Source investigation of impulsive He-rich particle events

We have investigated the source characteristic and coronal magnetic field structure of six impulsive solar energetic particle (SEP) events selected from Wang et al. [Wang, Y.-M., Pick, M., Mason, G.M. Coronal holes, jets, and the origin of ³He-rich particle events. ApJ 639, 495, 2006] and Pick et al. [Pick, M., Mason, G.M., Wang, Y.-M., Tan, C., Wang, L. Solar source regions for ³He-rich solar energetic particle events identified using imaging radio, optical, and energetic particle observations. ApJ 648, 1247, 2006]. Some results are obtained: first, 2 events are associated with wide (≈100°) CMEs (hereafter wide CME events), another 4 events are associated with narrow (?40°) CMEs (hereafter narrow CME events); second, the coronal magnetic field configuration of narrow CME events appear more simple than that of the wide CME events; third, the photospheric magnetic field evolutions of all these events show new emergence of fluxes, while one case also shows magnetic flux cancellation; fourth, the EUV jets usually occurred very close to the footpoint of the magnetic field loop, while meter type III bursts occurred near or at the top of the loop and higher than EUV jets. Furthermore, the heights of type III bursts are estimated from the result of the coronal magnetic field extrapolations.     

Spectroscopic observations of coronal waves and coronal mass ejections

It is common to use imaging instruments such as EUV and X-ray imagers and coronagraphs to study large-scale phenomena such as coronal mass ejections and coronal waves. Although high resolution spectroscopy is generally limited to a small field of view, its importance in understanding global phenomena should not be under-estimated. I will review current spectroscopic observations of large-scale dynamic phenomena such as global coronal waves and coronal mass ejections. The aim is to determine plasma parameters such as flows, temperatures and densities to obtain a physical understanding of these phenomena.     

Excitation of flare-induced waves in coronal loops and the effects of radiative cooling

EUV imaging observations from several space missions (SOHO/EIT, TRACE, and SDO/AIA) have revealed a presence of propagating intensity disturbances in solar coronal loops. These disturbances are typically interpreted as slow magnetoacoustic waves. However, recent spectroscopic observations with Hinode/EIS of active region loops revealed that the propagating intensity disturbances are associated with intermittent plasma upflows (or jets) at the footpoints which are presumably generated by magnetic reconnection. For this reason, whether these disturbances are waves or periodic flows is still being studied. This study is aimed at understanding the physical properties of observed disturbances by investigating the excitation of waves by hot plasma injections from below and the evolution of flows and wave propagation along the loop. We expand our previous studies based on isothermal 3D MHD models of an active region to a more realistic model that includes full energy equation accounting for the effects of radiative losses. Computations are initialized with an equilibrium state of a model active region using potential (dipole) magnetic field, gravitationally stratified density and temperature obtained from the polytropic equation of state. We model an impulsive injection of hot plasma into the steady plasma outflow along the loops of different temperatures, warm (～1 MK) and hot (～6 MK). The simulations show that hot jets launched at the coronal base excite slow magnetoacoustic waves that propagate to high altitudes along the loops, while the injected hot flows decelerate rapidly with heights. Our results support that propagating disturbances observed in EUV are mainly the wave features. We also find that the effect of radiative cooling on the damping of slow-mode waves in 1–6 MK coronal loops is small, in agreement with the previous conclusion based on 1D MHD models.     

Height of shock formation in the solar corona inferred from observations of type II radio bursts and coronal mass ejections

Employing coronagraphic and EUV observations close to the solar surface made by the Solar Terrestrial Relations Observatory (STEREO) mission, we determined the heliocentric distance of coronal mass ejections (CMEs) at the starting time of associated metric type II bursts. We used the wave diameter and leading edge methods and measured the CME heights for a set of 32 metric type II bursts from solar cycle 24. We minimized the projection effects by making the measurements from a view that is roughly orthogonal to the direction of the ejection. We also chose image frames close to the onset times of the type II bursts, so no extrapolation was necessary. We found that the CMEs were located in the heliocentric distance range from 1.20 to 1.93 solar radii (Rs), with mean and median values of 1.43 and 1.38 Rs, respectively. We conclusively find that the shock formation can occur at heights substantially below 1.5 Rs. In a few cases, the CME height at type II onset was close to 2 Rs. In these cases, the starting frequency of the type II bursts was very low, in the range 25–40 MHz, which confirms that the shock can also form at larger heights. The starting frequencies of metric type II bursts have a weak correlation with the measured CME/shock heights and are consistent with the rapid decline of density with height in the inner corona.     

Converging motion of conjugate flaring kernels during two large solar flares

In this paper, we analyze the footpoint motion of two large solar flares using observations made by the Transition Region and Coronal Explorer (TRACE) and Reuven Ramaty High Energy Solar Spectroscopic Imager (RHESSI). The two flares are the M5.7 flare of March 14, 2002 and the X10 flare of October 29, 2003. They are both classical two-ribbon flares as observed in TRACE 1600 or 171 Å images and have long-duration conjugate hard X-ray (HXR) footpoint emission. We use the ‘center-of-mass’ method to locate the centroids of the UV/EUV flare ribbons. The results are: (1) The conjugate UV/EUV ribbons and HXR footpoints of the two flares show a converging (inward) motion during the impulsive phase. For the two flares, the converging motion lasts about 3 and 10 min, respectively. The usual separation (outward) motion for the flare ribbons and footpoints take place only after the converging motion. (2) During the inward and the outward motion, the conjugate ribbons and footpoints of the two events exhibit a strong unshear motion. In obtaining above results, TRACE UV/EUV and RHESSI HXR data show an overall agreement. The two events demonstrate that the magnetic reconnection for the flares occurs in highly sheared magnetic field. Furthermore, the results support the magnetic model constructed by Ji et al. [Ji, H., Huang, G., Wang, H. Astrophys. J. 660, 893–900, 2007], who proposed that the contracting motion of flaring loops is the signature of the relaxation of sheared magnetic fields.     

Segmentation of extreme ultraviolet solar images via multichannel fuzzy clustering

The study of the variability of the solar corona and the monitoring of its traditional regions (Coronal Holes, Quiet Sun and Active Regions) are of great importance in astrophysics as well as in view of the Space Weather and Space Climate applications. Here we propose a multichannel unsupervised spatially constrained fuzzy clustering algorithm that automatically segments EUV solar images into Coronal Holes, Quiet Sun and Active Regions. Fuzzy logic allows to manage the various noises present in the images and the imprecision in the definition of the above regions. The process is fast and automatic. It is applied to SoHO–EIT images taken from February 1997 till May 2005, i.e. along almost a full solar cycle. Results in terms of areas and intensity estimations are consistent with previous knowledge. The method reveal the rotational and other mid-term periodicities in the extracted time series across solar cycle 23. Further, such an approach paves the way to bridging observations between spatially resolved data from imaging telescopes and time series from radiometers. Time series resulting form the segmentation of EUV coronal images can indeed provide an essential component in the process of reconstructing the solar spectrum.     

MHD oscillations in solar and stellar coronae: Current results and perspectives

Wave and oscillatory activity is observed with modern imaging and spectral instruments in the visible light, EUV, X-ray and radio bands in all parts of the solar corona. Magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) wave theory gives satisfactory interpretation of these phenomena in terms of MHD modes of coronal structures. The paper reviews the current trends in the observational study of coronal oscillations, recent development of theoretical modelling of MHD wave interaction with plasma structures, and implementation of the theoretical results for the mode identification. Also the use of MHD waves for remote diagnostics of coronal plasmas is discussed. In particular, the applicability of this method to the estimation of the coronal magnetic field is demonstrated.     

Study of a Coronal Mass Ejection with SOHO/UVCS and STEREO data

We study the 3-D kinematics of a Coronal Mass Ejection (CME) using data acquired by the LASCO C2 and UVCS instruments on board SOHO, and the COR1 coronagraphs and EUVI telescopes on board STEREO. The event, which occurred on May 20, 2007, was a partial-halo CME associated with a prominence eruption. This is the first CME studied with UVCS data that occurred in the STEREO era. The longitudinal angle between the STEREO spacecrafts was ∼7.7° at that time, and this allowed us to reconstruct via triangulation technique the 3-D trajectory of the erupting prominence observed by STEREO/EUVI. Information on the 3-D expansion of the CME provided by STEREO/COR1 data have been combined with spectroscopic observations by SOHO/UVCS. First results presented here show that line-of-sight velocities derived from spectroscopic data are not fully in agreement with those previously derived via triangulation technique, thus pointing out possible limitations of this technique.     

Yohkoh observations of the solar corona

The Yohkoh soft X-ray telescope obtains several images every 90 minutes. Data from the declining phase of the solar cycle have been used to compare the X-ray signal with other indicators of activity and to study coronal heating. X-ray emission from a north polar coronal hole is found broadly consistent with results of previous EUV observations. In diffuse emission regions, temperature rises to around 2.2 MK and levels off in the height range 1.5 – 1.9 R_O. Such emission underlies streamers and may be the source of the low-speed solar wind. X-ray signatures for Coronal Mass Ejection (CME) events which involve the detection of reduced X-ray intensities in the corona, have been developed with Yohkoh data. CME observations are described     

The coronal dynamics imagers for the KuaFu mission

The Space Weather Explorer – KuaFu mission will provide simultaneous, long-term, and synoptic observations of the complete chain of disturbances from the solar atmosphere to the geospace. KuaFu-A (located at the L1 liberation point) includes Coronal Dynamics Imagers composed of a Lyman-α coronagraph (from 1.15 to 2.7 solar radii) and a white light coronagraph (out to 15 solar radii), in order to identify the initial sources of Coronal Mass Ejections (CMEs) and their acceleration profiles. The difficulty of observing the lower corona should not be underestimated since instrumental stray light remains a critical issue in the visible because of the low contrast of the corona with respect to the Sun. Observing the corona in the Lyman-α line is a valid alternative to white light observations. This approach takes advantage of both the intrinsic higher contrast of the corona with respect to the solar disk in this line compared to the visible, and the absence of F-corona at 121.6 nm. Furthermore, it has been convincingly shown that the coronal structures seen in Lyman-α correspond to those seen in the visible and which result from Thomson scattering of the coronal ionized gas. This is because the plasma is still collisional in the lower corona so that the hydrogen neutral atoms are coupled to the protons. A classical, all-reflecting internally-occulted Lyot coronagraph is required so as to preserve the image quality down to the inner limit of the field-of-view. A narrow band interference filter located in a collimated beam allows isolating the Lyman-α line. The visible coronagraph will adopt the approach of a single instrument having a large field-of-view extending from 2.5 to 15 solar radii. Such a design is based on refractive externally-occulted coronagraphs built for recent past missions, essentially the LASCO-C2 and C3 instruments and the SECCHI/COR 2 of the STEREO mission, which is itself a combination of the C2 and C3 instruments.     

Simulation of cometary jets in interaction with the solar wind

The influence of cometary jets on the solar wind interaction is studied with a 3D hybrid simulation. Anisotropic outgassing patterns were until recently not considered in cometary simulations, despite strong anisotropies found at observations. Comet 67P Churyumov–Gerasimenko, the target of the ROSETTA mission, was chosen as a case study for a simulation series. The cometary outgassing at 2.7 AU is modeled to originate from a single sun-facing jet with different levels of collimation, from isotropy to extremely thin jets. As no bow shock is present at this distance, solar wind patterns resulting from the anisotropic outgassing become more apparent. We find narrower jets to increase the standoff distance of the plasma interaction structures. Also, the Mach cone is wider and stronger for certain jet profiles. The magnetic field remains unable to propagate through the coma, resulting in strong draping patterns for narrow jets due to the increased standoff distance.     

Testing the asymmetric cone model for halo CMEs using STEREO/SECCHI coronagraphic observations

Space weather is significantly controlled by halo coronal mass ejections (HCMEs) originating close to the central meridian and directing toward the Earth. Unfortunately, coronagraphic observations (especially for HCMEs) are subject to a projection effect which makes it impossible to determine the true radial velocity and width of CMEs. However, these parameters can be estimated by correcting for the projection effect using the asymmetric cone model (Michalek, 2006). A set of 20 CMEs, observed as halo events in the LASCO field of view and simultaneously as limb events in the STEREO/SECCHI field of view, are used to check the accuracy of the asymmetric cone model. For this purpose, characteristics of the considered CMEs (angular widths and radial speeds) measured in STEREO/SECCHI images are compared with those obtained by the asymmetric cone model. We demonstrate that the widths and speeds determined by both methods are very similar. Correlation coefficients for speeds and angular widths are 0.99 and 0.96, respectively. We have also shown that the projection effect is unpredictable and could sometimes be very significant (up to 100% of the velocity measured in the LASCO field of view). On average, the SOHO/LASCO projected speeds for the HCMEs are 23% smaller than the radial velocities obtained from the STEREO/SECCHI images.     

2009年2月13日EUV波现象数值研究

结合STEREO卫星的观测和三维磁流体力学数值模拟方法, 采用WSO (Wilcox Solar Observatory)磁场数据和势场源表面模型建立日冕初始磁场, 并在日面活动区加上时变的压强扰动, 对2009年2月13日05:35UT爆发的CME-EUV波(Coronal Mass Ejections-Extreme Ultraviolet wave, 日冕物质抛射-远紫外波)事件进行研究. 从COR1/STEREO-A图像判断, 此次CME前沿速度约340km·s-1, 角宽度约60°; 分析EUVI/STEREO-B 195 ?的差分图像, 可以看到, 环形亮环波前从活动区向四周传播, 亮环波前后面是日冕暗化区, 取四个方向的波前位置进行线性拟合可知, 该EUV波速度为247km·s-1, 数值模拟得到的EUV波速度为245km·s-1, 将计算结果采用IDL可视化后可以看到明显的亮环和暗区结构, 数值模拟结果与卫星观测相一致, 表明该EUV波现象是快磁声波.      

A study of a long duration B9 flare-CME event and associated shock

We present and discuss here the observations of a small long duration GOES B-class flare associated with a quiescent filament eruption, a global EUV wave and a CME on 2011 May 11. The event was well observed by the Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO), GONG H$\alpha$, STEREO and Culgoora spectrograph. As the filament erupted, ahead of the filament we observed the propagation of EIT wave fronts, as well as two flare ribbons on both sides of the polarity inversion line (PIL) on the solar surface. The observations show the co-existence of two types of EUV waves, i.e., a fast and a slow one. A type II radio burst with up to the third harmonic component was also associated with this event. The evolution of photospheric magnetic field showed flux emergence and cancellation at the filament site before its eruption.     

Homologous flare–CME events and their metric type II radio burst association

Active region NOAA 11158 produced many flares during its disk passage. At least two of these flares can be considered as homologous: the C6.6 flare at 06:51 UT and C9.4 flare at 12:41 UT on February 14, 2011. Both flares occurred at the same location (eastern edge of the active region) and have a similar decay of the GOES soft X-ray light curve. The associated coronal mass ejections (CMEs) were slow (334 and 337 km/s) and of similar apparent widths (43° and 44°), but they had different radio signatures. The second event was associated with a metric type II burst while the first one was not. The COR1 coronagraphs on board the STEREO spacecraft clearly show that the second CME propagated into the preceding CME that occurred 50 min before. These observations suggest that CME–CME interaction might be a key process in exciting the type II radio emission by slow CMEs.     

Contraction of magnetized gas to the central gravitator and the production of magnetically accelerated jets

A magnetodynamic model proposed and worked on by Uchida and collaborators for the star formation jets (bipolar flows), by taking a genetic point of view into account, is reviewed. A large scale magnetic field, which is week in the primordial gas but intensified in the gravitational contraction of the gas, assists the continuous accretion of the gas to the central gravitator by extracting angular momentum from the rotating disk, and this process creates a large amplitude torsional Alfven wave that swirls up the gas into the direction of the axis. This torsional Alfven wave, as it propagates, pinches the large scale field into a slender strong field structure which we identify with the collimated jet. The rationale for extending this mechanism to the AGN jet cases is given, and some results of application to the AGN jet case are presented, with interpretation of some characteristic features like the wiggling of the jets, extended radio lobes and the hotspots at the end of the jets.     

Imaging the solar corona in the EUV

The SOHO (SOlar and Heliospheric Observatory) satellite was launched on December 2nd 1995. After arriving at the Earth-Sun (L1) Lagrangian point on February 14th 1996, it began to continuously observe the Sun. As one of the instruments onboard SOHO, the EIT (Extreme ultraviolet Imaging Telescope) images the Sun's corona in 4 EUV wavelengths. The He II filter at 304 Å images the chromosphere and the base of the transition region at a temperature of 5 − 8 × 10⁴ K; the Fe IX–X filter at 171 Å images the corona at a temperature of 1.3 × 10⁶ K; the Fe XII filter at 195 Å images the quiet corona outside coronal holes at a temperature of 1.6 × 10⁶ K; and the Fe XV filter at 284 Å images active regions with a temperature of 2.0 × 10⁶ K. About 5000 images have been obtained up to the present. In this paper, we describe also some aspects of the telescope and the detector performance for application in the observations. Images and movies of all the wavelengths allow a look at different phenomena present in the Sun's corona, and in particular, magnetic field reconnection.     

SOHO observations relating to the associationbetween flares and coronal mass ejections

Campaigns to investigate the solar coronal mass ejection (CME) onset have been run using the Solar andHeliospheric Observatory (SOHO) since 1996. These have included coronagraph and extreme-ultraviolet (EUV) disc imaging, along with magnetic mapping of the photosphere, in concert with EUV and UV spectroscopic observations. These campaigns have included co-ordination with ground-based observatories, and with other spacecraft, especially Yohkoh and the Transition Region and Corona Explorer (TRACE). This multi-instrument, multi-spacecraft effort has provided many rewards, with some spectacular observations of countless eruptions. It has included the discovery of unexpected phenomena such as EUV waves and groundbreaking work on coronal dimming, and the development of sigmoidal shaped structures. Much has been learnt about the CME onset yet the most basic questions still remain. We have an unprecedented view of CME eruptions, yet we are still unable to identify clearly the onset process and we do not fully understand the CME-flare relationship. With all of the campaigns producing excellent multi-wavelength observations of CMEs, how far have we progressed in the understanding of the CME onset and, in particular, the CME-flare relationship? Can we identify lines of research using the SOHO data, which will provide the answers we seek — or do we need fundamentally different observation scenarios? It is the author's opinion that we actually have the observational tools required to understand much about the onset process and the CME/flare links, and the emphasis should be on understanding the limitations of our instrumentation and on removing any preconceived ideas from our interpretations.     

Synoptic magnetic field in cycle 23 and in the beginning of the cycle 24

The SOHO/MDI data provide the uniform time series of the synoptic magnetic maps which cover the period of the cycle 23 and the beginning of the cycle 24. It is very interesting period because of the long and deep solar minimum between the cycles 23 and 24. Synoptic structure of the solar magnetic field shows variability during solar cycles. It is known that the magnetic activity contributes to the solar irradiance. The axisymmetrical distribution of the magnetic flux (Fig. 3c) is closely associated with the ‘butterfly’ diagram in the EUV emission (Benevolenskaya et al., 2001). And, also, the magnetic field (B_∥) shows the non-uniform distributions of the solar activity with longitude, so-called ‘active zones’, and ‘coronal holes’ in the mid-latitude. Polar coronal holes are forming after the solar maxima and they persist during the solar minima. SOHO/EIT data in the emission of Fe XII (195 Å) could be a proxy for the coronal holes tracking. The active longitudinal zones or active longitude exist due to the reappearance of the activity and it is clearly seen in the synoptic structure of the solar cycle. On the descending branch of the solar cycle 23 active zones are less pronounced comparing with previous cycles 20, 21 and 22. Moreover, the weak polar magnetic field precedes the long and deep solar minimum. In this paper we have discussed the development of solar cycles 23 and 24 in details.     

Variations of mid-term periodicities in solar activity physical phenomena

In this work we make an analysis of significant periodicities shown by phenomena linked to solar activity such as coronal hole area, radio emission in the 10.7 cm band and sunspots. We use the wavelet method that gives information in the frequency and time domains. Of particular interest are the mid-term periodicities (1–2 yrs). Over the whole period, coronal holes and radio variations show an important annual variation and a quasi-biannual periodicity. The increase in these variations is most important around the years of maximum solar activity. When the time series are separated in low and high frequencies, the latter are modulated by the general solar cycle. Although somewhat shifted in frequency, these periodicities might well correspond with those found in cosmic ray intensity, solar magnetic flux and other terrestrial and interplanetary phenomena as a wavelet coherence analysis of these series with the solar magnetic flux reveals.