Continuous plasma outflows from the edge of a solar active region as a possible source of solar wind

The Sun continuously expels a huge amount of ionized material into interplanetary space as the solar wind. Despite its influence on the heliospheric environment, the origin of the solar wind has yet to be well identified. In this paper, we report Hinode X-ray Telescope observations of a solar active region. At the edge of the active region, located adjacent to a coronal hole, a pattern of continuous outflow of soft-x-ray-emitting plasmas was identified emanating along apparently open magnetic field lines and into the upper corona. Estimates of temperature and density for the outflowing plasmas suggest a mass loss rate that amounts to approximately 1/4 of the total mass loss rate of the solar wind. These outflows may be indicative of one of the solar wind sources at the Sun.     

Solar wind origin in coronal funnels

The origin of the solar wind in solar coronal holes has long been unclear. We establish that the solar wind starts flowing out of the corona at heights above the photosphere between 5 megameters and 20 megameters in magnetic funnels. This result is obtained by a correlation of the Doppler-velocity and radiance maps of spectral lines emitted by various ions with the force-free magnetic field as extrapolated from photospheric magnetograms to different altitudes. Specifically, we find that Ne7+ ions mostly radiate around 20 megameters, where they have outflow speeds of about 10 kilometers per second, whereas C3+ ions with no average flow speed mainly radiate around 5 megameters. Based on these results, a model for understanding the solar wind origin is suggested.     

Chromospheric anemone jets as evidence of ubiquitous reconnection

The heating of the solar chromosphere and corona is a long-standing puzzle in solar physics. Hinode observations show the ubiquitous presence of chromospheric anemone jets outside sunspots in active regions. They are typically 3 to 7 arc seconds = 2000 to 5000 kilometers long and 0.2 to 0.4 arc second = 150 to 300 kilometers wide, and their velocity is 10 to 20 kilometers per second. These small jets have an inverted Y-shape, similar to the shape of x-ray anemone jets in the corona. These features imply that magnetic reconnection similar to that in the corona is occurring at a much smaller spatial scale throughout the chromosphere and suggest that the heating of the solar chromosphere and corona may be related to small-scale ubiquitous reconnection.     

The origins of hot plasma in the solar corona

The Sun's outer atmosphere, or corona, is heated to millions of degrees, considerably hotter than its surface or photosphere. Explanations for this enigma typically invoke the deposition in the corona of nonthermal energy generated by magnetoconvection. However, the coronal heating mechanism remains unknown. We used observations from the Solar Dynamics Observatory and the Hinode solar physics mission to reveal a ubiquitous coronal mass supply in which chromospheric plasma in fountainlike jets or spicules is accelerated upward into the corona, with much of the plasma heated to temperatures between ~0.02 and 0.1 million kelvin (MK) and a small but sufficient fraction to temperatures above 1 MK. These observations provide constraints on the coronal heating mechanism(s) and highlight the importance of the interface region between photosphere and corona.     

Alfven waves in the solar corona

Alfvén waves, transverse incompressible magnetic oscillations, have been proposed as a possible mechanism to heat the Sun's corona to millions of degrees by transporting convective energy from the photosphere into the diffuse corona. We report the detection of Alfvén waves in intensity, line-of-sight velocity, and linear polarization images of the solar corona taken using the FeXIII 1074.7-nanometer coronal emission line with the Coronal Multi-Channel Polarimeter (CoMP) instrument at the National Solar Observatory, New Mexico. Ubiquitous upward propagating waves were seen, with phase speeds of 1 to 4 megameters per second and trajectories consistent with the direction of the magnetic field inferred from the linear polarization measurements. An estimate of the energy carried by the waves that we spatially resolved indicates that they are too weak to heat the solar corona; however, unresolved Alfvén waves may carry sufficient energy.     

Soft X-ray Images of the Solar Corona with a Normal-Incidence Cassegrain Multilayer Telescope

High-resolution images of the sun in the soft x-ray to extreme ultraviolet(EUV) regime have been obtained with normal-incidence Cassegrain multilayer telescopes operated from a sounding rocket in space. The inherent energy-selective property of multilayer-coated optics allowed distinct groups of emission lines to be isolated in the solar corona and the transition region. The Cassegrain telescopes provided images in bands centered at 173 and 256 angstroms. The bandpass centered at 173 angstroms is dominated by emission from the ions Fe IX Fe X. This emission is from coronal plasma in the temperature range 0.8 x 10(6) to 1.4 x 10(6)K. The images have angular resolution of about 1.0 to 1.5 arc seconds, and show no degradation because of x-ray scattering. Many features of coronal structure, including magnetically confined loops of hot plasma, coronal plumes, polar coronal holes, faint structures on the size scale of supergranulation and smaller, and features due to overlying cool prominences are visible in the images. The density structure of polar plumes, which are thought to contribute to the solar wind, has been derived from the observations out to 1.7 solar radii.     

The heliospheric magnetic field over the South polar region of the sun

Magnetic field measurements from the Ulysses space mission overthe south polar regions of the sun showed that the structure and properties of the three-dimensional heliosphere were determined by the fast solar wind flow and magnetic fields from the large coronal holes in the polar regions of the sun. This conclusion applies at the current, minimum phase of the 11-year solar activity cycle. Unexpectedly, the radial component of the magnetic field was independent of latitude. The high-latitude magnetic field deviated significantly from the expected Parker geometry, probably because of large amplitude transverse fluctuations. Low-frequency fluctuations had a high level of variance. The rate of occurrence of discontinuities also increased significantly at high latitudes.     

The sun and heliosphere at solar maximum

Recent Ulysses observations from the Sun's equator to the poles reveal fundamental properties of the three-dimensional heliosphere at the maximum in solar activity. The heliospheric magnetic field originates from a magnetic dipole oriented nearly perpendicular to, instead of nearly parallel to, the Sun's rotation axis. Magnetic fields, solar wind, and energetic charged particles from low-latitude sources reach all latitudes, including the polar caps. The very fast high-latitude wind and polar coronal holes disappear and reappear together. Solar wind speed continues to be inversely correlated with coronal temperature. The cosmic ray flux is reduced symmetrically at all latitudes.     

Slipping magnetic reconnection in coronal loops

Magnetic reconnection of solar coronal loops is the main process that causes solar flares and possibly coronal heating. In the standard model, magnetic field lines break and reconnect instantaneously at places where the field mapping is discontinuous. However, another mode may operate where the magnetic field mapping is continuous but shows steep gradients: The field lines may slip across each other. Soft x-ray observations of fast bidirectional motions of coronal loops, observed by the Hinode spacecraft, support the existence of this slipping magnetic reconnection regime in the Sun's corona. This basic process should be considered when interpreting reconnection, both on the Sun and in laboratory-based plasma experiments.     

Fine thermal structure of a coronal active region

The determination of the fine thermal structure of the solar corona is fundamental to constraining the coronal heating mechanisms. The Hinode X-ray Telescope collected images of the solar corona in different passbands, thus providing temperature diagnostics through energy ratios. By combining different filters to optimize the signal-to-noise ratio, we observed a coronal active region in five filters, revealing a highly thermally structured corona: very fine structures in the core of the region and on a larger scale further away. We observed continuous thermal distribution along the coronal loops, as well as entangled structures, and variations of thermal structuring along the line of sight.     

Determining the solar wind speed above active regions using remote radio-wave observations

A new technique has made it possible to measure the velocity of portions of the solar wind during its flow outward from the sun. This analysis utilizes spacecraft (ISEE-3) observations of radio emission generated in regions of the solar wind associated with solar active regions. By tracking the source of these radio waves over periods of days, it is possible to measure the motion of the emission regions. Evidence of solar wind acceleration during this outward flow, consistent with theoretical models, has also been obtained.     

Destruction of Sun-grazing comet C/2011 N3 (SOHO) within the low solar corona

Observations of comets in Sun-grazing orbits that survive solar insolation long enough to penetrate into the Sun's inner corona provide information on the solar atmosphere and magnetic field as well as on the makeup of the comet. On 6 July 2011, the Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) observed the demise of comet C/2011 N3 (SOHO) within the low solar corona in five wavelength bands in the extreme ultraviolet (EUV). The comet penetrated to within 0.146 solar radius (~100,000 kilometers) of the solar surface before its EUV signal disappeared. Before that, material released into the coma--at first seen in absorption--formed a variable EUV-bright tail. During the final 10 minutes of observation by SDO's Atmospheric Imaging Assembly, ~6 × 10(8) to 6 × 10(10) grams of total mass was lost (corresponding to an effective nucleus diameter of ~10 to 50 meters), as estimated from the tail's deceleration due to interaction with the surrounding coronal material; the EUV absorption by the comet and the brightness of the tail suggest that the mass was at the high end of this range. These observations provide evidence that the nucleus had broken up into a family of fragments, resulting in accelerated sublimation in the Sun's intense radiation field.     

Formation of the three-ring structure around supernova 1987A

From a magnetohydrodynamic simulation, we reproduce a three-ring structure in the circumstellar space of the supernova (SN) 1987A observed by the Hubble Space Telescope. When a star develops from a red supergiant (RSG) to a blue supergiant (BSG) just before the SN explosion, a wind-wind interaction occurs between the slow stellar wind from the RSG and the subsequent fast stellar wind from the BSG. This process is simulated numerically under an assumption that the density and velocity distributions around the RSG are anisotropic owing to the existence of toroidal magnetic field and coronal holes. The three rings with observed size and position are reproduced by the magnetic pinch effect and amplification of initial density asymmetry through the dynamical interaction.     

Detection of interstellar pick-up hydrogen in the solar system

Interstellar hydrogen ionized primarily by the solar wind has been detected by the SWICS instrument on the Ulysses spacecraft at a distance of 4.8 astronomical units from the sun. This "pick-up" hydrogen is identified by its distinct velocity distribution function, which drops abruptly at twice the local solar wind speed. From the measured fluxes of pick-up protons and singly charged helium, the number densities of neutral hydrogen and helium in the distant regions of the solar system are estimated to be 0.077 +/- 0.015 and 0.013 +/- 0.003 per cubic centimeter, respectively.     

X-ray Structures of the Sun during the Importance 1N Flare of 8 June 1968

High-resolution solar x-ray images were obtained with a rocket-borne grazing incidence telescope. The x-ray flare is large in extent, has fine strulctuire, and follows a neutral magnetic line. X-ray emitting coronal links interconnect active regions. The general coronal emission at the limb and several faint regions on the disc are observed.     

Lunar surface magnetic fields and their interaction with the solar wind: results from lunar prospector

The magnetometer and electron reflectometer experiment on the Lunar Prospector spacecraft has obtained maps of lunar crustal magnetic fields and observed the interaction between the solar wind and regions of strong crustal magnetic fields at high selenographic latitude (30 degreesS to 80 degreesS) and low ( approximately 100 kilometers) altitude. Electron reflection maps of the regions antipodal to the Imbrium and Serenitatis impact basins, extending to 80 degreesS latitude, show that crustal magnetic fields fill most of the antipodal zones of those basins. This finding provides further evidence for the hypothesis that basin-forming impacts result in magnetization of the lunar crust at their antipodes. The crustal magnetic fields of the Imbrium antipode region are strong enough to deflect the solar wind and form a miniature (100 to several hundred kilometers across) magnetosphere, magnetosheath, and bow shock system.     

Corotating variations of cosmic rays near the South heliospheric pole

Three-dimensional simulations of the heliospheric modulation of galactic cosmic ray protons show that corotating variations in the intensity can persist to quite high heliographic latitudes. Variations are seen at latitudes considerably higher than the maximum latitude extension of the heliographic current sheet, in regions where the solar wind velocity and magnetic field show no significant variation. Similar conclusions may apply also to lower energy particles, which may be accelerated at lower latitudes. Cosmic ray variations caused by corotating interaction regions present at low heliographic latitudes can propagate to significantly higher latitudes.     

Chromospheres, transition regions, and coronas

The increase in temperature outward from the surface of a stellar photosphere can be understood by looking at the local energy balance. The relatively high-density stellar photosphere is cooled effectively by radiative energy loss penetrating the optically thin corona. For the low-density chromosphere and corona, if the energy input cannot be balanced by radiative energy losses, the temperature will rise steeply, possibly up to 1 million degrees or more. Coronal heating and emission appear to be strongly influenced by magnetic fields, leading to large differences in x-ray emission for otherwise similar stars. Comparatively small variations are seen in the overall chromospheric emission of stars. Chromospheres are probably mainly heated by shock-wave energy dissipation, modified by magnetic fields.     

Ulysses solar wind plasma observations at high southerly latitudes

Solar wind plasma observations made by the Ulysses spacecraft through -80.2 degrees solar latitude and continuing equatorward to -40.1 degrees are summarized. Recurrent high-speed streams and corotating interaction regions dominated at middle latitudes. The speed of the solar wind was typically 700 to 800 kilometers per second poleward of -35 degrees . Corotating reverse shocks persisted farther south than did forward shocks because of the tilt of the heliomagnetic streamer belt. Sporadic coronal mass ejections were seen as far south as -60.5 degrees . Proton temperature was higher and the electron strahl was broader at higher latitudes. The high-latitude wind contained compressional, pressure-balanced, and Alfvénic structures.     

The sun and nearby stars: microwave observations at high resolution

High-resolution microwave observations are providing new insights into the nature of active regions and eruptions on the sun and nearby stars. The strength, evolution, and structure of magnetic fields in coronal loops can be determined by multiple-wavelength observations with the Very Large Array. Flare models can be tested with Very Large Array snapshot maps, which have angular resolutions of better than 1 second of arc in time periods as short as 10 seconds. Magnetic changes that precede solar eruptions on time scales of tens of minutes involve primarily emerging coronal loops and the interactions of two or more loops. Magnetic reconnection at the interface of two closed loops may accelerate electrons and trigger the release of microwave energy in the coronal parts of the magnetic loops. Nearby main-sequence stars of late spectral type emit slowly varying microwave radiation and stellar microwave bursts that show striking similarities to those of the sun.