L. H. Deng

Phase analysis of sunspot group numbers on both solar hemispheres

Cross-correlation analysis and wavelet transform methods are proposed to investigate the phase relationship between the monthly sunspot group numbers in the solar northern and southern hemispheres. It is found that (1) the monthly sunspot group numbers in the northern hemisphere begin two months earlier than those in the southern one, which should lead to phase asynchrony between them but with a slight effect; (2) the Schwabe cycle length for the monthly sunspot group numbers in the two hemispheres obviously differs from each other, and the mean Schwabe cycle length of the monthly sunspot group numbers in the northern hemisphere is slightly larger than that in the southern one; (3) the monthly sunspot group numbers in the northern hemisphere precede those in the southern hemisphere during the years of about 1874-1927, after which, the southern hemisphere leads the northern hemisphere in the years 1928-1964, and then the northern hemisphere leads in time till the present.

SYSTEMATIC REGULARITY OF HEMISPHERIC SUNSPOT AREAS OVER THE PAST 140 YEARS

Solar magnetic activity varies with time in the two hemispheres in different ways. The hemispheric interconnection of solar activity phenomena provides an important clue to understanding the dynamical behavior of solar dynamo actions. In this paper, several analysis approaches are proposed to analyze the systematic regularity of hemispheric asynchronism and amplitude asymmetry of long-term sunspot areas during solar cycles 9-24. It is found that, (1) both the hemispheric asynchronism and the amplitude asymmetry of sunspot areas are prevalent behaviors and are not anomalous, but the hemispheric asynchronism exhibits a much more regular behavior than the amplitude asymmetry; (2) the phase-leading hemisphere returns back to the identical hemisphere every 8 solar cycles, and the secular periodic pattern of hemispheric phase differences follows 3 (south leading) + 5 (north leading) solar cycles, which probably corresponds to the Gleissberg cycle; and (3) the pronounced periodicities of (absolute and normalized) asymmetry indices and lines of synchronization (LOSs) are not identical: the significant periodic oscillations are 80.65 +/- 6.31, 20.91 +/- 0.40, and 13.45 +/- 0.16 years for the LOS values, and 51.34 +/- 2.48, 8.83/8.69 +/- 0.07, and 3.77 +/- 0.02 years for the (absolute and normalized) asymmetry indices. The analysis results improve our knowledge on the hemispheric interrelation of solar magnetic activity and may provide valuable constraints for solar dynamo models.

THE CONTRACTION OF OVERLYING CORONAL LOOP AND THE ROTATING MOTION OF A SIGMOID FILAMENT DURING ITS ERUPTION

We present an observation of overlying coronal loop contraction and rotating motion of the sigmoid filament during its eruption on 2012 May 22 observed by the Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO). Our results show that the twist can be transported into the filament from the lower atmosphere to the higher atmosphere. The successive contraction of the coronal loops was due to a suddenly reduced magnetic pressure underneath the filament, which was caused by the rising of the filament. Before the sigmoid filament eruption, there was a counterclockwise flow in the photosphere at the right feet of the filament and the contraction loops and a convergence flow at the left foot of the filament. The hot and cool materials have inverse motion along the filament before the filament eruption. Moreover, two coronal loops overlying the filament first experienced brightening, expansion, and contraction successively. At the beginning of the rising and rotation of the left part of the filament, the second coronal loop exhibited rapid contraction. The top of the second coronal loop also showed counterclockwise rotation during the contraction process. After the contraction of the second loop, the left part of the filament rotated counterclockwise and expanded toward the right of NOAA AR 11485. During the filament expansion, the right part of the filament also exhibited counterclockwise rotation like a tornado.

A subpixel registration algorithm for low PSNR images

This paper presents a fast algorithm for obtaining high-accuracy subpixel translation of low PSNR images. Instead of locating the maximum point on the up-sampled images or fitting the peak of correlation surface, the proposed algorithm is based on the measurement of centroid on the cross correlation surface by Modified Moment method. Synthetic images, real solar images and standard testing images with white Gaussian noise added were tested, and the results show that the accuracies of our algorithm are comparable with other subpixel registration techniques and the processing speed is higher. The drawback is also discussed at the end of this paper.

ON THE COMBINATION OF IMAGING-POLARIMETRY WITH SPECTROPOLARIMETRY OF UPPER SOLAR ATMOSPHERES DURING SOLAR ECLIPSES

We present results from imaging polarimetry (IP) of upper solar atmospheres during a total solar eclipse on 2012 November 13 and spectropolarimetry of an annular solar eclipse on 2010 January 15. This combination of techniques provides both the synoptic spatial distribution of polarization above the solar limb and spectral information on the physical mechanism producing the polarization. Using these techniques together we demonstrate that even in the transition region, the linear polarization increases with height and can exceed 20%. IP shows a relatively smooth background distribution in terms of the amplitude and direction modified by solar structures above the limb. A map of a new quantity that reflects direction departure from the background polarization supplies an effective technique to improve the contrast of this fine structure. Spectral polarimetry shows that the relative contribution to the integrated polarization over the observed passband from the spectral lines decreases with height while the contribution from the continuum increases as a general trend. We conclude that both imaging and spectral polarimetry obtained simultaneously over matched spatial and spectral domains will be fruitful for future eclipse observations.

Case study of a complex active-region filament eruption

Context. We investigated a solar active-region filament eruption associated with a C6.6 class flare and a coronal mass ejection (CME) in NOAA active region 08858 on 2000 February 9. Aims. We aim to better understand the relationship between filament eruptions and the associated flares and CMEs. Methods. Using BBSO, SOHO/EIT, and TRACE observational data, we analyzed the process of the active-region filament eruption in the chromosphere and the corona. Using the SOHO/MDI magnetograms, we investigated the change of the magnetic fields in the photosphere. Using the GOES soft X-ray flux and the SOHO/LASCO images, we identified the flare and CME, which were associated with this active-region filament eruption. Results. The brightenings in the chromosphere are a precursor of the filament expansion. The eruption itself can be divided into four phases: In the initial phase, the intertwined bright and dark strands of the filament expand. Then, the bright strands are divided into three parts with different expansion velocity. Next, the erupting filament-carrying flux rope expands rapidly and combines with the lower part of the expanding bright strands. Finally, the filament erupts accompanied by other dark strands overlying the filament. The overlying magnetic loops and the expansion of the filament strands can change the direction of the eruption. Conclusions. The time delay between the velocity peaks of the filament and that of the two parts of the bright strands clearly demonstrates that the breakup of the bright loops tying on the filament into individual strands is important for its eruption. The eruption is a collection of multiple processes that are physically coupled rather than a single process.

Long-term hemispheric variation of the flare index

The long-term hemispheric variation of the flare index is investigated. It is found that, (1) the phase difference of the flare index between the northern and southern hemispheres is about 6-7 months, which is near the time delay between flare activity and sunspot activity; (2) both the dominant and phase-leading hemisphere of the flare index is the northern hemisphere in the considered time interval, implying that the hemispheric asynchrony of solar activity has a close connection with the N-S asymmetry of solar activity.

High-frequency Oscillations in the Atmosphere above a Sunspot Umbra

We use high spatial and temporal resolution observations, simultaneously obtained with the New Vacuum Solar Telescope and Atmospheric Imaging Assembly (AIA) on board the Solar Dynamics Observatory, to investigate the high-frequency oscillations above a sunspot umbra. A novel time--frequency analysis method, namely the synchrosqueezing transform (SST), is employed to represent their power spectra and to reconstruct the high-frequency signals at different solar atmospheric layers. A validation study with synthetic signals demonstrates that SST is capable to resolving weak signals even when their strength is comparable with the high-frequency noise. The power spectra, obtained from both SST and the Fourier transform, of the entire umbral region indicate that there are significant enhancements between 10 and 14 mHz (labeled as 12 mHz) at different atmospheric layers. Analyzing the spectrum of a photospheric region far away from the umbra demonstrates that this 12~mHz component exists only inside the umbra. The animation based on the reconstructed 12 mHz component in AIA 171 \AA\ illustrates that an intermittently propagating wave first emerges near the footpoints of coronal fan structures, and then propagates outward along the structures. A time--distance diagram, coupled with a subsonic wave speed (

Formation of an Active Region Filament Driven By a Series of Jets

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Size distribution of photopheric bright points in active region

49 km s