Observations of the solar chromosphere in the line-core of the \Halpha\ line show dark elongated structures called fibrils that show swaying motion. We performed a 3D radiation-MHD simulation of a network region, and computed synthetic \Halpha\ images from this simulation to investigate the relation between fibrils and the magnetic field lines in the chromosphere. The periods, amplitudes and phase-speeds of the synthetic fibrils are consistent with those observed. We analyse the relation between the synthetic fibrils and the field lines threading through them, and find that some fibrils trace out the same field line along the fibril's length, but there are also fibrils that sample different field lines at different locations along their length. Fibrils sample the same field lines on a time scale of $\sim200$~s. This is shorter than their own lifetime. We analysed the evolution of the atmosphere along a number of field lines that thread through fibrils and find that they carry slow-mode waves that load mass into the field line, as well as transverse waves that propagate with the Alfvén speed. Transverse waves propagating in opposite directions cause an interference pattern with complex apparent phase speeds. The relationship between fibrils and field lines is complex. It is governed by constant migration and swaying of the field lines, their mass loading by slow modes and subsequent draining, and their actual visibility in \Halpha. Field lines are visible where they lie close to the optical depth unity surface. The location of the latter is governed by the height at which the column mass in the chromosphere reaches a certain value. We conclude that using the swaying motion of fibrils as a tracer of chromospheric transverse oscillations must be done with caution.
We present a careful assess of the forced field extrapolation using Solar Dynamics Observatory/Helioseismic and Magnetic Imager (SDO/HMI) magnetogram. The convergence property is checked by several metrics. The extrapolated field lines below 3600km appear to be aligned with most Halpha fibrils observed by New Vacuum Solar Telescope (NVST). In the region where magnetic energy far larger than potential energy, field lines computed by forced field extrapolation still consistent with the patterns of Halpha fibrils while non-linear force free field (NLFFF) results show large misalignment. The horiz…
Broad-band images of the solar chromosphere in the Ca II H&K line cores around active regions are covered with fine bright elongated structures called bright fibrils. The mechanisms that form these structures and cause them to appear bright are still unknown. We aim to investigate the physical properties, such as temperature, line-of-sight velocity, and microturbulence, in the atmosphere that produces bright fibrils and to compare those to the properties of their surrounding atmosphere. We used simultaneous observations of a plage region in Fe I 6301-2 Å, Ca II 8542 Å, Ca II K, and H$α$ acquir…
A dense forest of slender bright fibrils near a small solar active region is seen in high-quality narrowband Ca II H images from the SuFI instrument onboard the Sunrise balloon-borne solar observatory. The orientation of these slender Ca II H fibrils (SCF) overlaps with the magnetic field configuration in the low solar chromosphere derived by magnetostatic extrapolation of the photospheric field observed with Sunrise/IMaX and SDO/HMI. In addition, many observed SCFs are qualitatively aligned with small-scale loops computed from a novel inversion approach based on best-fit numerical MHD simulat…
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 …
Numerical simulations of the solar chromosphere have become increasingly realistic over the past 5 years. However, many observed chromospheric structures and behavior are not reproduced. Current models do not show fibrils in Ca II 8542, and neither reproduce the Ca II 8542 bisector. The emergent H-alpha line core intensity computed from the models show granulation instead of chromospheric shocks or fibrils. I discuss these deficiencies and speculate about what physics should be included to alleviate these shortcomings.
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 …
Fibrils are thin elongated features visible in the solar chromosphere in and around magnetized regions. Because of their visual appearance, they have been traditionally considered a tracer of the magnetic field lines. For the first time, we challenge that notion, by comparing their orientation to that of the magnetic field, obtained via high-resolution spectropolarimetric observations of Ca ii lines. The short answer to the question posed in the title is that mostly yes, but not always.
We present observations of transverse oscillations in slender Ca II H fibrils (SCFs) in the lower solar chromosphere. We use a 1 hr long time series of high- (spatial and temporal-) resolution seeing-free observations in a 0.11 nm wide passband covering the line core of Ca II H 396.9 nm from the second flight of the Sunrise balloon-borne solar observatory. The entire field of view, spanning the polarity inversion line of an active region close to the solar disk center, is covered with bright, thin, and very dynamic fine structures. Our analysis reveals the prevalence of transverse waves in SCF…
We used spectropolarimetric observations of a sunspot in active region NOAA 11809 in the Ca ii line at 854.2 nm taken with the SpectroPolarimeter for Optical and Infrared Regions (SPINOR) at the Dunn Solar Telescope to infer thermodynamic parameters along one hundred super-penumbral fibrils that harbor the inverse Evershed flow. The fibrils were identified in line-of-sight (LOS) velocity and line core intensity maps and were located in a segment of the sunspot that showed a regular penumbra in the photosphere. The chromospheric LOS velocity abruptly decreases from 3 to 15 km/s to zero at the i…
The relationship between observed structures in the solar atmosphere and the magnetic fields threading them is known only for the solar photosphere, even then imprecisely. We suggest that some of the fine structure in the more tenuous chromosphere and corona- specifically some populations of spicules and fibrils- correspond to warps in 2D sheet-like structures, as an alternative to conventional interpretations in terms of tube-like structures. The sheets are perhaps related to magnetic tangential discontinuities, which Parker has argued arise naturally in low-beta conditions. Some consequences…
We recently reported extremely rapid changes in chromospheric fine structure observed using the IBIS instrument in the red wing of H alpha. Here, we examine data obtained during the same observing run (August 7 2010), of a mature active region NOAA 11094. We analyze more IBIS data including wavelength scans and data from the Solar Dynamics Observatory, all from within a 30 minute interval. Using a slab radiative transfer model, we investigate the physical nature of fibrils in terms of tube-like vs. sheet-like structures. Principal Component Analysis shows that the very rapid H alpha variations…
I first review trends in current solar spectrometry and then concentrate on comparing various spectroscopic diagnostics of the solar chromosphere. Some are actually not at all chromospheric but just photospheric or clapotispheric and do not convey information on chromospheric heating, even though this is often assumed. Balmer Halpha is the principal displayer of the closed-field chromosphere, but it is unclear how chromospheric fibrils gain their large Halpha opacity. The open-field chromosphere seems to harbor most if not all coronal heating and solar wind driving, but is hardly seen in optic…
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…
Flares are known to restructure the magnetic field in the corona and to accelerate the gas between the field lines, but their effect on the photosphere is less well studied. New data of the Solar Optical Telescope (SOT) onboard Hinode provide unprecedented opportunity to uncover the photospheric effect of a solar flare, which associates with an active region NOAA AR 10930 on 2006 December 13. We find a clear lateral displacement of sunspot penumbral regions scanned by two flare ribbons. In the impulsive phase of the flare, the flare ribbons scan the sunspot at a speed of around 18 km/s, derive…
A white paper prepared for the Space Studies Board, National Academy of Sciences (USA), for its Decadal Survey of Solar and Space Physics (Heliophysics), reviewing and encouraging studies of flare physics in the chromosphere.
In this work, we present a new methodology to fit the observed and synthetic spectrum of solar-like stars at millimeter, submillimeter and infrared wavelengths through semiempirical models of the solar chromosphere. We use the Levenberg-Marquardt algorithm as a Non-Linear method, PakalMPI as the semiempirical model of the solar chromosphere, and recent observations from the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) of Alpha Centauri A as a test case. Our results show that we can use solar chromospheric semiempirical models as an input model to reproduce the observed spectrum of solar…
Large-amplitude transverse MHD waves prevailing in the H$α$ chromosphere of a solar quiet region revealed by MiHI integrated field spectral observations
How do magnetohydrodynamic waves travel from the fully ionized corona, into and through the underlying partially ionized chromosphere, and what are the consequences for solar flares? To address these questions, we have developed a 2-fluid model (of plasma and neutrals) and used it to perform 1D simulations of Alfvén waves in a solar atmosphere with realistic density and temperature structure. Studies of a range of solar features (faculae, plage, penumbra and umbra) show that energy transmission from corona to chromosphere can exceed 20% of incident energy for wave periods of one second or less…
Active chromospheric fibril singularity: Coordinated observations from Solar Orbiter, SST, and IRIS
University of Oslo（奥斯陆大学）；NASA Goddard Space Flight Center（美国国家航空航天局戈达德太空飞行中心）；George Mason University（乔治梅森大学）；Sorbonne Université（索邦大学）；Observatoire de Paris - PSL（巴黎天文台-PSL）；École Polytechnique（巴黎综合理工学院）；Institut Polytechnique de Paris（巴黎理工学院）；CNRS（法国国家科学研究中心）；Stockholm University（斯德哥尔摩大学）；Statkraft AS（Statkraft公司）
Magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) waves are candidates for heating the solar chromosphere, although it is still unclear which mode of the wave is dominant in heating. We perform two-dimensional radiative MHD simulation to investigate the propagation of MHD waves in the quiet region of the solar chromosphere. We identify the mode of the shock waves by using the relationship between gas pressure and magnetic pressure across the shock front and calculate their corresponding heating rate through the entropy jump to obtain a quantitative understanding of the wave heating process in the chromosphere. Our re…
I argue that one should attempt to understand the solar chromosphere not only for its own sake, but also if one is interested in the physics of: the corona; astrophysical dynamos; space weather; partially ionized plasmas; heliospheric UV radiation; the transition region. I outline curious observations which I personally find puzzling and deserving of attention.
The chromosphere is a thin layer of the solar atmosphere that bridges the relatively cool photosphere and the intensely heated transition region and corona. Compressible and incompressible waves propagating through the chromosphere can supply significant amounts of energy to the interface region and corona. In recent years an abundance of high-resolution observations from state-of-the-art facilities have provided new and exciting ways of disentangling the characteristics of oscillatory phenomena propagating through the dynamic chromosphere. Coupled with rapid advancements in magnetohydrodynami…
The Farley-Buneman instability is studied in the partially ionized plasma of the solar chromosphere taking into account the finite magnetization of the ions and Coulomb collisions. We obtain the threshold value for the relative velocity between ions and electrons necessary for the instability to develop. It is shown that Coulomb collisions play a destabilizing role in the sense that they enable the instability even in the regions where the ion magnetization is greater than unity. By applying these results to chromospheric conditions, we show that the Farley-Buneman instability can not be respo…
Alfvén waves are responsible for the transfer of magnetic energy in the magnetized plasma. They are involved in heating solar atmosphere and driving solar wind through various nonlinear processes. Since the magnetic field configurations directly affect the nonlinearity of Alfvén waves, it is important to investigate how they relate to the solar atmosphere and wind structure through the nonlinear propagation of Alfvén waves. In this study, we carried out the one-dimensional magnetohydrodynamic simulations to realize the above relation. The results show that when the nonlinearity of Alfvén waves…
The distribution of temperature and emission measure in the stationary heated solar atmosphere was obtained for the limiting cases of slow and fast heating, when either the gas pressure or the concentration are constant throughout the layer depth. Under these conditions the temperature distribution with depth is determined by radiation loss and thermal conductivity. It is shown that both in the case of slow heating and of impulsive heating, temperatures are distributed in such a way that classical collisional heat conduction is valid in the chromosphere-corona transition region of the solar at…
Observations of a Solar Jet Triggered by Reconnection between Super-penumbral Fibrils and a Mini-filament
Yunnan Observatories, Chinese Academy of Sciences（中国科学院云南天文台）；Purple Mountain Observatory, Chinese Academy of Sciences（中国科学院紫金山天文台）；East Coast Environmental Research Institute (ESERI), Universiti Sultan Zainal Abidin（苏丹扎因阿比丁大学东海岸环境研究所）
We employ tomographic observations of a small region of plage to study the propagation of waves from the solar photosphere to the chromosphere using a Fourier phase-difference analysis. Our results show the expected vertical propagation for waves with periods of 3 minutes. Waves with 5-minute periods, i.e., above the acoustic cut-off period, are found to propagate only at the periphery of the plage, and only in the direction in which the field can be reasonably expected to expand. We conclude that field inclination is critically important in the leakage of p-mode oscillations from the photosph…
The far ultraviolet (FUV) continuum flux is recognized as a very sensitive diag- nostic of the temperature structure of the Sun's lower chromosphere. Until now analysis of the available stellar FUV data has shown that solar-type stars must also have chromospheres, but quantitative analyses of stellar FUV continua require far higher quality spectra and comparison with new non-LTE chromosphere models. We present accurate far ultraviolet (FUV, 1150-1500^{\circ}) continuum flux measurements for solar-mass stars, made feasible by the high throughput and very low detector background of the Cosmic Or…
The structure and energy balance of the solar chromosphere remain poorly known. We have used the imaging spectrometer IBIS at the Dunn Solar Telescope to obtain fast-cadence, multi-wavelength profile sampling of Halpha and Ca II 854.2 nm over a sizable two-dimensional field of view encompassing quiet-Sun network. We provide a first inventory of how the quiet chromosphere appears in these two lines by comparing basic profile measurements in the form of image displays, temporal-average displays, time slices, and pixel-by-pixel correlations. We find that the two lines can be markedly dissimilar i…
Two of the central problems in our understanding of the solar chromosphere are how the upper chromosphere is heated and what drives spicules. Estimates of the required chromospheric heating, based on radiative and conductive losses suggest a rate of ${\sim} 0.1 \mathrm{\:erg\:cm^{-3}\:s^{-1}}$ in the lower chromosphere dropping to ${\sim} 10^{-3} \mathrm{\:erg\:cm^{-3}\:s^{-1}}$ in the upper chromosphere (\citet{Avrett1981}). The chromosphere is also permeated by spicules, higher density plasma from the lower atmosphere propelled upwards at speeds of ${\sim} 10-20 \mathrm{\:km\:s^{-1}}$, for s…
In the past few years, the ALMA radio telescope has become available for solar observations. ALMA diagnostics of the solar atmosphere are of high interest because of the theoretically expected linear relationship between the brightness temperature at mm wavelengths and the local gas temperature in the solar atmosphere. Key for the interpretation of solar ALMA observations is understanding where in the solar atmosphere the ALMA emission originates. Recent theoretical studies have suggested that ALMA bands at 1.2 (band 6) and 3 mm (band 3) form in the middle and upper chromosphere at significant…
In this work we use solar observations with the ALMA radio telescope at the wavelength of 1.21 mm. The aim of the analysis is to improve understanding of the solar chromosphere, a dynamic layer in the solar atmosphere between the photosphere and corona. The study has an observational and a modeling part. In the observational part full-disc solar images are analyzed. Based on a modified FAL atmospheric model, radiation models for various observed solar structures are developed. Finally, the observational and modeling results are compared and discussed.
In this paper, we study the heating of the magnetized solar chromosphere induced by the large fraction of neutral atoms present in this layer. The presence of neutrals, together with the decrease with height of the collisional coupling, leads to deviations from the classical MHD behavior of the chromospheric plasma. A relative net motion appears between the neutral and ionized components, usually referred to as ambipolar diffusion. The dissipation of currents in the chromosphere is enhanced orders of magnitude due to the action of ambipolar diffusion, as compared to the standard ohmic diffusio…
aims: We aim to provide an estimate of the minimum temperature of the quiet solar chromosphere. methods: We perform a 2D radiation-MHD simulation spanning the upper convection zone to the lower corona. The simulation includes non-LTE radiative transfer and {an equation-of-state that includes non-equilibrium ionization of hydrogen and non-equilibrium H_2 molecule formation}. We analyze the reliability of the various assumptions made in our model in order to assess the realism of the simulation. results: Our simulation contains pockets of cool gas with down to 1660 K from 1 Mm up to 3.2 Mm heigh…
Context. We address the heating of the solar chromosphere and the related generation of plasma inflows and outflows. Aims. We attempt to detect variations in ion temperature and vertical plasma flows, which are driven by impulsively excited two-fluid Alfvén waves. We aim to investigate the possible contribution of these waves to solar chromosphere heating and plasma outflows. Methods. We performed numerical simulations of the generation and evolution of Alfvén waves with the use of the JOANNA code, which solves the two-fluid equations for ions+electrons and neutrals, coupled by collision terms…
In this paper, we show a "proof of concept" of the heating mechanism of the solar chromosphere due to wave dissipation caused by the effects of partial ionization. Numerical modeling of non-linear wave propagation in a magnetic flux tube, embedded in the solar atmosphere, is performed by solving a system of single-fluid quasi-MHD equations, which take into account the ambipolar term from the generalized Ohm's law. It is shown that perturbations caused by magnetic waves can be effectively dissipated due to ambipolar diffusion. The energy input by this mechanism is continuous and shown to be mor…
Acoustic wave heating is believed to contribute significantly to the missing energy input required to maintain the solar chromosphere in its observed state. We studied the propagation of waves above the acoustic cutoff in the upper photosphere into the chromosphere with ultraviolet and optical spectral observations interpreted through comparison with three dimensional radiative magnetohydrodynamic (rMHD) \emph{Bifrost} models to constrain the heating contribution from acoustic waves in the solar atmosphere. Sit-and-stare observations taken with the Interface Region Imaging Spectrograph (IRIS) …
Solar magnetic fields leave their fingerprints in the polarization signatures of the emergent spectral line radiation. This occurs through a variety of rather unfamiliar physical mechanisms, not only via the Zeeman effect. In particular, magnetic fields modify the atomic level polarization (population imbalances and quantum coherences) that anisotropic radiative pumping processes induce in the atoms and molecules of the solar atmosphere. Interestingly, this so-called Hanle effect allows us to "see" magnetic fields to which the Zeeman effect is blind within the limitations of the available inst…
We present a new insight into the propagation, attenuation and dissipation of two-fluid, torsional Alfvén waves in the context of heating of the lower solar atmosphere. By means of numerical simulations of the partially-ionized plasma, we solve the set of two-fluid equations for ion plus electron and neutral fluids in three-dimensional (3D) Cartesian geometry. We implement initially a current-free magnetic field configuration, corresponding to a magnetic flux-tube that is rooted in the solar photosphere and expands into the chromosphere and corona. We put the lower boundary of our simulation r…
We use ground-based images of high spatial and temporal resolution to search for evidence of nanoflare activity in the solar chromosphere. Through close examination of more than 10^9 pixels in the immediate vicinity of an active region, we show that the distributions of observed intensity fluctuations have subtle asymmetries. A negative excess in the intensity fluctuations indicates that more pixels have fainter-than-average intensities compared with those that appear brighter than average. By employing Monte Carlo simulations, we reveal how the negative excess can be explained by a series of …
The connection between nuclear fusion in the Sun's core and solar irradiance is obscured among other things by uncertainty over the mechanism of coronal heating. Data for solar wind density and velocity, sunspot number, and EUV flux suggest that electromagnetic energy from the Sun's convection zone is converted by induction through the chromosphere into thermal energy. The helium and hydrogen mixture exhaled by the Sun is then heated by the inverse Joule-Thomson effect when it expands via the corona into space. The almost complete shutdown of the solar wind on 10-11 May 1999 demonstrated that …
Using high-resolution numerical simulations we investigate the plasma heating driven by periodic two-fluid acoustic waves that originate at the bottom of the photosphere and propagate into the gravitationally stratified and partially ionized solar atmosphere. We consider ions+electrons and neutrals as separate fluids that interact between themselves via collision forces. The latter play an important role in the chromosphere, leading to significant damping of short-period waves. Long-period waves do not essentially alter the photospheric temperatures, but they exhibit the capability of depositi…
The presence of magnetic field is crucial in the transport of energy through the solar atmosphere. Recent ground-based and space-borne observations of the quiet Sun have revealed that magnetic field accumulates at photospheric heights, via a local dynamo or from small-scale flux emergence events. However, most of this small-scale magnetic field may not expand into the chromosphere due to the entropy drop with height at the photosphere. Here we present a study that uses a high resolution 3D radiative MHD simulation of the solar atmosphere with non-grey and non-LTE radiative transfer and thermal…
Context. It is known that Alfvén and magnetoacoustic waves both contribute to the heating of the solar chromosphere and drive plasma outflows. In both cases, the thermalization of the wave energy occurs due to ion-neutral collisions, but the obtained rates of plasma heating cannot explain the observational data. The same is true for the magnitudes of the outflows. Aims. The aim of the present paper is to reexamine two-fluid modeling of Alfvén and magnetoacoustic waves in the partially ionized solar chromosphere. We attempt to detect variations in the ion temperature, and vertical plasma flows …
Solar observations from millimeter to ultraviolet wavelengths show that there is a temperature minimum between photosphere and chromosphere. Analysis based on semi-empirical models locate this point at about 500 km over the photosphere. The consistency of these models has been tested by means of millimeter to infrared observations. In the present work, we show that variations of the theoretical radial temperature profile near the temperature minimum impacts the brightness temperature at centimeter, submillimeter, and infrared wavelengths, but the millimeter wavelength emission remains unchange…
Context. High resolution magnetic field measurements are routinely done only in the solar photosphere. Higher layers like the chromosphere and corona can be modeled by extrapolating the photospheric magnetic field upward. In the solar corona, plasma forces can be neglected and the Lorentz force vanishes. This is not the case in the upper photosphere and chromosphere where magnetic and non-magnetic forces are equally important. One way to deal with this problem is to compute the plasma and magnetic field self-consistently with a magnetohydrostatic (MHS) model. Aims. We aim to derive the magneti…
