Many models for coronal loops have difficulty explaining the observed EUV brightness of the transition region, which is often significantly less than theoretical models predict. This discrepancy has been addressed by a variety of approaches including filling factors and time-dependent heating. Here we focus on an effect that has been ignored so far: the absorption of EUV light with wavelengths below 912 Å by the resonance continua of neutral hydrogen and helium. Such absorption is expected to occur in the low-lying transition region of hot, active region loops, that is co-located with cool chromospheric features and called ``moss'' as a result of the reticulated appearance resulting from the absorption. We use co-temporal and co-spatial spectroheliograms obtained with SOHO/SUMER and Hinode/EIS of Fe XII 1242 Å, 195 Å and 186.88 Å, and compare the density determination from the 186/195 Å line ratio to that resulting from the 195/1242 Å line ratio. We find significant absorption of 195 Å emission caused by the chromospheric inclusions in the moss. We find that the amount of absorption is generally of order a factor of 2. We compare to numerical models and show that the observed effect is well reproduced by 3D radiative MHD models of the transition region and corona. We use STEREO A/B data of the same active region and find that increased angles between line-of-sight and local vertical cause additional absorption. Our determination of the amount of chromospheric absorption of TR emission can be used to better constrain coronal heating models.
We describe the characteristics and evolution of the magnetic field and chromospheric emission in an active region core observed by the Solar Optical Telescope on Hinode. Consistent with previous studies, we find that the moss is unipolar, the spatial distribution of magnetic flux evolves slowly, and the magnetic field is only moderately inclined. We show that the field line inclination and horizontal component are coherent, and that the magnetic field is mostly sheared in the inter-moss regions where the highest magnetic flux variability is seen. Using extrapolations from SP magnetograms we s…
The high temporal, spatial and spectral resolution of Interface Region Imaging Spectrograph (IRIS) has provided new insights into the understanding of different small-scale processes occurring at the chromospheric and transition region (TR) heights. We study the dynamics of high-frequency oscillations of active region (AR 2376) moss as recorded by simultaneous imaging and spectral data of IRIS. Wavelet transformation, power maps generated from slit-jaw images in the Si IV 1400Åpassband, and sit-and-stare spectroscopic observations of the Si IV 1403Åspectral line reveal the presence of high-fre…
The element abundances in the solar corona and solar wind are often different from those of the solar photosphere, typically with a relative enrichment of elements with low first ionization potential (FIP effect). Here we study the spatial distribution and temporal evolution of the coronal chemical composition in an active region (AR) over about 10 days, using Hinode/EIS spectra, and we also analyze coordinated IRIS observations of the chromospheric and transition region emission to investigate any evidence of the footprints of the FIP effect in the lower atmosphere. To derive the coronal abun…
Active region (AR) outflows have been studied in detail since the launch of \textit{Hinode}/EIS and are believed to provide a possible source of mass and energy to the slow solar wind. In this work, we investigate the lower atmospheric counterpart of AR outflows using observations from the \textit{Interface Region Imaging Spectrograph} (\textit{IRIS}). We find that the \textit{IRIS} \siiv, \cii\ and \mgii\ transition region (TR) and chromospheric lines exhibit different spectral features in the outflows as compared to neighboring regions at the footpoints ("moss") of hot AR loops. The average …
In this work we use the semi-empirical atmospheric modeling method to obtain the chro-mospheric temperature, pressure, density and magnetic field distribution versus height in the K2 primary component of the RS CVn binary system HR 7428. While temperature, pressure, density are the standard output of the semi-empirical modeling technique, the chromospheric magnetic field estimation versus height comes from considering the possibility of not im-posing hydrostatic equilibrium in the semi-empirical computation. The stability of the best non-hydrostatic equilibrium model, implies the presence of a…
Adopting the thermal free-free emission mechanism, the coronal and chromospheric magnetic fields are derived from the polarization and spectral observations with the Nobeyama Radioheliograph at 1.76 cm. The solar active regions (AR) located near the disk center observed on January 8, 2015 (AR 12257) and December 4, 2016 (AR 12615) are used for the estimate of the chromospheric and coronal magnetic fields with the microwave radio observations. We compare solar radio maps of active regions for both intensity and circularly polarized component with the optical maps from observations with the Heli…
We observed rapid variability ($\lesssim 60$ s) at the footpoints of transient hot ($\sim 8-10$ MK) coronal loops in active region cores, with the Interface Region Imaging Spectrograph (IRIS). The high spatial ($\sim 0.33$ arcsec) and temporal ($\lesssim 5$-10 s) resolution is often crucial for the detection of this variability. We show how, in combination with 1D RADYN loop modeling, these IRIS spectral observations of the transition region (TR) and chromosphere provide powerful diagnostics of the properties of coronal heating and energy transport (thermal conduction and/or non-thermal electr…
In this paper, we report the observed temporal correlation between extreme-violet (EUV) emission and magneto-acoustic oscillations in a EUV moss region, which is the footpoint region only connected by magnetic loops with million-degree plasma. The result is obtained from a detailed multi-wavelength data analysis to the region with the purpose of resolving fine-scale mass and energy flows that come from the photosphere, pass through the chromosphere and finally heat solar transition region or the corona. The data set covers three atmospheric levels on the Sun, consisting of high-resolution broa…
We observed quiescent coronal loops using multi-wavelength observations from the Atmospheric Imaging Assembly (AIA) onboard the Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) on 2016 April 13. The flows at the footpoints of such loop systems are studied using spectral data from Interface Region Imaging Spectrograph (IRIS). The Doppler velocity distributions at the footpoints lying in the moss region show the negligible or small flows at Ni I, Mg II k3 and C II line corresponding to upper photospheric and chromospheric emissions. Significant red-shifts (downflows) ranging from (1 to 7) km/s are observed at S…
It has previously been argued that 1. spicules do not provide enough pre-heated plasma to fill the corona, and 2. even if they did, additional heating would be required to keep the plasma hot as it expands upward. We here address the question of whether spicules play an important role by injecting plasma at cooler temperatures ($< 2$ MK), which then gets heated to coronal values at higher altitudes. We measure red-blue asymmetries in line profiles formed over a wide range of temperatures in the bright moss areas of two active regions. We derive emission measure distributions from the excess wi…
We analyze observations from the Interface Region Imaging Spectrograph of the Mg II k line, the Mg II UV subordinate lines, and the O I 135.6 nm line to better understand the solar plage chromosphere. We also make comparisons with observations from the Swedish 1 m Solar Telescope of the Hα line, the Ca II 8542 line, and Solar Dynamics Observatory/Atmospheric Imaging Assembly observations of the coronal 19.3 nm line. To understand the observed Mg II profiles, we compare these observations to the results of numerical experiments. The single-peaked or flat-topped Mg II k profiles found in plage i…
Evolution of Stellar Activity and Habitable Zone II: Ca H&K Emissions of Late-type Dwarfs
National Astronomical Observatories, Chinese Academy of Sciences（中国科学院国家天文台）；Institute for Frontiers in Astronomy and Astrophysics, Beijing Normal University（北京师范大学天文与空间前沿研究院）；School of Astronomy and Space Science, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences（中国科学院大学天文与空间科学学院）
M dwarf stars are excellent candidates around which to search for exoplanets, including temperate, Earth-sized planets. To evaluate the photochemistry of the planetary atmosphere, it is essential to characterize the UV spectral energy distribution of the planet's host star. This wavelength regime is important because molecules in the planetary atmosphere such as oxygen and ozone have highly wavelength dependent absorption cross sections that peak in the UV (900-3200 $Å$). We seek to provide a broadly applicable method of estimating the UV emission of an M dwarf, without direct UV data, by iden…
We examine the capabilities of a fast and simple method to infer line-of-sight (LOS) velocities from observations of the photospheric Si I 10827 A line. This spectral line is routinely observed together with the chromospheric He I 10830 A triplet as it helps to constrain the atmospheric parameters. We study the accuracy of bisector analysis and a line core fit of Si I 10827 A. We employ synthetic profiles starting from the Bifrost enhanced network simulation. The profiles are computed solving the radiative transfer equation, including non-local thermodynamic equilibrium effects on the determin…
We present the results of 1D hydrodynamic simulations of coronal loops which are subject to nanoflares, caused by either in-situ thermal heating, or non-thermal electrons (NTE) beams. The synthesized intensity and Doppler shifts can be directly compared with IRIS and AIA observations of rapid variability in the transition region (TR) of coronal loops, associated with transient coronal heating. We find that NTE with high enough low-energy cutoff (E$_\textrm{C}$) deposit energy in the lower TR and chromosphere causing blueshifts (up to~$\sim$~20 km/s) in the \emph{IRIS} \siiv~lines, which therma…
Some models of coronal heating suppose that convective motions at the photosphere shuffle the footpoints of coronal magnetic fields and thereby inject sufficient magnetic energy upward to account for observed coronal and chromospheric energy losses in active regions. Using high-resolution observations of plage magnetic fields made with the Solar Optical Telescope aboard the Hinode satellite, we investigate this idea by estimating the upward transport of magnetic energy --- the vertical Poynting flux, S_z --- across the photosphere in a plage region. To do so, we combine: (i) estimates of photo…
The magnetic field governs the corona; hence it is a crucial parameter to measure. Unfortunately, existing techniques for estimating its strength are limited by strong assumptions and limitations. These techniques include photospheric or chromospheric field extrapolation using potential or non-linear-force-free methods, estimates based on coronal seismology, or by direct observations via, e.g., the Cryo-NIRSP instrument on DKIST which will measure the coronal magnetic field, but only off the limb. Alternately, in this work we investigate a recently developed approach based on the magnetic-fiel…
Characterizing the UV spectral energy distribution (SED) of an exoplanet host star is critically important for assessing its planet's potential habitability, particularly for M dwarfs as they are prime targets for current and near-term exoplanet characterization efforts and atmospheric models predict that their UV radiation can produce photochemistry on habitable zone planets different than on Earth. To derive ground-based proxies for UV emission for use when Hubble Space Telescope observations are unavailable, we have assembled a sample of fifteen early-to-mid M dwarfs observed by Hubble, and…
