Ram Ajor Maurya

ON THE ROLE OF ROTATING SUNSPOTS IN THE ACTIVITY OF SOLAR ACTIVE REGION NOAA 11158

We study the role of rotating sunspots in relation to the evolution of various physical parameters characterizing the non-potentiality of the active region (AR) NOAA 11158 and its eruptive events using the magnetic field data from the Helioseismic and Magnetic Imager (HMI) and multi-wavelength observations from the Atmospheric Imaging Assembly (AIA) on board the Solar Dynamics Observatory. From the evolutionary study of HMI intensity and AIA channels, it is observed that the AR consists of two major rotating sunspots, one connected to a flare-prone region and another with coronal mass ejection (CME). The constructed space-time intensity maps reveal that the sunspots exhibited peak rotation rates coinciding with the occurrence of major eruptive events. Further, temporal profiles of twist parameters, namely, average shear angle, αav, αbest, derived from HMI vector magnetograms, and the rate of helicity injection, obtained from the horizontal flux motions of HMI line-of-sight magnetograms, correspond well with the rotational profile of the sunspot in the CME-prone region, giving predominant evidence of rotational motion causing magnetic non-potentiality. Moreover, the mean value of free energy from the virial theorem calculated at the photospheric level shows a clear step-down decrease at the onset time of the flares revealing unambiguous evidence of energy release intermittently that is stored by flux emergence and/or motions in pre-flare phases. Additionally, distribution of helicity injection is homogeneous in the CME-prone region while in the flare-prone region it is not and often changes sign. This study provides a clear picture that both proper and rotational motions of the observed fluxes played significant roles in enhancing the magnetic non-potentiality of the AR by injecting helicity, twisting the magnetic fields and thereby increasing the free energy, leading to favorable conditions for the observed transient activity.

ON THE INJECTION OF HELICITY BY THE SHEARING MOTION OF FLUXES IN RELATION TO FLARES AND CORONAL MASS EJECTIONS

An investigation of helicity injection by photospheric shear motions is carried out for two active regions (ARs), NOAA 11158 and 11166, using line-of-sight magnetic field observations obtained from the Helioseismic and Magnetic Imager on board the Solar Dynamics Observatory. We derived the horizontal velocities in the ARs from the differential affine velocity estimator (DAVE) technique. Persistent strong shear motions at maximum velocities in the range of 0.6-0.9 km s–1 along the magnetic polarity inversion line and outward flows from the peripheral regions of the sunspots were observed in the two ARs. The helicities injected in NOAA 11158 and 11166 during their six-day evolution period were estimated as 14.16 × 1042 Mx2 and 9.5 × 1042 Mx2, respectively. The estimated injection rates decreased up to 13% by increasing the time interval between the magnetograms from 12 minutes to 36 minutes, and increased up to 9% by decreasing the DAVE window size from 21 × 18 to 9 × 6 pixel2, resulting in 10% variation in the accumulated helicity. In both ARs, the flare-prone regions (R2) had inhomogeneous helicity flux distribution with mixed helicities of both signs and coronal mass ejection (CME) prone regions had almost homogeneous distribution of helicity flux dominated by a single sign. The temporal profiles of helicity injection showed impulsive variations during some flares/CMEs due to negative helicity injection into the dominant region of positive helicity flux. A quantitative analysis reveals a marginally significant association of helicity flux with CMEs but not flares in AR 11158, while for the AR 11166, we find a marginally significant association of helicity flux with flares but not CMEs, providing evidence of the role of helicity injection at localized sites of the events. These short-term variations of helicity flux are further discussed in view of possible flare-related effects. This study suggests that flux motions and spatial distribution of helicity injection are important to understanding the complex nature of the magnetic flux system of the AR, and how it can lead to conditions favorable for eruptive events.

Superpenumbral Fibrils Powered by Sunspot Oscillations

It is still a mystery how the solar chromosphere can stand high above the photosphere. The dominant portion of this layer must be dynamically supported, as is evident by the common occurrence of jets such as spicules and mottles in quiet regions, and fibrils and surges in active regions. Hence, revealing the driving mechanism of these chromospheric jets is crucial for our understanding of how the chromosphere itself exists. Here, we report our observational finding that fibrils in the superpenumbra of a sunspot are powered by sunspot oscillations. We find patterns of outward propagation that apparently originate from inside the sunspot, propagate like running penumbral waves, and develop into the fibrils. Redshift ridges seen in the time-distance plots of velocity often merge, forming a fork-like pattern. The predominant period of these shock waves increases, often jumping with distance, from 3 minutes to 10 minutes. This short-to-long period transition seems to result from the selective suppression of shocks by the falling material of their preceding shocks. Based on our results, we propose that the fibrils are driven by slow shock waves with long periods that are produced by the merging of shock waves with shorter periods propagating along the magnetic canopy.

Activity-related variations of high-degree p-mode amplitude, width, and energy in solar active regions

Context. Solar energetic transients such as flares and coronal mass ejections occur mostly within active regions (ARs) and release large amounts of energy, which is expected to excite acoustic waves by transferring the mechanical impulse of the thermal expansion of the flare on the photosphere. On the other hand, strong magnetic fields of AR sunspots absorb the power of the photospheric oscillation modes. Aims. We study the properties of high-degree p-mode oscillations in flaring and dormant ARs and compare them with those in corresponding quiet regions (QRs) to find the association of the mode parameters with magnetic- and flare-related activities. Methods. We computed the mode parameters using the ring-diagram technique. The magnetic-activity indices (MAIs) of ARs and QRs were determined from the line-of-sight magnetograms. The flare indices (FIs) of ARs were obtained from the GOES X-ray fluxes. Mode parameters were corrected for foreshortening, duty cycle, and MAI using multiple non-linear regression. Results. Our analysis of several flaring and dormant ARs observed during the Carrington rotations 1980‐2109 showed a strong association of the mode amplitude, width, and energy with magnetic and flare activities, although their changes are combined effects of foreshortening, duty cycle, magnetic-activity, flare-activity, and measurement uncertainties. We find that the largest reduction in mode amplitude and background power of an AR are caused by the angular distance of the AR from the solar disc centre. After correcting the mode parameters for foreshortening and duty cycle, we find that the mode amplitudes of flaring and dormant ARs are lower than in corresponding QRs reducing with increasing MAI, suggesting a stronger mode power suppression in ARs with larger magnetic fields. The mode widths in ARs are larger than in corresponding QRs and increase with MAI, indicating shorter lifetimes of modes in ARs than in QRs. The variations in mode amplitude and width with MAI are not same in different frequency bands. The largest amplification (reduction) in mode amplitude (mode width) of dormant ARs is found in the five-minute frequency band. The average mode energy of both the flaring and dormant ARs is smaller than in their corresponding QRs, reducing with increasing MAI. But the average mode energy reduction rate in flaring ARs is smaller than in dormant ARs. Moreover, the increase in mode width rate in dormant (flaring) ARs is followed by a decrease (increase) in the amplitude variation rate. Furthermore, including the mode corrections for MAI shows that mode amplitude and mode energy of flaring ARs escalate with FI, while the mode width shows an opposite trend, suggesting excitations of modes and growth in their lifetimes by flares. The increase (decrease) in mode amplitude (width) is larger in the five-minute and higher-frequency bands. The enhancement in width variation rate is followed by a rapid decline in the amplitude variation rate.