R. W. Noyes

The Harvard-Smithsonian reference atmosphere

We present a model of the solar atmosphere in the optical depth range from τ5000 = 10−8 to 25. It combines an improved model of the photosphere that incorporates recent EUV observations with a new model of the quiet lower chromosphere. The latter is based on OSO 4 observations of the Lyman continuum, on infrared observations, and on eclipse electron densities.Our model differs from the Bilderberg Continuum Atmosphere (BCA) in the low chromosphere (τ5000 < 10−4), where deviations from local thermodynamic equilibrium in hydrogen and carbon have been taken into account. It also differs in the transition region between the chromosphere and the photosphere (10−4 < τ5000 < 10−2), where the temperature is lower than in the BCA, and in the convective region (τ5000 ≳ 2), where the temperature is higher than in the BCA.

Spectral observations of spicules at two heights in the solar chromosphere

An observational program at the Sacramento Peak Observatory in 1965 provided high-dispersion spectra of the solar chromosphere in several spectral regions simultaneously. These regions included various combinations of the spectral lines Hα, Hβ and Hɛ, the D3-line of Hei, the infrared triplet of Oi, and the H- and K-lines and the infrared triplet of Caii. With the use of an image slicer the observations were made simultaneously at two heights in the solar chromosphere separated by several thousand kilometers. From these data we draw the following conclusions:(a)Emission of different lines arises in the same chromospheric features. The intensity ratio of lines of different elements varies significantly from spicule to spicule. For the H- and K-lines of ionized calcium, this ratio remains constant, independent of wavelength throughout the line, overall intensity, and height in the chromosphere. Two rare-earth lines in the wing of the H-line show no spicular structure at all.(b)The line-of-sight velocities of many features reverse as a function of time, although most spicules show velocities in only one direction. The simultaneous spectra at two heights show most spicules to have the same line-of-sight velocity at both. There may be an additional class of features, mostly rapidly moving, whose members have line-of-sight velocities that increase with height. These features comprise perhaps 10% of the total. Velocity changes occur simultaneously, to within 20 sec, at two heights separated by 1800 km, indicating velocities of propagation of hundreds of km/sec. The velocity field of individual features is often quite complicated; many spectral features are inclined to the direction of dispersion, implying that differential mass motions are present.(c)The existence of anomalously broad H and K profiles is real. Even with high dispersion and the best seeing, such profiles are not resolved into smaller features. The central reversal in K, H and Hα appears to remain unshifted when the wings are displaced in wavelength, indicating that the reversal is non-spicular.

Extreme-ultraviolet observations of coronal holes - Initial results from Skylab

We compare the appearance and physical parameters of the solar chromosphere, transition zone, and corona in areas of coronal holes with that of quiet areas outside the hole. Measurements of the height of emission of various ions in a coronal hole appearing at the polar limb give a quantitative indication of the increased thickness of the transition zone underlying coronal holes.

The extreme-ultraviolet spectrum of a solar active region.

Extreme-ultraviolet spectra (280-1370 A) of the brightest point in McMath Region 10266 and of the quiet solar atmosphere are presented as measured by the Harvard scanning spectrometer on OSO-6. Line identifications and physical parameters of the active region are discussed. (auth)

Extreme ultraviolet observations of active regions in the chromosphere and the corona

New observations of solar active regions have been obtained by the Harvard College Observatory EUV spectroheliometer aboard the OSO-IV spacecraft. From the observations we have determined the enhancement in active regions of the emission from ions formed at various temperatures in the chromosphere and corona. The results are in accord with a simple model of active regions, for which the active region pressure is about 5 times the quiet sun pressure; the temperature gradient in the transition zone is about 5 times the quiet sun value; and the coronal temperature above active regions is slightly increased.

The solar Lyman continuum and the structure of the solar chromosphere

Data on the spectrum and center-to-limb variation of the solar Lyman continuum have been analyzed. They show: (a) The brightness temperature of the Lyman continuum is about 6500 K, but the kinetic temperature, as deduced from the slope of the continuum, lies between 8000 and 9000 K. The difference between the kinetic temperature and the brightness temperature requires that the source function be smaller than the Planck function by a factor of several hundred. (b) The Lyman continuum exhibits slight limb darkening longward of 825 Å, and slight limb brightening shortward of 750 Å. The crossover point varies from equator to pole and with solar activity. (c) The slope d ln I(λ)/dλ of the Lyman continuum decreases toward the limb, implying that the kinetic temperature increases outward in the region of Lyman continuum formation.Using radiative transfer calculations for a plane-parallel atmosphere in hydrostatic equilibrium, we have derived a homogeneous model of the upper chromosphere that reproduces the main features of the observations. It is characterized by a temperature of 8300 K and a pressure of about 0.15 dyne/cm2 at τLyc = 1, and it has an abrupt temperature rise at a height of 1500 km above the limb. More precise agreement with the observations will require a detailed treatment of the inhomogeneous nature of the upper chromosphere.

Solar prominences in the extreme ultraviolet as observed from the Apollo Telescope Mount

Observations of quiescent solar prominences with the Harvard College Observatory spectrometer abroad Skylab show that prominence material is optically thick in the Lyman alpha line and the Lyman continuum. The color temperature of the Lyman continuum has a mean of 6600 K and an upward gradient toward the top of the prominence. The departure coefficient of the ground state of hydrogen is found to be of the order of unity as expected from theory.The optical depth of the Ciii sheath region is determined directly from the observation of the limb through the prominence and used to infer the mean electron density and the temperature gradient of the sheath. The result implies that the sheath density is about 0.4, and the temperature gradient about 1.4 times the respective value in the Ciii transition zone of the quiet Sun.The Ciii triplet-singlet ratio for the prominence is found to give a density compatible, within the uncertainty of the atomic parameters, with the density obtained from the optical depth.The Oviλ1032 line, which is emitted by both the prominence and the surrounding corona, is used to obtain an estimate of the thickness of the outer transition sheath of the prominence.

Inhomogeneous structure of the solar chromosphere from Lyman-continuum data

We describe a new model of the chromosphere based on Lyman-continuum observations by Harvard spectrometers aboard the satellites OSO 4 and OSO 6. The model assumes (a) that a random distribution of optically thick inhomogeneities overlies a plane-parallel homogeneous atmosphere, and (b) that the Lyman continuum in the chromosphere is optically thick and the only significant opacity source between 600 and 912 Å.The temperature, gas pressure, electron pressure, particle densities, and b1 (the hydrogen ground-state departure coefficient) are calculated as a function of height in the chromosphere.The model reproduces the observed quiet-region intensities in the Lyman continuum. The inhomogeneous structures, which we believe to be spicules, are inferred to be optically thick in the Lyman continuum and to have a source function below that of the mean chromosphere. If they are also optically thick in the free-free (millimeter) continuum and cooler than about 5000K, they could produce the observed limb darkening at 1 and 3 mm. Such low temperatures are at odds with current spicule models, but could exist in the cores of spicules.The Lyman-continuum emission shortward of 750 Å shows an excess emission over that predicted by the above model. This is found to be consistent with the existence of a temperature plateau with T ∼ 22000K in the very high chromosphere.

Time variations in extreme-ultraviolet emission lines and the problem of coronal heating

We have analyzed the time structure of the intensity of solar chromospheric and coronal extreme-ultraviolet lines, obtained by the Harvard College Observatory spectrometer aboard Skylab. We find changes in the intensity of up to 50 percent in times as short as 1 minute, but not periodic oscillations. Some evidence is found for the presence of shock waves in the chromosphere and the transition region. It is suggested that the solar chromosphere and corona are heated by nonperiodic waves.

Observations of the chromospheric network: initial results from the Apollo telescope mount

A preliminary analysis of early data taken by the HCO spectrometer on Skylab shows that the solar chromospheric network can be clearly seen with varying contrast in the extreme-ultraviolet emission characteristic of temperatures between 10,000 K (the Lyman continuum) and 300,000 K (O VI). In the emission of Mg X, a coronal line formed at about 1,500,000 K, the network is generally unrecognizable. This is interpreted as being due to a spreading of the magnetic field lines of the network boundary in the height interval corresponding to the temperature difference between 300,000 and 1,500,000 K. We note that in certain anomalous cases, bright points of the network are seen to extend with high contrast and essentially unchanged in their cross-section through the full range of temperatures characteristic of the chromosphere, transition region, and low corona.