of solar microwave emission sources: I. Brightness temperature

We discuss the possible contribution of the thermal cyclotron radiation from hot coronal magnetic loops to the observed characteristics of the microwave emission from solar active regions. Based on the simplest three-dimensional model of a loop in the shape of a hot torus, we have calculated the expected peculiarities of the frequency and polarization structures of microwave emission sources associated with sunspots and containing coronal loops. Our model calculations of the two-dimensional brightness temperature distributions at various wavelengths for the ordinary and extraordinary modes and the wavelength dependences of the brightness temperatures are presented in the first part of the work. The loop size, the electron density, and the source position on the disk have been found to affect these characteristics. Our numerical calculations of the brightness temperature distributions and spectra have confirmed the well-known assumption that under certain conditions the spectrum of a hot filament can contain cyclotron lines and the sense of the polarization can change over the range. The results obtained here refer to the brightness temperature along the line of sight that crosses the photosphere at a point with given coordinates, i.e., these are the emission characteristics at a fixed point of the source. Integrated characteristics (the flux from the entire source and its polarization) and a discussion of the hot loop model will be given in the second part of the work.     

Eit Observations of the Extreme Ultraviolet Sun

The Extreme Ultraviolet Imaging Telescope (EIT) on board the SOHO spacecraft has been operational since 2 January 1996. EIT observes the Sun over a 45 x 45 arc min field of view in four emission line groups: Feix, x, Fexii, Fexv, and Heii. A post-launch determination of the instrument flatfield, the instrument scattering function, and the instrument aging were necessary for the reduction and analysis of the data. The observed structures and their evolution in each of the four EUV bandpasses are characteristic of the peak emission temperature of the line(s) chosen for that bandpass. Reports on the initial results of a variety of analysis projects demonstrate the range of investigations now underway: EIT provides new observations of the corona in the temperature range of 1 to 2 MK. Temperature studies of the large-scale coronal features extend previous coronagraph work with low-noise temperature maps. Temperatures of radial, extended, plume-like structures in both the polar coronal hole and in a low latitude decaying active region were found to be cooler than the surrounding material. Active region loops were investigated in detail and found to be isothermal for the low loops but hottest at the loop tops for the large loops. Variability of solar EUV structures, as observed in the EIT time sequences, is pervasive and leads to a re-evaluation of the meaning of the term ‘quiet Sun’. Intensity fluctuations in a high cadence sequence of coronal and chromospheric images correspond to a Kolmogorov turbulence spectrum. This can be interpreted in terms of a mixed stochastic or periodic driving of the transition region and the base of the corona. No signature of the photospheric and chromospheric waves is found in spatially averaged power spectra, indicating that these waves do not propagate to the upper atmosphere or are channeled through narrow local magnetic structures covering a small fraction of the solar surface. Polar coronal hole observing campaigns have identified an outflow process with the discovery of transient Fexii jets. Coronal mass ejection observing campaigns have identified the beginning of a CME in an Fexii sequence with a near simultaneous filament eruption (seen in absorption), formation of a coronal void and the initiation of a bright outward-moving shell as well as the coronal manifestation of a ‘Moreton wave’. Supplementary material to this paper is available in electronic form at http://dx.doi.org/10.1023/A:1004902913117     

The XUV structure of solar active regions

XUV spectroheliograms of 2 active regions are studied. The images are due to lines emitted at temperatures between 8 x 10⁴ K and 2 x 10⁶ K and thus are indicative of transition region and coronal structures. The hot coronal lines are formed solely in loop structures which connect regions of opposite photospheric magnetic polarity but are not observed over sunspots. Transition region lines are emitted in plages overlying regions of intense photospheric magnetic field and in loops or loop-segments connecting such regions. The hot coronal loops are supported hydrostatically while only some of the transition zone loops are. The coronal and transition zone loops are distinctly separated and are not coaxial. A comparison of direct measurements of electron densities using density sensitive line ratios with indirect measurements using emission measures and path lengths shows the existence of fine structures of less than a second of arc in transition region loops. From a similar analysis, hot coronal loops do not have any fine structure below about 2 seconds of arc.     

Dynamical Features and Evolutional Characteristics of Brightening Coronal Loops

We present a detailed study of coronal loop brightenings observed in an active region on the solar limb. These brightening loops show expanding and shrinking motions in EUV coronal line images and also show downflow along the loops in Lα and Hα images. By means of time-slice analysis of the images, we found that both the expanding and shrinking motions of the loops are not real motions of plasma but apparent motions like post-flare loops, where the loops at the different height are successively heated and cooled. From a temperature analysis, the time delay between the brightenings of hot 195 Å and cool Lα loops is found to be nearly equal to the time-scale of the conduction cooling. We conclude that these loop brightenings are sources of so called Hα coronal rains.     

Spatial and temporal variations of solar coronal loops

Skylab EUV observations of an active region near the solar limb were analyzed. Both cool (T < 10⁶ K) and hot (T > 10⁶ K) loops were observed in this region. For the hot loops the observed intensity variations were small, typically a few percent over a period of 30 min. The cool loops exhibited stronger variations, sometimes appearing and disappearing in 5 to 10 min. Most of the cool material observed in the loops appeared to be caused by the downward flow of coronal rain and by the upward ejection of chromospheric material in surges. The frequent EUV brightenings observed near the loop footpoints appear to have been produced by both in situ transient energy releases (e.g. subflares) and the infall/impact of coronal rain. The physical conditions in the loops (temperatures, densities, radiative and conducting cooling rates, cooling times) were determined. The mean energy required to balance the radiative and conductive cooling of the hot loops is approximately 3 × 10^–3 erg cm^–3 s^–1. One coronal heating mechanism that can account for the observed behavior of the EUV emission from McMath region 12634 is heating by the dissipation of fast mode MHD waves.     

Geometrical considerations in imaging the solar corona

X-ray observations of the solar corona show that it is comprised of three-dimensional magnetic structures which appear to be primarily in the form of fluxtubes or loops. Imaging the X-ray corona has led to a greater understanding of the dynamical behaviour of and the energy distribution in these magnetic structures. However, imaging observations, by their very nature, integrate along the line of sight resulting in a two-dimensional representation of the actual three-dimensional distribution. The optically thin nature of the solar corona to X-ray radiation makes the integrated images particularly difficult to interpret. The analysis of the two-dimensional observations must, therefore, inlcude the effect of the orientation of the coronal structure to the line-of-sight direction; a fact which is almost always ignored. In this paper we discuss the effect of loop orientation on the two-dimensional representation and argue that these effects may lead to a misinterpretation of the physics occurring in the structures observed. In particular, we discuss observations taken by the Soft X-ray Telescope (SXT) on board the Yohkoh satellite, taking account of the instrumental thermal response, spatial resolution, and point-spread-function.We test the effect of geometry on the determination of the loop pressure by considering equatorial loops at various longitudes and discuss the implications of this for studies of coronal soft X-ray loops.     

Kinematics of a loop prominence

The kinematics of a loop system has been studied from high resolution Ca ii K line spectra and H filtergrams recorded at Oslo Solar Observatory.Emission features are seen to fall at supersonic velocities from the top of the arches towards the chromosphere. Our data are in agreement with the assumption of matter falling freely along a dipole type magnetic field of maximum height 100–150 thousand km. There is a slight asymmetry between positive and negative line shifts which can be accounted for as a tilt of the individual loops relative to the plane of the sky of 5–10°. The planes of the loops are also inclined by a small angle of approximately 15°. It appears that matter starts from rest at the top of the loops. An observed tilt of some emission features in the K line spectra may be explained by a gradient in the line-of-sight velocity with height caused by the curvature of the dipole type loops.     

Oscillations of coronal loops and second pulsations of solar radio emission

The dispersion properties of the sausage eigenmodes of oscillations in a thin magnetic flux tube are numerically analyzed in terms of ideal magnetohydrodynamics (MHD). The period of the modes accompanied by the emission of MHD waves into the surrounding medium, which leads to acoustic damping of oscillations, is determined by the radius of the tube, not by its length. The dissipation of the sausage oscillations in comparatively high (?0.7R _⊙) and tenuous (?6 × 10⁸ cm^?3) coronal loops is considered. Their Q factor has bound found to be determined by the acoustic damping mechanism. The ratio of the plasma densities outside and inside the loop and the characteristic height of the emission source have been estimated by assuming the quasi-periodic pulsations of meter-wavelength radio emission to be related to the sausage oscillations.     

The interfringe intensity in coronal interferograms

The paper discusses the low contrast of the Fabry-Perot (FP) fringes observed in the interferograms of the solar corona. The various factors which affect the interfringe intensity of Fabry-Pérot line profiles are considered. The effect of continuum radiation on the interfringe intensity of Fabry-Pérot line profiles is calculated by assuming a coronal model. For the given FP, it was found that unless the ratio of line to continuum intensity (integrated line intensity to continuum per angström) is less than 10, continuum contribution has no significant effect on the fringe contrast. The analysis may be pertinent in the design aspects of a FP interferometer for astronomical observations. The excess interfringe intensity found in the coronal line profiles is interpreted as due to the presence of fast moving plasma components in corona along the line of sight. A detailed analysis qualitatively shows that the line excitation conditions existing in ambient corona and coronal loops are different in active regions while they are more similar in polar regions.     

Loss of equilibrium in coronal loops

The loss of equilibrium in coronal magnetic field structures is a possible source of energy for coronal heating and solar flares. We investigate whether such a loss of equilibrium occurs when a coronal loop is progressively twisted by photospheric motions. In studies of 2-D cylindrical equilibria, long loops have been found to be of constant cross-sectional area along most of their length, with axial variations being confined to narrow boundary layers. We use this information to develop a 1-D line-tied model, for a 2-D coronal loop. We specify the twist in terms of the azimuthal field and more physically, in terms of the photospheric footpoint displacement. In the former case we find a loss of equilibrium, but not in the latter. We also examine a twisted loop with a non-zero plasma pressure. The loss of equilibrium is only found at high-plasma . It is conjectured that such high- can occur in flare loops and prior to a prominence eruption. However, when the plasma evolves adiabatically, there is no loss of equilibrium.     

Time Variability of Active Region Loops Observed with the Coronal Diagnostic Spectrometer (Cds) on Soho

Monochromatic images from the Coronal Diagnostic Spectrometer (CDS) of loops above active regions show clear evidence of rapid time variability. The rapidly changing conditions that we observe give a new conception of loop systems that has never before been seriously considered. Loop systems, particularly in emission lines formed at temperatures in the 1–5 × 10⁵ K range, traditionally thought of as transition region temperatures, are seen to change significantly over a period of 1 hour. Loops may appear or disappear in certain emission lines, may show rapid variations in the distribution of the emission along their lengths, or may change shape or expand outward, all on time scales of 10–20 min. At other temperatures below 1.5 MK the variability appears less striking, but is still pronounced. At high temperatures, i.e., T ≥ 1.5 MK, conditions are normally much more stable. Examples exist, however, of loop systems showing violent changes in images at all temperatures up to Fe xvi formed at 2.7 MK. The structural variability is accompanied by high Doppler shifts, especially in the O v line. Corresponding velocities typically amount to 50–100 km s^-1, but values as high as 300 km s^-1 have been recorded. Animations with illustrative examples of loop variability have been prepared and are found on the enclosed CD-ROM. In addition we briefly discuss other structural and dynamical properties of active region loops, particularly those with temperatures below 1.5 MK. Theoretical models of loops cannot explain the present observations, but models that combine extreme fine structure, episodic heating and magneto-acoustic wave disturbances propagating in the loop legs seem promissing. Supplementary material to this paper is available in electronic form at http://dx.doi.org/10.1023/A:1005031711233