J. T. Nolte

Coronal holes as sources of solar wind

We investigate the association of high-speed solar wind with coronal holes during the Skylab mission by: (1) direct comparison of solar wind and coronal X-ray data; (2) comparison of near-equatorial coronal hole area with maximum solar wind velocity in the associated streams; and (3) examination of the correlation between solar and interplanetary magnetic polarities. We find that all large near-equatorial coronal holes seen during the Skylab period were associated with high-velocity solar wind streams observed at 1 AU.

An atlas of coronal hole boundary positions May 28 to November 21, 1973

This atlas shows the boundary locations of the coronal holes observed in soft X-rays (2–32, 44–54 Å) by the AS & E X-ray spectrographic telescope on Skylab. The data are presented as tracings of the boundaries as they appeared when the holes were near central meridian.

Association of X-ray arches with chromospheric neutral lines

Daily maps of magnetic neutral lines derived from Hα observations have been superimposed on solar X-ray images for the period 15–30 June 1973. Nearly all X-ray-emitting structures consist of systems of arches covering chromospheric neutral lines. Areas of low emissivity, coronal holes, appear as the areas between arcades of arches. The presence of a coronal hole, therefore, is determined by the spacing between neutral lines and the scale of the arches over those neutral lines. X-ray emissivity on the solar disk extends from neutral lines in proportion to the vertical and horizontal scale of the arches over those neutral lines. Increasing scale of arches corresponds with increasing age of magnetic fields associated with the neutral line. All X-ray filament cavities coincided with neutral lines, but filaments appeared under cavities for only part of their length and for only a fraction of the disk passage.

High coronal structure of high velocity solar wind stream sources

When solar wind plasma in the trailing (eastern) edge of a high-speed stream is mapped back to its estimated source in the high corona using the constant radial velocity (EQRH) approximation, a large range of velocities appears to come from a restricted range in longitude, often only a few degrees. This actually constitutes a sharp eastern coronal boundary for the solar wind stream source, and demands that the boundary have a three-dimensional structure. Using interplanetary data, we infer a systematic variation in ‘source altitude’ (identified approximately with the Alfvén point), with faster solar wind attaining its interplanetary characteristics at lower altitudes. This also affects the accuracy of the source longitude estimates, so that we infer a width in the high corona of 4–6° for the source of the trailing edges of streams which appear to originate from a single longitude. We demonstrate that the possible systematic interplanetary effects (in at least some cases) are not large (≲ 2° in heliocentric longitude). The relatively sharp boundaries imply that high-speed streams are well-defined structures all the way down to their low coronal sources, and that the magnetic field structure controls the propagation of the plasma through the corona out to the vicinity of the Alfvén point (≳ 20 R⊙).

Evidence linking coronal transients to the evolution of coronal holes

The positions of X-ray coronal transients outside of active regions observed during Skylab were superposed on Hα synoptic charts and coronal hole boundaries for seven solar rotations. We confirmed a detailed spatial association between the transients and neutral lines. We found that most of the transients were related to large-scale changes in coronal hole area and tended to occur on the borders of evolving equatorial holes.

Short-term temporal variations of X-ray bright points

Skylab S-054 data have been used to examine the flux from X-ray bright points with ∼ 90 s time resolution. There is evidence of a steady heating input, similar to one reported for active region loops. Also observed are impulsive brightenings of bright points and rapid decays which are consistent with a sudden turn-off of the steady heating.

Observations of the birth of a small coronal hole

Using soft X-ray data from the S-054 X-ray spectrographic telescope aboard Skylab, we observed temporal changes in the emission structure of the X-ray corona associated with the birth of a small coronal hole. Designated as CH6, this coronal hole was born near the equator in a time interval less than 9 1/2 hr. By constructing a light curve for a point near the center of CH6, we observed a sudden 40% decrease in X-ray emission associated with the birth of this coronal hole. On a time scale of hours, the growth of CH6 in area proceeded faster than the average rate predicted by the diffusion of solar fields. The short term decay of CH6 followed the diffusive rate to within experimental uncertainty, On a time scale of one rotation, the subsequent development of CH6 was not consistent with steady growth at the average rate predicted by diffusion.

Study of the post-flare loops on 29 July 1973. IV - Revision of T and n sub e values and comparison with the flare of 21 May 1980

We present revised values of temperature and density for the flare loops of 29 July 1973 and compare the revised parameters with those obtained aboard the SMM for the two-ribbon flare of 21 May 1980. The 21 May flare occurred in a developed sunspot group; the 29 July event was a spotless two-ribbon flare. We find that the loops in the spotless flare extended higher (by a factor of 1.4–2.2), were less dense (by a factor of 5 or more in the first hour of development), were generally hotter, and the whole loop system decayed much slower than in the spotted flare (i.e. staying at higher temperature for a longer time). We also align the hot X-ray loops of the 29 July flare with the bright Hα ribbons and show that the Hα emission is brightest at the places where the spatial density of the hot elementary loops is enhanced.

Coronal hole evolution by sudden large scale changes

We have compared sudden shifts in coronal hole boundaries observed by the S-054 X-ray telescope on Skylab between May and November, 1973, within 1 day of CMP of the holes, at latitudes ≤ 40 °, with the long-term evolution of coronal hole area. We find that large-scale shifts in boundary locations can account for most if not all of the evolution of coronal holes. The temporal and spatial scales of these large-scale changes imply that they are the results of a physical process occurring in the corona. We conclude that coronal holes evolve by magnetic field lines opening when the holes are growing, and by fields closing as the holes shrink.

LOW-ENERGY PARTICLE EVENTS ASSOCIATED WITH SECTOR BOUNDARIES

Onsets of some 40 to 45 low-energy proton events during the years 1957–1969 coincided in time with transits of well-defined sector boundaries across the Earth. These events can be interpreted as long-lived proton streams filling up some of the magnetic sectors, indicating an acceleration of protons which is not associated with typical proton-producing flares. The sharp onsets of these particle streams, as well as a deficiency of flare-associated particle events shortly before the boundary transit, indicate that in some cases magnetic sector boundaries can inhibit transverse propagation of low-energy particles in the solar corona or in interplanetary space.