scholarly journals Solar Ultraviolet Bursts in the Joint Footpoints of Multiple Transition Region Loops

Symmetry ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (8) ◽  
pp. 1390
Author(s):  
Zhenyong Hou ◽  
Zhenghua Huang ◽  
Lidong Xia ◽  
Hui Fu ◽  
Youqian Qi ◽  
...  

Solar Ultraviolet bursts (UBs) associated with flux emergence are expected to help understand the physical processes of the flux emergence itself. In the present study, we analyse imaging and spectroscopic observations of a special group of UBs (including twelve of them) occurring in the joint footpoint regions of multiple transition region loops above the flux emerging regions. Consistent with previous studies of common UBs, we found that the spectral characteristics of this group of UBs are varied. Our results show that the responses of UBs in Ni ii, NUV continuum, Mg ii h and O i are originated from locations differ from that emits Si iv. The imaging data show that UBs have connections with the dynamics in the transition region loops. Brightenings starting from UB-regions and propagating along loops can be seen in SJ 1400/1330 Å and AIA 304 Å images and the corresponding time-space images. The apparent velocities are tens of kilometers per second in AIA 304 Å. For symmetry, the brightenings can propagate from the UB-regions towards opposite directions with similar apparent velocities in some cases. Given that these UBs are magnetic reconnection phenomena, we suggest that the propagating brightenings are the signals of the plasma flows resulted from heatings in the UB-regions.

2011 ◽  
Vol 535 ◽  
pp. A95 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Y. Ding ◽  
M. S. Madjarska ◽  
J. G. Doyle ◽  
Q. M. Lu ◽  
K. Vanninathan ◽  
...  

Author(s):  
Xuanye Ma ◽  
Peter Delamere ◽  
Katariina Nykyri ◽  
Brandon Burkholder ◽  
Stefan Eriksson ◽  
...  

Over three decades of in-situ observations illustrate that the Kelvin–Helmholtz (KH) instability driven by the sheared flow between the magnetosheath and magnetospheric plasma often occurs on the magnetopause of Earth and other planets under various interplanetary magnetic field (IMF) conditions. It has been well demonstrated that the KH instability plays an important role for energy, momentum, and mass transport during the solar-wind-magnetosphere coupling process. Particularly, the KH instability is an important mechanism to trigger secondary small scale (i.e., often kinetic-scale) physical processes, such as magnetic reconnection, kinetic Alfvén waves, ion-acoustic waves, and turbulence, providing the bridge for the coupling of cross scale physical processes. From the simulation perspective, to fully investigate the role of the KH instability on the cross-scale process requires a numerical modeling that can describe the physical scales from a few Earth radii to a few ion (even electron) inertial lengths in three dimensions, which is often computationally expensive. Thus, different simulation methods are required to explore physical processes on different length scales, and cross validate the physical processes which occur on the overlapping length scales. Test particle simulation provides such a bridge to connect the MHD scale to the kinetic scale. This study applies different test particle approaches and cross validates the different results against one another to investigate the behavior of different ion species (i.e., H+ and O+), which include particle distributions, mixing and heating. It shows that the ion transport rate is about 1025 particles/s, and mixing diffusion coefficient is about 1010 m2 s−1 regardless of the ion species. Magnetic field lines change their topology via the magnetic reconnection process driven by the three-dimensional KH instability, connecting two flux tubes with different temperature, which eventually causes anisotropic temperature in the newly reconnected flux.


2020 ◽  
Vol 640 ◽  
pp. A120
Author(s):  
C. J. Nelson ◽  
S. Krishna Prasad ◽  
M. Mathioudakis

Context. Downflows with potentially super-sonic velocities have been reported to occur in the transition region above many sunspots; however, how these signatures evolve over short time-scales in both spatial and spectral terms is still unknown and requires further research. Aims. In this article, we investigate the evolution of downflows detected within spectral lines sampling the transition region on time-scales of the order of minutes and we search for clues as to the formation mechanisms of these features in co-temporal imaging data. Methods. For the purposes of this article, we used high-resolution spectral and imaging data sampled by the Interface Region Imaging Spectrograph on the 20 and 21 May 2015 to identify and analyse downflows. Additionally, photospheric and coronal imaging data from the Hinode and Solar Dynamics Observatory satellites were studied to provide context about the wider solar atmosphere. Results. Four downflows were identified and analysed through time. The potential super-sonic components of these downflows had widths of around 2″ and were observed to evolve over time-scales of the order of minutes. The measured apparent downflow velocities were structured both in time and space, with the highest apparent velocities occurring above a bright region detected in Si IV 1400 Å images. Downflows with apparent velocities below the super-sonic threshold that was assumed here were observed to extend a few arcseconds away from the foot-points, suggesting that the potential super-sonic components are linked to larger-scale flows. The electron density and mass flux for these events were found to be within the ranges of 109.6–1010.2 cm−3 and 10−6.81–10−7.48 g cm−2 s−1, respectively. Finally, each downflow formed at the foot-point of thin “fingers”, extending out around 3–5″ in Si IV 1400 Å data with smaller widths (< 1″) than the super-sonic downflow components. Conclusions. Downflows can appear, disappear, and recur within time-scales of less than one hour in sunspots. As the potential super-sonic downflow signatures were detected at the foot-points of both extended fingers in Si IV 1400 SJI data and sub-sonic downflows in Si IV 1394 Å spectra, it is likely that these events are linked to larger-scale flows within structures such as coronal loops.


2020 ◽  
Vol 633 ◽  
pp. A58 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ada Ortiz ◽  
Viggo H. Hansteen ◽  
Daniel Nóbrega-Siverio ◽  
Luc Rouppe van der Voort

The emergence of magnetic flux through the photosphere and into the outer solar atmosphere produces, amongst other dynamical phenomena, Ellerman bombs (EBs), which are observed in the wings of Hα and are due to magnetic reconnection in the photosphere below the chromospheric canopy. Signs of magnetic reconnection are also observed in other spectral lines, typical of the chromosphere or the transition region. An example are the ultraviolet (UV) bursts observed in the transition region lines of Si IV and the upper chromospheric lines of Mg II. In this work we analyze high-cadence, high-resolution coordinated observations between the Swedish 1m Solar Telescope (SST) and the Interface Region Imaging Spectrograph (IRIS) spacecraft. Hα images from the SST provide us with the positions, timings, and trajectories of EBs in an emerging flux region. Simultaneous, co-aligned IRIS slit-jaw images at 133 (C II, transition region), 140 (Si IV, transition region), and 279.6 (Mg II k, core, upper chromosphere) nm as well as spectroscopy in the far- and near-ultraviolet from the fast spectrograph raster allow us to study the possible chromospheric and transition region counterparts of those EBs. Our main goal is to study the possible temporal and spatial relationship between several reconnection events at different layers in the atmosphere (namely EBs and UV bursts), the timing history between them, and the connection of these dynamical phenomena to the ejection of surges in the chromosphere. We also investigate the properties of an extended UV burst and their variations across the burst domain. Our results suggest a scenario where simultaneous and co-spatial EBs and UV bursts are part of the same reconnection system occurring sequentially along a vertical or nearly vertical current sheet. Heating and bidirectional jets trace the location where reconnection takes place. These results support and expand those obtained from recent numerical simulations of magnetic flux emergence.


1985 ◽  
Vol 38 (6) ◽  
pp. 981 ◽  
Author(s):  
Edward W Hones Jr

Over the past few years satellite observations of the plasma sheet in the Earth's magnetotail during magnetospheric substorms have established beyond reasonable doubt that magnetic reconnection occurs in the magnetotail and that it plays a central role in the substorm process. The features seen at Earth by which substorms were originally identified (e.g. the auroras and geomagnetic disturbances) are simply superficial manifestations of a more fundamental physical process-the magnetosphere divesting itself of stored energy and plasma that was acquired earlier from the solar wind. It does so by shedding a part of its plasma sheet. This is accomplished by magnetic reconnection near the Earth that severs the plasma sheet, forming a plasmoid that flows out of the tail and that is lost to the solar wind. Recognition of the existence of plasmoids and our developing understanding of them have been important elements in confirming the occurrence of reconnection in the magnetosphere. In an analogous way, the best evidence for the occurrence of reconnection on the Sun has come from observations of closed magnetic configurations (plasmoids) in the solar wind and in the corona. But while magnetic reconnection is certainly the key ingredient in solar flares and substorms, analogies between them should not be carried too far, because there are basic differences in the environments in which they prevail and in the physical procesSes that lead to their occurrence.


2009 ◽  
Vol 5 (H15) ◽  
pp. 744-744
Author(s):  
Eric D. Feigelson ◽  
Philip J. Armitage ◽  
Konstantin V. Getman

The physics of protoplanetary disks and the early stages of planet formation is strongly affected by the level of ionization of the largely-neutral gas (Armitage 2009; Balbus 2009). Where the ionization fraction is above some limit around ~ 10−12, the magnetorotational instability (MRI) will ensue and the gas will become turbulent. The presence or absence of disk turbulence at various locations and times has profound implications for viscosity, accretion, dust settling, protoplanet migration and other physical processes. The dominant source of ionization is very likely X-rays from the host star (Glassgold et al. 2000). X-ray emission is elevated in all pre-main sequence stars primarily due to the magnetic reconnection flares similar to, but much more powerful and frequent than, flares on the surface of the contemporary Sun (Feigelson et al. 2007).


2019 ◽  
Vol 621 ◽  
pp. L4 ◽  
Author(s):  
K. George ◽  
P. Joseph ◽  
C. Mondal ◽  
S. Subramanian ◽  
A. Subramaniam ◽  
...  

The physical processes related to the effect of bars in the quenching of star formation in the region between the nuclear/central sub-kiloparsec region and the ends of the bar (bar region) of spiral galaxies is not fully understood. It is hypothesized that the bar can either stabilize the gas against collapse, inhibiting star formation, or efficiently consume all the available gas, leaving no fuel for further star formation. We present a multiwavelength study using the archival data of an early-type barred spiral galaxy, Messier 95, which shows signatures of suppressed star formation in the bar region. Using optical, ultraviolet (UV), infrared, CO, and HI imaging data we study the pattern of star formation progression and stellar/gas distribution, and try to provide insights into the process responsible for the observed pattern. The FUV–NUV pixel colour map reveals a cavity devoid of UV flux in the bar region that matches the length of the bar, which is ∼4.2 kpc. The central nuclear region of the galaxy shows a blue colour clump and along the major axis of the stellar bar the colour progressively becomes redder. Based on a comparison to single stellar population models, we show that the region of galaxy along the major axis of the bar, unlike the region outside the bar, is comprised of stellar populations with ages ≥350 Myr; there is a star-forming clump in the centre of younger ages of ∼150 Myr. Interestingly the bar region is also devoid of neutral and molecular hydrogen but has an abundant molecular hydrogen present at the nuclear region of the galaxy. Our results are consistent with a picture in which the stellar bar in Messier 95 is redistributing the gas by funnelling gas inflows to nuclear region, thus making the bar region devoid of fuel for star formation.


2015 ◽  
Vol 22 (10) ◽  
pp. 101205 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. Z. Cheng ◽  
S. Inoue ◽  
Y. Ono ◽  
R. Horiuchi

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