Observations of the Solar Limb Shape Distortions

Two new campaigns devoted to the observation of the solar limb distortions were made at the Pic-du-Midi Observatory, in September 2000 and September 2001, by means of the scanning heliometer. This apparatus can be used now routinely to accurately determine solar limb profiles (at two wavelengths), at any heliographic latitudes. Each measurement is made within 44 milliseconds (of time) which permits to record a limb profile together with the seeing. Scans are automatically rejected for seeing larger than 1.3 arc sec. Such conditions are essential to perform high-quality observations necessary to obtain the quadrupole term (l=2) in the polynomial expansion of the radius contour R() _{= constant} = R ₀ left(1+_l c _l P _l()right). Exceptional meteorological conditions in September 2001 (seeing of the order of 18 cm, for a 50 cm clear aperture of the refractor) enabled us to determine c ₂ and c ₄ (see Table I) with an accuracy of a few milli-arc-sec. Results indicate a distorted solar shape, the departures from a pure spherical body not exceeding 20 milli-arc-sec. We propose a model to interpret such results (the combination of a nearly uniform rotating core with a prolate solar tachocline and an oblate surface), which is briefly discussed. Our results are confronted to those obtained from space. We conclude that measurements of the quadrupole term from the ground are possible, but of high difficulty and can be obtained only during excellent weather conditions. The hexadecapole term should be only obtained from space. We show that an astrometric satellite would be required, whose mission would be also to accurately determine the solar rotation profiles (both surface and in depth) in order to unambiguously determine the inertia moments of the Sun through the J _n terms. Such values are also briefly discussed.     

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.     

The He I 10830 Å Line as an Indicator of Solar Activity

The behavior of the He I 10830 Å infrared triplet parameters in active and quiet solar regions was traced from 1976 until 2000. We analyze the correlation between the central depth of the main He I line component and other solar activity indices: the Wolf number, the radiation flux at a frequency of 2800 MHz, the mean number of flares in sunspot groups, and the mean solar magnetic field. We show that the strong correlation between the He I 10830 Å line depth and the phase of the 11-year solar cycle allows this depth to be effectively used as a new solar activity index both on long time scales (years) and on times scales of the order of a month or even days. The suggested new activity index is shown to have advantages over the universally accepted indices. The depth of the He I 10830 Å line in quiet regions was found to increase from the phase of minimum solar activity to the phase of maximum by a factor of about 2. In active regions, this increase is less than 30%. The differences between the cyclic variations of the chromospheric He I 10830 Å line radiation in active and quiet structures on the solar disk are indicative of the probable differences in the nature of cyclicity and its manifestations in magnetic fields of different spatial scales. The background magnetic fields appear to vary during the solar cycle more strongly than do the local fields associated with sunspots, faculae, and activity complexes. We suggest using regular observations in the He I 10830 Å line to predict solar activity.     

The Shape of the Solar Limb: Models and Observations

In this paper we compare observed, empirical, and modelled solar limb profiles and discuss their potential use to derive physical properties of the solar atmosphere. The PHOENIX, SolMod3D, and COSI radiative transfer codes as well as VAL-C models are used to calculate the solar limb shape under different assumptions. The main properties of each model are shown. The predicted limb shape as a function of wavelength for different features on the solar disk, such as quiet Sun, sunspots, and faculae, is investigated. These models provide overall consistent limb shapes with some discrepancies that are discussed here in terms of differences in solar atmosphere models, opacities, and the algorithms used to derive the solar limb profile. Our analysis confirms that the most common property of all models is limb shapes that are much steeper than what is observed, or predicted by the available empirical models. Furthermore, we have investigated the role of the Fraunhofer lines within the spectral domain used for the solar limb measurements. Our results show that the presence of the Fraunhofer lines significantly displaces the limb inflection point from its position estimated assuming only the photospheric continuum. The PICARD satellite, launched on 15 June 2010, will provide measurements of the limb shape at several wavelengths. This work shows that the precision of these measurements allows for discrimination among the available models.     

IRIS Observations of Spicules and Structures Near the Solar Limb

We have analyzed Interface Region Imaging Spectrograph (IRIS) spectral and slit-jaw observations of a quiet region near the South Pole. In this article we present an overview of the observations, the corrections, and the absolute calibration of the intensity. We focus on the average profiles of strong (Mg?ii h and k, C?ii and Si?iv), as well as of weak spectral lines in the near ultraviolet (NUV) and the far ultraviolet (FUV), including the Mg?ii triplet, thus probing the solar atmosphere from the low chromosphere to the transition region. We give the radial variation of bulk spectral parameters as well as line ratios and turbulent velocities. We present measurements of the formation height in lines and in the NUV continuum from which we find a linear relationship between the position of the limb and the intensity scale height. We also find that low forming lines, such as the Mg?ii triplet, show no temporal variations above the limb associated with spicules, suggesting that such lines are formed in a homogeneous atmospheric layer and, possibly, that spicules are formed above the height of \(2''\). We discuss the spatio-temporal structure of the atmosphere near the limb from images of intensity as a function of position and time. In these images, we identify p-mode oscillations in the cores of lines formed at low heights above the photosphere, slow-moving bright features in O?i and fast-moving bright features in C?ii. Finally, we compare the Mg?ii k and h line profiles, together with intensity values of the Balmer lines from the literature, with computations from the PROM57Mg non-LTE model, developed at the Institut d’ Astrophysique Spatiale, and estimated values of the physical parameters. We obtain electron temperatures in the range of \({\sim}\, 8000~\mbox{K}\) at small heights to \({\sim}\, 20\,000~\mbox{K}\) at large heights, electron densities from \(1.1\times 10^{11}\) to \(4\times 10^{10}~\mbox{cm}^{-3}\) and a turbulent velocity of \({\sim}\, 24~\mbox{km}\,\mbox{s}^{-1}\).     

Dark Areas in He I 10 830 Å and Their Relation With Other Effects of Solar Activity

Solar Physics - Absorption areas have been studied in the line He?i 10?830&;nbsp;Å, where active regions are seen as dark areas. The initial data were the synoptic maps for...     

The Measurement of Solar Diameter and Limb Darkening Function with the Eclipse Observations

The total solar irradiance varies over a solar cycle of 11 years and maybe over cycles of longer periods. Is the solar diameter variable over time too? A discussion of the solar diameter and its variations must be linked to the limb darkening function (LDF). We introduce a new method to perform high-resolution astrometry of the solar diameter from the ground, through the observations of eclipses, using the luminosity evolution of Baily’s bead and the profile of the lunar edge available from satellite data. This approach unifies the definition of the solar limb with the inflection point of LDF for eclipses and drift-scan or heliometric methods. The method proposed is applied for the videos of the eclipse on 15 January 2010 recorded in Uganda and in India. The result suggests reconsidering the evaluations of the historical eclipses observed with the naked eye.     

Results of IPS Observations in the Period Near Solar Activity Minimum

IPS observations with the Big Scanning Array of Lebedev Physical Institute (BSA LPI) radio telescope at the frequency 111 MHz have been monitored since 2006. All the sources, about several hundred daily, with a scintillating flux greater than 0.2 Jy are recorded for 24 hours in the 16 beams of the radio telescope covering a sky strip of 8^° declination width. We present some results of IPS observations for the recent period of low solar activity considering a statistical ensemble of scintillating radio sources. The dependences of the averaged over ensemble scintillation index on heliocentric distance are considerably weaker than the dependence expected for a spherically symmetric geometry. The difference is especially pronounced in the year 2008 during the very deep solar activity minimum period. These features are explained by the influence of the heliospheric current sheet that is seen as a strong concentration of turbulent solar wind plasma aligned with the solar equatorial plane. A local maximum of the scintillation index is found in the anti-solar direction. Future prospects of IPS observations using BSA LPI are briefly discussed.     

Impulsive Phase He 10830 Spectra of a Large Solar Limb Flare of 16 August 1989*

We obtained simultaneously He i 10830 Å spectra, H filtergrams and microwave data of a large limb flare (2N/X20) in 1989. In this paper we characterize He i 10830 spectra in relation to the impulsive phase. All the He i 10830 spectra, except those of the surge, show blue shift or blue asymmetry. The velocities inferred from the spectra range from a few to 160 km s–1, implying that the horizontal motion is very likely present in the structure of this flare at different heights. The He i 10830 profiles of a flare are relatively broad and cannot be simulated by the Doppler broadening mechanism with a uniform flare model atmosphere. It is most likely that these characteristics are related to rapid and localized heating in the low and middle chromosphere. Comparing the SXR and microwave data with the optical data leads to the following scenario: the corona was already heated to some extent before the flare onset, and in the first 2 minutes of the impulsive phase, heat conduction was the main source or, at least, a competitive source, for chromospheric heating. However, the impulsive event, associated with the unusually broadened He i 10830 line (f>20 Å) and temporally correlated with a microwave burst, is probably caused by electron-beam heating.     

A Method of Forecasting Solar Activity Based on Radio Astronomical Observations

We present the results of forecasting flare activity based on the data from microwave spectropolarimetric observations of active regions (ARs) obtained with the RATAN-600 radio telescope and the X-ray data from the GOES satellite as well as monitoring data. The method is designed for short-term (1–3-days) flare forecasts. Proton events are considered as part of the general flare problem. Obtaining a reliable forecast is a difficult process in view of the multi-parameter and multi-dimensional system of plasma parameter variations and multiple non-linear interconnections.We used a modified Tanaka–Enome criterion, as well a database of observational material collected over many years. The forecasting efficiency was analyzed depending on the threshold values of the criterion. We show that the quality of the radio astronomical forecast is determined by the level of sensitivity of the detector at short centimeterwavelengths and by the solar activity level.     

Properties of the He I 10830 A Line in Solar Flares

We study the properties of the He I 10830 (A) line in nine selected solar flares, using spectral data obtained with the Multi-channel Infrared Solar Spectrograph (MISS) at Purple Mountain Observatory (PMO) and photospheric images from the Michelson Doppler Imager (MD1) onboard the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO). Our results indicate that, over an area of 3"- 8", the He I 10830 (A) line shows emission exceeding the continuum in nearby quiet region when the Geostationary Operations Environmental Satellite (GOES) X-ray class of the flare reaches a threshold value (C4.5). The He I 10830A line emission is detected only in the kernels of the Hα brightenings, but is not associated with the size of the flare. It is found that, whenever the He I 10830(A) line shows excess emission over the nearby continuum both the Hα and the Ca II 8542 (A) lines display enhanced intensities exceeding their preflare intensities. The He I 10830(A) line emission can occasionally extend into the umbra of the involved sunspot, which is inconsistent with previous studies. The weak com-ponent of He I 10830(A) line changes from emission to absorption earlier than does the main component. Our results favor the photoionization-reconnection mechanism for the excitation of the He I 10830(A) line.     

On Limb Observations of Bolides

The LP/OMPS limb sensor of the Suomi satellite detected the atmospheric trace of the Chelyabinsk superbolide with an energy of over 400 kt TNT in 2013. The study of LP/OMPS data shows that it detects several bolides with much less energy each year. The paper considers the cases of observation of three bolides in 2016–2017: on February 6, 2016 (13 kt), March 3, 2016 (0.19 kt), and March 9, 2017 (1 kt). The possibility of improving the detection of bolides using a limb sensor in the form of a microsatellite with an increased number of observation regions along the horizon is discussed. Several such microsatellites will be able to track most of the bodies larger than a meter that burn up in the atmosphere of the Earth or Mars.

     

日食的射电观测(英)

日食为射电天文提供了一维高空间分辨率太阳射电观测机会．日食射电观测在太阳射电物理的发展上起过重要的作用．文中对日食射电观测的若干重要因素作了介绍和分析．日食射电观测在我国太阳射电天文发展上也起了重要作用．文中简要介绍了在我国组织观测的1958年、1968年、1980年及1987年的太阳射电日食观测及其主要结果．     

SDO Observations of Solar Jets

We present an analysis of high cadence observations of solar jets observed in the Extreme Ultraviolet (EUV), at 304 Å, with the Atmospheric Imaging Assembly instrument aboard the Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO). The jets in our sample lie very close to the solar limb to minimize projection effects. Two of the events show clear helical patterns during ejection. We also find that some of the jets are recurrent and that most of them cannot overcome solar gravity. We investigate the temporal evolution of the jets by measuring the height of their leading edge as a function of time. By fitting the resulting height–time diagrams, we derive the magnitude of their initial ejection speed and plasma acceleration by assuming ballistic motion. Moreover, we calculate the upward acceleration of the jets based on the dynamical velocity of the plasma, without assuming a ballistic motion. In both models, the acceleration profiles suggest the influence of forces other than gravity. In particular, we find indications of an upwards driving force which weakens the decelerating effect of the solar gravitational field along the motion of the jet. This force is larger in the dynamical model, which indicates that the ballistic approximation does not properly determine the rising motion of the plasma jets.     

Comparison of Helioseismic Far-Side Active Region Detections with STEREO Far-Side EUV Observations of Solar Activity

Seismic maps of the Sun’s far hemisphere, computed from Doppler data from the Helioseismic and Magnetic Imager (HMI) on board the Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) are now being used routinely to detect strong magnetic regions on the far side of the Sun ( http://jsoc.stanford.edu/data/farside/ ). To test the reliability of this technique, the helioseismically inferred active region detections are compared with far-side observations of solar activity from the Solar TErrestrial RElations Observatory (STEREO), using brightness in extreme-ultraviolet light (EUV) as a proxy for magnetic fields. Two approaches are used to analyze nine months of STEREO and HMI data. In the first approach, we determine whether new large east-limb active regions are detected seismically on the far side before they appear Earth side and study how the detectability of these regions relates to their EUV intensity. We find that while there is a range of EUV intensities for which far-side regions may or may not be detected seismically, there appears to be an intensity level above which they are almost always detected and an intensity level below which they are never detected. In the second approach, we analyze concurrent extreme-ultraviolet and helioseismic far-side observations. We find that 100% (22) of the far-side seismic regions correspond to an extreme-ultraviolet plage; 95% of these either became a NOAA-designated magnetic region when reaching the east limb or were one before crossing to the far side. A low but significant correlation is found between the seismic signature strength and the EUV intensity of a far-side region.     

Observations of a Radio-Quiet Solar Preflare

The preflare phase of the flare SOL2011-08-09T03:52 is unique in its long duration, in that it was covered by the Reuven Ramaty High Energy Solar Spectroscopic Imager (RHESSI) and the Nobeyama Radioheliograph, and because it showed three well-developed soft X-ray (SXR) peaks. No hard X-rays (HXR) are observed in the preflare phase. Here we report that no associated radio emission at 17 GHz was found either, despite the higher sensitivity of the radio instrument. The ratio between the SXR peaks and the upper limit of the radio peaks is higher by more than one order of magnitude than the ratio in regular flares. The result suggests that the ratio between acceleration and heating in the preflare phase was different than in regular flares. Acceleration to relativistic energies, if any, occurred with lower efficiency.     

太阳活动区的磁场观测

我们利用北京天文台太阳磁场望远镜在1983年投入试观测期间取得的资料,对该年6月份的一群黑子的磁场以及耀斑作了综合分析,得到一些结论。以光球纵场为边界条件,计算了常α无力场。根据挤压无力场耀斑模式,我们认为耀斑爆发的能量,来自异极性黑子的相互靠近。磁中性线的扭曲程度,反映了无力场的状态。     

Solar Trans-equatorial Activity

We have found that solar flares in NOAA active region (AR) 10696 were often associated with large-scale trans-equatorial activities. These trans-equatorial activities appeared to be very common and manifest themselves through i) the formation and eruption of trans-equatorial loops (TELs), ii) the formation and eruption of trans-equatorial filaments (TEFs), and iii) the trans-equatorial brightening (TEB) in the chromosphere. It is determined that the TEF was formed following episodic plasma ejecta from flares occurring in the AR. The TEF eruption was associated with a trans-equatorial flare. All flares in the AR that were accompanied by trans-equatorial activities were associated with halo coronal mass ejections (CMEs). It was noticed that one or several major flares in the AR were followed by an increase of brightness and nonpotentiality of a TEL. These coupled events had a lifetime of more than 12 hours. In addition their associated halo CMEs always had a positive acceleration, indicating prolonged magnetic reconnections in the outer corona at high altitudes.     

"嫦娥一号"探月卫星发射期间太阳活动现象监测

为发射"嫦娥一号"探月卫星,保障其在空间环境运行的安全和国家载人航天计划的正常实施,云南天文台全日面Hα色球望远镜为中国科学院空间环境研究预报中心实时提供太阳活动数据资料,协作完成特殊时期空间环境监测任务.     

The Apparent Reversal of Fields at the Solar Limb

We show how the apparent reversal of longitudinal magnetic fields near the limb is a projection effect and may be used to estimate the divergence angle of the magnetic canopy. The limb distance at which the apparent reversal is not seen is the limiting angle of divergence of lines of force emerging from the surface. We have surveyed a number of polar limb magnetograms, where the unipolar field makes this easier, and found the divergence angle to be about 20° from the vertical.