The details of the mechanism(s) responsible for the observed heating and dynamics of the solar atmosphere still remain a mystery. Magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) waves are thought to play a vital role in this process. Although it has been shown that incompressible waves are ubiquitous in off-limb solar atmospheric observations their energy cannot be readily dissipated. We provide here, for the first time, on-disk observation and identification of concurrent MHD wave modes, both compressible and incompressible, in the solar chromosphere. The observed ubiquity and estimated energy flux associated with the detected MHD waves suggest the chromosphere is a vast reservoir of wave energy with the potential to meet chromospheric and coronal heating requirements. We are also able to propose an upper bound on the flux of the observed wave energy that is able to reach the corona based on observational constraints, which has important implications for the suggested mechanism(s) for quiescent coronal heating.
A magnetohydrodynamic model is used to determine conditions under which the Lorentz force accelerates plasma to type 2 spicule speeds in the chromosphere. The model generalizes a previous model to include a more realistic pre-spicule state, and the vertical viscous force. Two cases of acceleration under upper chromospheric conditions are considered. The magnetic field strength for these cases is <= 12.5 and 25 G. Plasma is accelerated to terminal vertical speeds of 66 and 78 km/s in 100 s, compared with 124 and 397 km/s for the case of zero viscosity. The flows are localized within horizontal …
The solar chromosphere contains thin, highly dynamic strands of plasma known as spicules. Recently, it has been suggested that the smallest and fastest (Type II) spicules are identical to intermittent jets observed by the Interface Region Imaging Spectrograph. These jets appear to expand out along open magnetic field lines rooted in unipolar network regions of coronal holes. In this paper we revisit a thirty-year-old idea that spicules may be caused by upward forces associated with Alfven waves. These forces involve the conversion of transverse Alfven waves into compressive acoustic-like waves…
M dwarf's atmosphere is expected to be highly magnetized. The magnetic energy can be responsible for heating the stellar chromosphere and corona, and driving the stellar wind. The nonlinear propagation of Alfvén wave is the promising mechanism for both heating stellar atmosphere and driving stellar wind. Based on this Alfvén wave scenario, we carried out the one-dimensional compressive magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) simulation to reproduce the stellar atmospheres and winds of TRAPPIST-1, Proxima Centauri, YZ CMi, AD Leo, AX Mic, as well as the Sun. The nonlinear propagation of Alfvén wave from the …
Solar prominences are long-lived cool and dense plasma curtains in the hot and rarefied outer solar atmosphere or corona. The physical mechanism responsible for their formation and especially for their internal plasma circulation has been uncertain for decades. The observed ubiquitous down flows in quiescent prominences are difficult to interpret as plasma with high conductivity seems to move across horizontal magnetic field lines. Here we present three-dimensional numerical simulations of prominence formation and evolution in an elongated magnetic flux rope as a result of in-situ plasma conde…
Sunspot chromospheres display vigorous oscillatory signature when observed in chromospheric diagnostics like the strong Ca II lines and H-alpha. New high-resolution sunspot observations from the Swedish 1-m Solar Telescope show the ubiquitous presence of small-scale periodic jet-like features that move up and down. This phenomenon has not been described before. Their typical width is about 0.3 arcsec and they display clear parabolic trajectories in space-time diagrams. The maximum extension of the top of the jets is lowest in the umbra, a few 100 km, and progressively longer further away from …
There have been ubiquitous observations of wave-like motions in the solar atmosphere for decades. Recent improvements to space- and ground-based observatories have allowed the focus to shift to smaller magnetic structures on the solar surface. In this paper, high-resolution ground-based data taken using the Swedish 1 m Solar Telescope is combined with co-spatial and co-temporal data from the Atmospheric Imaging Assembly (AIA) on board the Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) satellite to analyze running penumbral waves (RPWs). RPWs have always been thought to be radial wave propagation that occurs…
The Sun's corona is millions of degrees hotter than its 5,000 K photosphere. This heating enigma is typically addressed by invoking the deposition at coronal heights of non-thermal energy generated by the interplay between convection and magnetic field near the photosphere. However, it remains unclear how and where coronal heating occurs and how the corona is filled with hot plasma. We show that energy deposition at coronal heights cannot be the only source of coronal heating, by revealing a significant coronal mass supply mechanism that is driven from below, in the chromosphere. We quantify t…
Eclipses are very favourable for the photosphere- chromosphere and corona interface observation as the occultation takes place in space, free of parasitic light coming from the occulting disk (the Moon). Independently, EUV filtergrams of the limb region obtained in space were analyzed using one dimensional hydrostatic VAL models but this method ignores the ubiquitous magnetic field emergence phenomenon associated with the chromospheric network. A jump of temperature from 0.01 to 1 MK is observed near the 2 Mm heights and higher, further producing a permanent solar wind flow. The heating proces…
Alfvenic waves are ubiquitous in the solar atmosphere and their dissipation may play an important role in atmospheric heating. In the partially ionized solar chromosphere, collisions between ions and neutrals are an efficient dissipative mechanism for Alfven waves with frequencies near the ion-neutral collision frequency. The collision frequency is proportional to the ion-neutral collision cross section for momentum transfer. Here, we investigate Alfven wave damping as a function of height in a simplified chromospheric model and compare the results for two sets of collision cross sections, nam…
Ellerman Bomb-like brightenings of the hydrogen Balmer line wings in the quiet Sun (QSEBs) are a signature of the fundamental process of magnetic reconnection at the smallest observable scale in the solar lower atmosphere. We analyze high spatial resolution observations (0.1 arcsec) obtained with the Swedish 1-m Solar Telescope to explore signatures of QSEBs in the H$β$ line. We find that QSEBs are ubiquitous and uniformly distributed throughout the quiet Sun, predominantly occurring in intergranular lanes. We find up to 120 QSEBs in the FOV for a single moment in time; this is more than an or…
Even in quiet areas underneath coronal holes the solar chromosphere contains ubiquitous heating events. They tend to be small scale and short lived, hence difficult to identify. Here we do not address their much-debated contribution to outer-atmosphere heating, but their aftermaths. We performed a statistical analysis of high-resolution observations in the Balmer H-alpha line to suggest that many slender dark H-alpha fibrils spreading out from network represent cooling gas that outlines tracks of preceding rapid type II spicule events or smaller similar but as yet unresolved heating agents in …
The Interface Region Imaging Spectrograph (IRIS) provides spectroscopy and narrow band slit-jaw (SJI) imaging of the solar chromosphere and transition region at unprecedented spatial and temporal resolution. Combined with high-resolution context spectral imaging of the photosphere and chromosphere as provided by the Swedish 1-m Solar Telescope (SST), we can now effectively trace dynamic phenomena through large parts of the solar atmosphere in both space and time. IRIS SJI 1400 images from active regions, which primarily sample the transition region with the Si IV 1394 and 1403 Å lines, reveal …
The heating of the solar chromosphere remains one of the most important questions in solar physics. Our current understanding is that small-scale internetwork (IN) magnetic fields play an important role as a heating agent. Indeed, cancellations of IN magnetic elements in the photosphere can produce transient brightenings in the chromosphere and transition region. These bright structures might be the signature of energy release and plasma heating, probably driven by magnetic reconnection of IN field lines. Although single events are not expected to release large amounts of energy, their global …
Recent high-resolution observations reveal that subarcsecond bright dots (BDs) with sub-minute lifetimes appears ubiquitously in the transition region (TR) above sunspot penumbra. The presence of penumbral micro-jets (PMJs) in the chromosphere have also been reported earlier. It was proposed that both the PMJs and BDs are formed due to magnetic reconnection process and may play an important role in heating of the penumbra. Using simultaneous observation of the chromosphere from the Solar Optical Telescope (SOT) aboard Hinode and the TR from the Interface Region Imaging Spectrograph (IRIS), we …
Context. Magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) waves are ubiquitous in the solar atmosphere. In magnetic waveguides resonant absorption due to plasma inhomogeneity naturally transfers wave energy from large-scale motions to small-scale motions. In the cooler parts of the solar atmosphere as, e.g., the chromosphere, effects due to partial ionization may be relevant for wave dynamics and heating. Aims. We study resonant Alfven waves in partially ionized plasmas. Methods. We use the multifluid equations in the cold plasma approximation. We investigate propagating resonant MHD waves in partially ionized flux …
An MHD model of a Hydrogen plasma with flow, an energy equation, NLTE ionization and radiative cooling, and an Ohm's law with anisotropic electrical conduction and thermoelectric effects is used to self-consistently generate atmospheric layers over a $50$ km height range. A subset of these solutions contain current sheets, and have properties similar to those of the lower and middle chromosphere. The magnetic field profiles are found to be close to Harris sheet profiles, with maximum field strengths $\sim 25-150$ G. The radiative flux $F_R$ emitted by individual sheets is $\sim 4.9 \times 10^5…
A spectacular manifestation of solar activity is the appearance of transient brightenings in the far wings of the H$α$ line, known as Ellerman bombs (EBs). Recent observations obtained by the Interface Region Imaging Spectrograph (IRIS) have revealed another type of plasma "bombs" (UV bursts) with high temperatures of perhaps up to $8\times 10^4$ K within the cooler lower solar atmosphere. Realistic numerical modeling showing such events is needed to explain their nature. Here, we report on 3D radiative magneto-hydrodynamic simulations of magnetic flux emergence in the solar atmosphere. We fin…
On the Relationship between Solar Spicules and Propagating Coronal Disturbances: The Role of Shocks
Udaipur Solar Observatory, Physical Research Laboratory（乌代浦尔太阳观测台，物理研究实验室）；Indian Institute of Technology, Gandhinagar（印度理工学院，甘地纳加尔）；Indian Institute of Astrophysics（印度天体物理研究所）；Pondicherry University（本地治里大学）；School of Science, University of Newcastle（纽卡斯尔大学理学院）；Solar Physics and Space Plasma Research Centre (SP2RC), School of Mathematical and Physical Sciences, University of Sheffield（谢菲尔德大学数学与物理科学学院太阳物理与空间等离子体研究中心）；Department of Astronomy, Eötvös Loránd University（罗兰大学天文系）；Gyula Bay Zoltán Solar Observatory (GSO), Hungarian Solar Physics Foundation (HSPF)（久洛·拜·佐尔坦太阳观测台，匈牙利太阳物理基金会）
Spicules are long, thin, highly dynamic features that jut out ubiquitously from the solar limb. They dominate the interface between the chromosphere and corona and may provide significant mass and energy to the corona. We use high-quality observations with the Swedish 1-m Solar Telescope to establish that so-called type II spicules are characterized by the simultaneous action of three different types of motion: 1. field-aligned flows of order 50-100 km/s, 2. swaying motions of order 15-20 km/s, and 3. torsional motions of order 25-30 km/s. The first two modes have been studied in detail before…
Vortex-flows exist across a broad range of spatial and temporal scales in the solar atmosphere. Small-scale vortices have been proposed to play an important role in energy transport in the solar atmosphere. However, their physical properties remain poorly understood due to the limited spatial resolution of the observations. We aim to explore and analyze the physical properties of small-scale vortices inside magnetic flux tubes using numerical simulations, and to investigate whether they contribute to heating the chromosphere in a plage region. Using the three-dimensional (3D) radiative magneto…
Total eclipse observations were performed in 2008 and 2009 to study the He I and He II shells near the 1 Mm heights above the solar limb. They suggest that the corona penetrates deep into the chromosphere following magnetic chanels. Thanks to the use of a fast CCD camera, the observation of a second ionized helium shell is evidenced for the first time. The transition region is then seen at very low altitude where spicules are emerging. Spicule feet are also discussed, using the best resolution SOT/Hinode HCaII images processed with the non linear operator Madmax to look at details of this ubiq…
M dwarf's atmosphere and wind is expected to be highly magnetized. The nonlinear propagation of Alfvén wave could play a key role in both heating the stellar atmosphere and driving the stellar wind. Along this Alfvén wave scenario, we carried out the one-dimensional compressive magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) simulation about the nonlinear propagation of Alfvén wave from the M dwarf's photosphere, chromosphere to the corona and interplanetary space. Based on the simulation results, we develop the semi-empirical method describing the solar and M dwarf's coronal temperature, stellar wind velocity, and…
Cause of chromospheric opposite polarity intrusions discovered in Sunrise III/SCIP data: MURaM-ChE simulations point to twisted flux ropes
Max-Planck-Institut für Sonnensystemforschung（马克斯·普朗克太阳系统研究所）；National Astronomical Observatory of Japan（日本国立天文台）；Instituto de Astrofísica de Andalucía, CSIC（安达卢西亚天体物理研究所，西班牙高等科学研究委员会）
Ubiquitous transition region (TR) network jets are considered to be substantial sources of mass and energy to the corona and solar wind. We conduct a case study of a network jet to better understand the nature of mass flows along its length and the energetics involved in its launch. We present an observation of a jet with the Interface Region Imaging Spectrograph (IRIS), while also using data from the Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) to provide further context. The jet was located within a coronal hole close to the disk center. We find that a blueshifted secondary component of TR emission is a…
Alfvén waves may be difficult to excite at the photosphere due to low ionization fraction and suffer near-total reflection at the transition region (TR). Yet they are ubiquitous in the corona and heliosphere. To overcome these difficulties, we show that they may instead be generated high in the chromosphere by conversion from reflecting fast magnetohydrodynamic waves, and that Alfvénic transition region reflection is greatly reduced if the fast reflection point is within a few scale heights of the TR. The influence of mode conversion on the phase of the reflected fast wave is also explored. Th…
Ubiquitous small-scale vortices have recently been found in the lower atmosphere of the quiet Sun in state-of-the-art solar observations and in numerical simulations. We investigate the characteristics and temporal evolution of a granular-scale vortex and its associated upflows through the photosphere and chromosphere of a quiet Sun internetwork region. We analyzed high spatial and temporal resolution ground- and spaced-based observations of a quiet Sun region. The observations consist of high-cadence time series of wideband and narrowband images of both H-alpha 6563 A and Ca II 8542 A lines o…
Coronal Bright Points (CBPs) are ubiquitous structures in the solar atmosphere composed of hot small-scale loops observed in EUV or X-Rays in the quiet Sun and coronal holes. They are key elements to understand the heating of the corona; nonetheless, basic questions regarding their heating mechanisms, the chromosphere underneath, or the effects of flux emergence in these structures remain open. We have used the Bifrost code to carry out a 2D experiment in which a coronal-hole magnetic nullpoint configuration evolves perturbed by realistic granulation. To compare with observations, synthetic SD…
Aims. We use high-resolution spectropolarimetric observations in the Ca ii 8542 A line obtained with the SST to study the magnetic field in solar spicules. Methods. The equations that result from the application of the Weak Field Approximation (WFA) to the radiative transfer equations are used to infer the LOS component of the magnetic field (BLOS). Two restrictive conditions are imposed on the Stokes I and V profiles at each pixel before they can be used in a Bayesian inversion to compute its BLOS. Results. The LOS magnetic field component has been inferred in six data sets totalling 448 spec…
The Sun is replete with magnetic fields, with sunspots, pores and plage regions being their most prominent representatives on the solar surface. But even far away from these active regions, magnetic fields are ubiquitous. To a large extent, their importance for the thermodynamics in the solar photosphere is determined by the total magnetic flux. Whereas in low-flux quiet Sun regions, magnetic structures are shuffled around by the motion of granules, the high-flux areas like sunspots or pores effectively suppress convection, leading to a temperature decrease of up to 3000 K. The importance of m…
Sunspots have played a key role in aiding our understanding of magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) wave phenomenon in the Sun's atmosphere, and it is well known they demonstrate a number of wave phenomenon associated with slow MHD modes. Recent studies have shown that transverse wave modes are present throughout the majority of the chromosphere. Using high-resolution Ca II 8542 Å observations from the Swedish Solar Telescope, we provide the first demonstration that the chromospheric super-penumbral fibrils, which span out from the sunspot, also show ubiquitous transverse motions. We interpret these moti…
We study the line profiles of a range of transition region (TR) emission lines observed in typical quiet Sun regions. In magnetic network regions, the Si IV 1402Å, C IV 1548Å, N V 1238Å, O VI 1031Å, and Ne VIII 770Å spectral lines show significant asymmetry in the blue wing of the emission line profiles. We interpret these high-velocity upflows in the lower and upper TR as the quiet Sun equivalent of the recently discovered upflows in the low corona above plage regions (Hara et al., 2008). The latter have been shown to be directly associated with high-velocity chromospheric spicules that are (…
Large-amplitude Alfvén waves are ubiquitous in space plasmas and a main component of magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) turbulence in the heliosphere. As pump waves they are prone to parametric instability by which they can generate cyclotron and acoustic daughter waves. Here we revisit a related process within the framework of the multi-fluid equations for a plasma consisting of many species. The nonlinear coupling of the Alfvén wave to acoustic waves is studied, and a set of compressive and coupled wave equations for the transverse magnetic field and longitudinal electric field is derived for waves p…
A number of recent investigations have revealed that transverse waves are ubiquitous in the solar chromosphere. The vast majority of these have been reported in limb spicules and active region fibrils. We investigate long-lived, quiet Sun, on-disk features such as chromospheric mottles (jet-like features located at the boundaries of supergranular cells) and their transverse motions. The observations were obtained with the Rapid Oscillations in the Solar Atmosphere (ROSA) instrument at the Dunn Solar Telescope. The dataset comprises simultaneous imaging in the H$α$ core, Ca II K, and G band of …
Recent analysis of high-cadence white-light images taken by the Solar-Terrestrial RElations Observatory (STEREO) near solar maximum has revealed that outflowing density structures are released in an ubiquitous manner in the solar wind. The present study investigates whether these density fluctuations could originate from the transient heating of the low corona observed during Coronal Bright Points (CBPs). We assume that part of the intense heating measured during CBPs occurs at the coronal base of open magnetic fields that channel the forming solar wind. We employ the solar wind model MULTI-VP…
The source of the non-thermal energy required for the heating of the upper solar atmosphere to temperatures in excess of a million degrees and the acceleration of the solar wind to hundreds of kilometres per second is still unclear. One such mechanism for providing the required energy flux is incompressible torsional Alfvén and kink magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) waves, which are magnetically dominated waves supported by the Sun's pervasive and complex magnetic field. In particular, propagating MHD kink waves have recently been observed to be ubiquitous throughout the solar atmosphere, but, until n…
Context: Except for the Ca II resonance lines, fibrils are ubiquitously present in most high-resolution observations of chromospheric lines. Aims: We show that fibrils are also a prevailing feature in Ca II K, provided the spatial-resolution is sufficiently high. Methods: We present high spatial resolution observations of an active region in the Ca I} K line from the Swedish Solar Telescope. Through a comparison between photospheric intensity and magnetic field data, we study the connection between bright chromospheric fibrils and photospheric structures. Additionally, using Fourier analysis w…
Plumes are one of the most ubiquitous features seen at the limb in polar coronal holes and are considered to be a source of high density plasma streams to the fast solar wind. We analyze STEREO observations of plumes and aim to reinterpret and place observations with previous generations of EUV imagers within a new context that was recently developed from Hinode observations. We exploit the higher signal-to-noise, spatial and temporal resolution of the EUVI telescopes over that of SOHO/EIT to study the temporal variation of polar plumes in high detail. We employ recently developed insight from…
Observations of the solar atmosphere show that internal gravity waves are generated by overshooting convection, but are suppressed at locations of magnetic flux, which is thought to be the result of mode conversion into magneto-acoustic waves. Here, we present a study of the acoustic-gravity wave spectrum emerging from a realistic, self-consistent simulation of solar (magneto-)convection. A magnetic field free, hydrodynamic simulation and a magneto-hydrodynamic (MHD) simulation with an initial, vertical, homogeneous field of 50 G flux density were carried out and compared with each other to hi…
The discovery of ubiquitous low-frequency (3-5mHz) Alfvenic waves in the solar chromosphere (with Hinode/SOT), and corona (with CoMP and the Solar Dynamics Observatory, SDO) has provided some insight into the non-thermal energy content of the outer solar atmosphere. However, many questions remain about the true magnitude of the energy flux carried by these waves. Here we explore the apparent discrepancy in the resolved coronal Alfvenic wave amplitude (~0.5km/s) measured by the Coronal Multi-channel Polarimeter (CoMP) compared to those of the Hinode and the SDO near the limb (~20km/s). We use a…
The bulk of the radiative output of a solar flare is emitted from the chromosphere, which produces enhancements in the optical and UV continuum, and in many lines, both optically thick and thin. We have, until very recently, lacked observations of two of the strongest of these lines: the Mg II h & k resonance lines. We present a detailed study of the response of these lines to a solar flare. The spatial and temporal behaviour of the integrated intensities, k/h line ratios, line of sight velocities, line widths and line asymmetries were investigated during an M class flare (SOL2014-02-13T01:40)…
Solar pores are efficient magnetic conduits for propagating magnetohydrodynamic wave energy into the outer regions of the solar atmosphere. Pore observations often contain isolated and/or unconnected structures, preventing the statistical examination of wave activity as a function of atmospheric height. Here, using high resolution observations acquired by the Dunn Solar Telescope, we examine photospheric and chromospheric wave signatures from a unique collection of magnetic pores originating from the same decaying sunspot. Wavelet analysis of high cadence photospheric imaging reveals the ubiqu…
Observations show that waves are ubiquitous in the solar atmosphere and may play an important role for plasma heating. The study of waves in the solar corona is usually based on linear ideal magnetohydrodynamics (MHD) for a fully ionized plasma. However, the plasma in the photosphere and the chromosphere is only partially ionized. Here we investigate theoretically the impact of partial ionization on MHD wave propagation in cylindrical flux tubes in the two-fluid model. We derive the general dispersion relation that takes into account the effects of neutral-ion collisions and the neutral gas pr…
We present 3D numerical simulations and an analytic model of reflection-driven MHD turbulence in the solar wind. Our simulations describe transverse, non-compressive MHD fluctuations within a narrow magnetic flux tube that extends from the photosphere out to a heliocentric distance $r$ of 21 solar radii $(R_s)$. We launch outward-propagating "$z^+$ fluctuations" into the simulation domain by imposing a randomly evolving photospheric velocity field. As these fluctuations propagate away from the Sun, they undergo partial reflection, producing inward-propagating "$z^-$ fluctuations." Counter-prop…
\textit{Parker Solar Probe} has shown the ubiquitous presence of strong magnetic field deflections, namely switchbacks, during its first perihelion where it was embedded in a highly Alfvénic slow stream. Here, we study the turbulent magnetic fluctuations around ion scales in three intervals characterized by a different switchback activity, identified by the behaviour of the magnetic field radial component, $B_r$. \textit{Quiet} ($B_r$ does not show significant fluctuations), \textit{weak} ($B_r$ has strong fluctuations but no reversals) and \textit{strong} ($B_r$ has full reversals) periods sh…
