P. Brekke

Doppler Shifts in the Quiet-Sun Transition Region and Corona Observed with Sumer on SOHO

New observations of systematic red shifts of transition region and coronal lines obtained with SUMER (Solar Ultraviolet Measurements of Emitted Radiation) on SOHO (the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory) are presented. With the extensive wavelength coverage of SUMER it is possible to extend the measurements of the red shifts to much higher temperatures compared to previous instruments. We find lines formed in the upper transition region (e.g. Ov, Sv, and Svi) to be red-shifted similar to lower temperature lines (T ≤ 1.8 x 10-5 K). Even hotter lines such as Ovi, Neviii and Mgx show systematic red shifts on the order of 5 km s-1 in the quiet Sun. This is a new and significant result since previous measurements of the red shifts were less well constrained.The behavior of the red shifts above T = 10-5 K has been somewhat controversial. In some earlier investigations the magnitude of the red shift has been found to increase with temperature, reaching a maximum at T = 10-5 K and then to decrease toward higher temperatures. Thus, our results will put new constraints on theoretical models. The measured shifts are compared to recent observations of red-shifted emission in stellar spectra obtained with the Hubble Space Telescope.

High-Velocity Flows in an Active Region Loop System Observed with the Coronal Diagnostic Spectrometer (CDS) on SOHO

EUV spectra of coronal loops above an active region show clear evidence of strong dynamical activity. We present an example where the Ov 629 Å line, formed at 240 000 K, is shifted from its reference position corresponding to line-of-sight velocities greater than 50 km s-1 with the shift extending over a large fraction of a loop. The observations were made with the Coronal Diagnostic Spectrometer (CDS) on the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO), and are from active region NOAA 7981 on the east solar limb on 27 July 1996. An animation has been prepared showing the variation of the shift or flow velocity along the loop. This animation is to be found on the enclosed CD-ROM and gives a clear impression of the dynamical condition present in the loop. The appearance of the loop system in different lines formed over a range in temperature as well as the observed dynamics indicates that loops at different temperatures are not closely co-located. Finally, the results are discussed and related to mechanisms that may cause line shifts.

Time Variability of Active Region Loops Observed with the Coronal Diagnostic Spectrometer (Cds) on Soho

Monochromatic images from the Coronal Diagnostic Spectrometer (CDS) of loops above active regions show clear evidence of rapid time variability. The rapidly changing conditions that we observe give a new conception of loop systems that has never before been seriously considered. Loop systems, particularly in emission lines formed at temperatures in the 1–5 × 105 K range, traditionally thought of as transition region temperatures, are seen to change significantly over a period of 1 hour. Loops may appear or disappear in certain emission lines, may show rapid variations in the distribution of the emission along their lengths, or may change shape or expand outward, all on time scales of 10–20 min. At other temperatures below 1.5 MK the variability appears less striking, but is still pronounced. At high temperatures, i.e., T ≥ 1.5 MK, conditions are normally much more stable. Examples exist, however, of loop systems showing violent changes in images at all temperatures up to Fe xvi formed at 2.7 MK. The structural variability is accompanied by high Doppler shifts, especially in the O v line. Corresponding velocities typically amount to 50–100 km s-1, but values as high as 300 km s-1 have been recorded. Animations with illustrative examples of loop variability have been prepared and are found on the enclosed CD-ROM. In addition we briefly discuss other structural and dynamical properties of active region loops, particularly those with temperatures below 1.5 MK. Theoretical models of loops cannot explain the present observations, but models that combine extreme fine structure, episodic heating and magneto-acoustic wave disturbances propagating in the loop legs seem promissing.

Bursts of Explosive Events in the Solar Network

Observations of the quiet-Sun network in the UV emission line Siiv 1393 Å over a time period of two hours are presented. Bursts of explosive events, highly Doppler-shifted emission, seem to be sporadically emitted from the brighter regions of the network lanes. Individual events have typical lifetimes of ≈ 1–6 min and come in bursts of up to 30 min. The most spectacular burst in this dataset, shown in the accompanying movie, lasts ≈ 30 min and shows a wide variety of line profiles with both red and blue shifts ≈180 km s1. There appears to be no characteristic form or evolutionary pattern to the line profiles in either the individual events or series of events. There are about twice as many blue shifts as red shifts.

Gas flows in the transition region above sunspots

Strong downflows and moderate upflows in the transition region over a sunspot have been observed with the Spacelab 2 HRTS in 1985. The flows are found to be persistent, and it is suggested that they are common. Data show that the downflows are supersonic and that there is more than one characteristic flow speed in the downflows. Evidence is provided for constant downflows in the 30,000-230,000-K temperature range.

Active Regions Observed in Extreme Ultraviolet Light by the Coronal Diagnostic Spectrometer on Soho

We present observations of five active regions made by the Coronal Diagnostic Spectrometer (CDS) on the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO). CDS observes the Sun in the extreme ultraviolet range 150–780 Å. Examples of active region loops seen in spectral lines emitted at various temperatures are shown. Several classes of loops are identified: those that are seen in all temperatures up to 2 x 106 K; loops seen at 106 K but not reaching 1.6 x 106 K; those at temperatures 2– 4 x 10-5 K and occasionally at 6 x 10-5 K but not reaching 106 K. An increasing loop size with temperature and the relationship between the cool and hot structures is discussed. CDS observations reveal the existence of loops and other unresolved structures in active regions, at temperatures between 1.5– 4 x 10-5 K, which do not have counterparts in lines emitted above 8 x 10-5 K. Bright compact sources only seen in the transition region lines are investigated. These sources can have lifetimes of up to several days and are located in the vicinity of sunspots. We study the variability of active region sources on time scales from 30 sec to several days. We find oscillatory behaviour of Hei and Ov line intensities in an active region on time scales of 5–10 min.

MULTIPLE FLOWS AND THE FINE STRUCTURE OF THE TRANSITION REGION AROUND SUNSPOTS

The fine structure in the flow field in the transition region above and surrounding a sunspot is determined fromCIV 1548 Å line profiles, observed with the High Resolution Telescope and Spectrograph (HRTS) during the Spacelab 2 mission. The observed line profiles show one, two, or three distinct velocity components within the resolution element of 1″ × 1″. Supersonic flows occur in small regions where the line profile has two or three components. The line component that shows supersonic speed often is weaker than the subsonic line component, which may explain why some observers have been unable to detect the supersonic flow component. The broadening of individual line components shows non-thermal velocities close to 20 km s−1. This suggests that turbulence is less important than usually considered.The presence of multiple flows, which also occurs in quiet solar regions, suggests that the transition region above sunspots has a sub-arc-second fine structure, perhaps consisting of thin fibrils. The Evershed flow in the transition region appears to have a correspondingly complex character, possibly consisting of sub- and supersonic siphon flows along the individual fibrils. Time changes in the flow field over 5 min may correspond to characteristic times of individual fine structures. Possible explanations of the net downward directed mass flux are presented.

Soho Observations of the Connection Between Line Profile Parameters in Active and Quiet Regions and the Net Red Shift in Euv Emission Lines

We present high spatial and spectral resolution observations of one active and one quiet-Sun region, obtained with CDS and SUMER on SOHO. The connections between the line profile parameters are studied and a systematic wavelength shift towards the red with increasing peak line intensity (line broadening) is detected. The large scatter in the data calls for another approach. We apply conditional probability analysis to a series of EUV emission lines and find significant correlations between line profile parameters. For a given interval in wavelength shift we find that: (1) line profiles with large intensities (line widths) and red shifts above the average constitute an increasing fraction of the profiles as the relative wavelength shift increases, (2) line profiles with large intensities (line widths) and blue shifts compared to the average, on the other hand, constitute a decreasing fraction of the profiles as the relative wavelength shift increases. These results extend the findings of an earlier quiet-Sun study from one to several emission lines and expand the validity to include the active region. Interestingly, the active region observations show correlations between peak line intensity and wavelength shift in the coronal lines.The tendency for red-shifted profiles to be more intense than blue-shifted profiles will shift line profiles derived by integrating along the slit towards the red. From the present observations we are not able to determine the fraction of the net red shift that emerges from this correlation. We suggest that the same mechanism is responsible both for the correlation between the line profile parameters and for the differential red shift between the transition region and chromospheric emission lines.

Euv Spectroscopy of the Sunspot Region Noaa 7981 Using Soho – II. Velocities and Line Profiles

We have studied the dynamics in the sunspot transition region between the chromosphere and the corona and investigated the extension of the flow field into the corona. Based on EUV spectra of a medium size sunspot and its surroundings, NOAA 7981, observed with CDS and SUMER on SOHO, we derive line-of-sight velocities and study the line profiles for a series of emission lines.The flow field in the low corona is found to differ markedly from that in the transition region. In the transition region the relative line-of-sight velocity shows an upflow in the umbra and relatively large areas with downflow that cover part of the penumbra. The spatial extent of these areas with upflow and downflow increases with increasing temperature in the transition region, but the whole flow field changes character as the temperature increases from the upper transition region to the low corona. Based on a calibration of the SUMER wavelength scale we find that the entire sunspot transition zone appears to be moving downwards towards the chromosphere. The relation between this finding and the general tendency for transition-region lines to show a net red shift is discussed.Several of the transition-region spectral line profiles are observed to show two line components with Gaussian shape and line-of-sight velocities that differ markedly. Several of the line profiles that are composed of two spectral line components occur close to the dividing line between up- and downflow. A discussion of this observation is presented. In small regions with spatial extent of a few arc sec we detect enhanced continuum emission underlying explosive events. The similarities between explosive events with continuum emission and the moustaches observed in Hα close to sunspots are so striking that we are tempted to introduce the notation ‘transition-region moustaches’.

The solar UV continuum 1440-1680 Å and its center-to-limb variation

The solar UV continuum has been derived from intensity-calibrated observations with the High-Resolution Telescope and Spectrograph - HRTS - on its second rocket flight in 1978. A database has been constructed using the spatially-resolved solar spectrum 1180–1700 Å along a slit extending from near disk center to the solar limb and crossing a sunspot and two active regions. The angular resolution is approximately 1.8″.The data consist of 1772 spectral scans in the full center-to-limb range, including both quiet and active solar regions. The distribution of solar UV intensities has been derived and the center-to-limb variations of the continuum intensities in the quiet Sun are studied. Both quantities show spectral variations, particularly across the Sii continuum edge at 1521 Å. The spectra have been fitted to curves of constant color temperature above and below the Sii edge.The derived center-to-limb variations have been compared to the values of Samain (1979) which are frequently referred to in the literature. A relatively large discrepancy may be explained by the higher spectral and angular resolution of the HRTS as compared to the rocket instrument used by Samain. Comparisons with the VAL III model calculations by Vernazza, Avrett, and Loeser (1981) show discrepancies between the observations and the model predictions, particularly with regard to the sign and amount of the intensity change across the Sii continuum edge.It is noted that some of the results presented, i.e., absolute intensities and brightness temperatures may change, pending confirmation of the SUSIM Spacelab 2 irradiance results (VanHoosieret al., 1988).