J. W. Cook

Comparison of Two Coronal Mass Ejections Observed by EIT and LASCO with a Model of an Erupting Magnetic Flux Rope

We present observations of two coronal mass ejections (CMEs) observed by the LASCO and EIT instruments on board the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory. One was observed on 1997 April 30 and the other on 1997 February 23. The latter CME is accompanied by a spectacular prominence eruption and reaches velocities of about 900 km s-1, while the former has no apparent accompanying prominence eruption and attains velocities of only about 300 km s-1. However, the two CMEs are similar in appearance, having bright circular rims that can be interpreted as marking the apexes of expanding magnetic flux ropes, and both can be tracked from their origins near the surface of the Sun out to great distances. We compare the kinematic and morphological properties of these CMEs with an MHD model of an erupting flux rope and find that the CMEs can be successfully modeled in this manner.

Magnetic Sources of the Solar Irradiance Cycle

Using recently processed Ca K filtergrams, recorded with a 1 A filter at the Big Bear Solar Observatory (BBSO), we quantitatively assess the component of solar irradiance variability attributable to bright magnetic features on the Suns disk. The Ca K filtergrams, flattened by removing instrumental effects and center-to-limb variations, provide information about bright sources of irradiance variability associated with magnetic activity in both active regions and dispersed active region remnants broadly distributed in the supergranule network (termed collectively faculae). Procedures are developed to construct both total and UV spectral solar irradiance variations explicitly from the processed Ca K filtergrams, independently of direct irradiance observations. The disk-integrated bolometric and UV facular brightness signals determined from the filtergrams between late 1991 and mid-1995 are compared with concurrent solar irradiance measurements made by high-precision solar radiometers on the Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite (UARS). The comparisons suggest that active-region and active-network changes can account for the measured variations. This good agreement during a period covering most of the decline in solar activity from the cycle 22 maximum to the impending solar minimum directly implicates magnetic features as the sources of the 11 yr irradiance cycle, apparently obviating the need for an additional component other than spots or faculae.

Discrete subresolution structures in the solar transition zone

During operations on the Spacelab-2 Shuttle mission, the NRL High Resolution Telescope and Spectrograph (HRTS) recorded spectra of a variety of solar features in the 1200–1700 Å wavelength region which contains spectral lines and continua well suited for investigating the temperature minimum, the chromosphere and transition zone. These data show that, at the highest spatial resolution, the transition zone spectra are broken up from a continuous intensity distribution along the slit into discrete emission elements. The average dimensions of these discrete transition zone structures is 2400 km along the slit, but an analysis of their emission measures and densities shows that the dimensions of the actual emitting volume is conciderably less. If these structures are modelled as an ensemble of subresolution filaments, we find that these filaments have typical radii of from 3 to 30 km and that the cross-sectional fill factor is in the range from 10−5 to 10−2. The transport of mass and energy through these transition zone structures is reduced by this same factor of 10−5 to 10−2 which has significant consequences for our understanding of the dynamics of the solar atmosphere. Because the HRTS transition zone line profiles are not broadened by resolved large-spatial-scale solar velocity fields, the line widths of the Civ lines have been analyzed. The average line width is 0.195 Å (FWHM) and requires an average nonthermal velocity of 16 km s−1 (most-probable) or 19 km s−1 (root-mean-square) which is lower than previously observed values.

SUSIM'S 11-year observational record of the solar UV irradiance

Abstract The Solar Ultraviolet Spectral Irradiance Monitor (SUSIM), a wavelength-scanning, dual-dispersion, dual-spectrometer instrument aboard the Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite (UARS), has measured the solar ultraviolet (UV) spectral irradiance (115–410 nm) since October 1991. This 11-year period, the duration of a solar activity cycle, extends from a late secondary maximum of solar cycle 22 through the intervening solar minimum and the maximum of solar cycle 23. Accordingly, SUSIM observed nearly the entire maximum-to-minimum variation of the solar UV irradiance of both solar cycles. The UV irradiance variations during the two solar cycles are compared. Apart from solar rotation effects and to within experimental accuracy, they show similar variation in the UV spectral irradiance. Solar cycle amplitudes calculated after removing solar rotation effects were ∼50% for the strong O I, C II, and Si IV emission features below 145 run, ∼8–18% between the A1 edge and 145 nm, respectively, and ∼4% between the Al edge and 263 nm. The amplitude of the solar cycle periodicity was not detected above ∼300 nm.

Sun earth connection coronal and heliospheric investigation (SECCHI)

Abstract The Sun Earth Connection Coronal and Heliospheric Investigation (SECCHI) on the NASA Solar Terrestrial Relations Observatory ( STEREO ) mission is a suite of remote sensing instruments consisting of an extreme ultraviolet imager, two white light coronagraphs, and a heliospheric imager. Two spacecraft with identical instrumentation will obtain simultaneous observations from viewpoints of increasing separation in the ecliptic plane. In support of the STEREO mission objectives, SECCHI will observe coronal mass ejections from their birth at the Sun, through the outer corona, to their impact at Earth. The SECCHI program includes a coordinated effort to develope magneto-hydrodynamic models and visualization tools to interpret the images that will be obtained from the two spacecraft viewpoints. The resulting three-dimensional analysis of CMEs will help to resolve some of the fundamental outstanding questions in solar physics.

High resolution telescope and spectrograph observations of solar fine structure in the 1600 A region

High spatial resolution spectroheliograms of the 1600 A region obtained during the HRTS rocket flight of 1978 February 13 are presented. The morphology, fine structure, and temporal behavior of emission bright points (BPs) in active and quiet regions are illustrated. In quiet regions, network elements persist as morphological units, although individual BPs may vary in intensity while usually lasting the flight duration. In cell centers, the BPs are highly variable on a 1 minute time scale. BPs in plages remain more constant in brightness over the observing sequence. BPs cover less than 4 percent of the quiet surface. The lifetime and degree of packing of BPs vary with the local strength of the magnetic field.

The Heliospheric HeII 30.4 nm Solar Flux During Cycle 23

Because of the orbit characteristics of the vast majority of spacecraft, the solar flux has predominantly been measured at Earth or at least in the plane of the ecliptic. Therefore, the existing data do not directly demonstrate the fact that the latitudinal distribution of the extreme-ultraviolet (EUV) solar flux is largely anisotropic. Indeed, in the EUV the nonuniform distribution of very contrasted bright features (i.e., active regions) and dark features (i.e., coronal holes) at the surface of the Sun produces both the obvious rotational (or longitudinal) modulation of the flux and also a strong latitudinal anisotropy. Although largely ignored up to now, the latitudinal anisotropy affects the physical conditions in the corona and heliosphere and should therefore be taken into account in several solar and heliospheric physics applications. We describe in this paper a technique for computing the He II 30.4 nm flux at an arbitrary position in the heliosphere from Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) EUV Imaging Telescope (EIT) images. This procedure was used to produce daily all-sky maps of the 30.4 nm flux from 1996 January to 2003 August, covering the first 8 yr of solar cycle 23. As could be expected from the examination of the EIT images, the 30.4 nm flux was found to be strongly anisotropic. The anisotropy Ipol/Ieq between the fluxes computed for viewpoints located above the solar poles and within the solar equatorial plane ranges from 0.9 at solar minimum to 0.6 at solar maximum. A 20% difference was also discovered between the north and south polar fluxes. The generalization of this technique to other lines of the EUV and far-ultraviolet (FUV) spectrum is discussed.

Measurements of Three-dimensional Coronal Magnetic Fields from Coordinated Extreme-Ultraviolet and Radio Observations of a Solar Active Region Sunspot

We observed NOAA Active Region 8108 around 1940 UT on 1997 November 18 with the Very Large Array and with three instruments aboard the NASA/ESA Solar and Heliospheric Observatory satellite, including the Coronal Diagnostic Spectrometer, the EUV Imaging Telescope, and the Michelson Doppler Imager. We used the right-hand and left-hand circularly polarized components of the radio observing frequencies, along with the coordinated EUV observations, to derive the three-dimensional coronal magnetic field above the regions sunspot and its immediate surroundings. This was done by placing the largest possible harmonic (which corresponds to the smallest possible magnetic field strength) for each component of each radio frequency into appropriate atmospheric temperature intervals such that the calculated radio brightness temperatures at each spatial location match the corresponding observed values. The temperature dependence of the derived coronal magnetic field, B(x,y,T), is insensitive to uncertainties on the observed parameters and yields field strengths in excess of 580 G at 2 × 106 K and in excess of 1500 G at 1 × 106 K. The height dependence of the derived coronal magnetic field, B(x,y,h), varies significantly with our choice of magnetic scale height LB. Based on LB = 3.8 × 109 cm derived from the relative displacements of the observed radio centroids, we find magnetic field strengths in excess of 1500 G at heights of 15,000 km and as great as 1000 G at 25,000 km. By observing a given target region on several successive days, we would obtain observations at a variety of projection angles, thus enabling a better determination of LB and, ultimately, B(x,y,h). We compare coronal magnetic fields derived from our method with those derived from a potential extrapolation and find that the magnitudes of the potential field strengths are factors of 2 or more smaller than those derived from our method. This indicates that the sunspot field is not potential and that currents must be present in the corona. Alfven speeds between 25,000 and 57,000 km s-1 are derived for the 1 × 106 K plasma at the centroids of the radio observing frequencies. Filling factors between 0.003 and 0.1 are derived for the 1 × 106 K plasma at the centroids of the radio observing frequencies.

HRTS results from spacelab 2

Abstract The HRTS instrument flew on the Spacelab 2 mission from 29 July - 6 August 1985. HRTS consisted of a 30 cm Gregorian telescope, a slit spectrograph covering the 1190–1680 A region with 0.05 A spectral resolution, a broadband (90 A FWHM) spectroheliograph tuned to 1550 A, and an H-alpha filter system. The spectrograph slit was 920 arc sec, approximately 1 R 0 , in length. Sub arc second spatial resolution along the slit is possible, but because of jitter in the Spacelab Instrument Pointing System (IPS) good exposures actually achieved 1–2 arc sec resolution. We describe the scientific results from HRTS.

UV observations of macrospicules at the solar limb

During the Spacelab 2 mission, the NRL High Resolution Telescope and Spectrograph (HRTS) obtained a time-series of broad-band ultraviolet images of macrospicules at the solar limb inside a polar coronal hole with a temporal resolution of 20 and 60 s. The properties of the macrospicules observed in the Spacelab data are measured and compared with the properties reported for EUV macrospicules observed during Skylab (Bohlin et al., 1975; Withbroe et al., 1976). There is a general agreement between the data sets but several differences. Because of the higher temporal resolution of the Spacelab data, it is possible to see macrospicules with shorter lifetimes than seen during Skylab, as well as variations on faster timescales. The largest (30–60′) and fastest (150 km s -1) macrospicules seen during Skylab were not found in the Spacelab observations. The Spacelab data support the conclusion that many macrospicules decay by simply fading away.