Robert W. Walsh

3D Coronal Slow Modes: Towards 3D Seismology

On 2008 January 10, the twin Solar Terrestrial Relations Observatory (STEREO) A and B spacecraft conducted a high time cadence study of the solar corona with the Extreme UltraViolet Imager (EUVI) instruments with the aim of investigating coronal dynamics. Observations of the three-dimensional propagation of waves within active region coronal loops and a measurement of the true coronal slow mode speed are obtained. Intensity oscillations with a period of ≈12 minutes are observed to propagate outwards from the base of a loop system, consistent with the slow magnetoacoustic mode. A novel analysis technique is applied to measure the wave phase velocity in the observations of the A and B spacecraft. These stereoscopic observations are used to infer the three-dimensional velocity vector of the wave propagation, with an inclination of 37 ± 6 • to the local normal and a magnitude of 132 ± 9 and 132 ± 11 km s −1 , giving the first measurement of the true coronal longitudinal slow mode speed, and an inferred temperature of 0.84 ± 12 MK and 0.84 ± 15 MK.On 2008 January 10, the twin Solar Terrestrial Relations Observatory A and B spacecraft conducted a high time cadence study of the solar corona with the Extreme-Ultraviolet Imager instruments with the aim of investigating coronal dynamics. Observations of the three-dimensional propagation of waves within active region coronal loops and a measurement of the true coronal slow mode speed are obtained. Intensity oscillations with a period of 12 minutes are observed to propagate outward from the base of a loop system, consistent with the slow magnetoacoustic mode. A novel analysis technique is applied to measure the wave phase velocity in the observations of the A and B spacecraft. These stereoscopic observations are used to infer the three-dimensional velocity vector of the wave propagation, with an inclination of 37° ± 6° to the local normal and a magnitude of 132 ± 9 and 132 ± 11 km s–1, giving the first measurement of the true coronal longitudinal slow mode speed, and an inferred temperature of 0.84 ± 0.12 MK and 0.84 ± 0.15 MK.

Observation of oscillations in coronal loops

High cadence TRACE data (JOP 83) in the 171 A bandpass are used to report on several examples of outward propagating oscillations in the footpoints of large diffuse coronal loop structures close to active regions. The disturbances travel outward with a propagation speed between 70 and 160 km s−1. The variations in intensity are of the order of 2%–4%, compared to the background brightness and these get weaker as the disturbance propagates along the structure. From a wavelet analysis at different positions along the structures, periods in the 200–400 seconds range are found. It is suggested that these oscillations are slow magneto-acoustic waves propagating along the loop, carrying an estimated energy flux of 4×102 ergs cm−2 s−1.

Time-dependent heating of the solar corona

The problem of how the corona is heated is of central importance in solar physics research. Here it is assumed that the heating occurs in a regular time-dependent manner and the response of the plasma is investigated. If the magnetic field is strong then the dynamics reduces to a one-dimensional problem along the field. In addition if the radiative time in the corona is much longer than the sound travel time then the plasma evolvesisobarically. The frequency with which heat is deposited in the corona is investigated and it is shown that there is a critical frequency above which a hot corona can be maintained and below which the plasma temperature cools to chromospheric values. An evaluation of the isobaric assumption to the solar corona and the implications of time-dependent heating upon the forthcoming SOHO observations are also presented.

DISCRETE RANDOM HEATING EVENTS IN CORONAL LOOPS

The response of the coronal plasma in a magnetic loop to the release of discrete, random amounts of energy quanta over fixed time intervals is investigated. Nanoflare heating (1024 erg per event) with event lifetimes on a scale of 1–20 s are shown to be able to maintain a coronal loop at typical coronal temperatures, ≈ 2 x 106 K (Parker, 1988; Kopp and Poletto, 1993). Microflare events (1027 erg) observed by Porter et al. (1995) with a lifetime of approximately 1 min are also investigated and it is found that the loop apex temperature varies by at most 40% from its initial static condition. However, larger energy events of the order of 1028 erg (Schmieder et al., 1994) occur too infrequently and the plasma cools to chromospheric values. The implications of time-dependent heating of the corona upon observations are also discussed.

Validity of the isobaric assumption to the solar corona

Many coronal heating mechanisms have been suggested to balance the losses from this tenuous medium by radiation, conduction, and plasma mass flows. A previous paper (Walsh, Bell, and Hood, 1995) considered a time-dependent heating supply where the plasma evolved isobarically along the loop length. The validity of this assumption is investigated by including the inertial terms in the fluid equations making it necessary to track the sound waves propagating in a coronal loop structure due to changes in the heating rate with time. It is found that the temperature changes along the loop are mainly governed by the variations in the heating so that the thermal evolution can be approximated to a high degree by the simple isobaric case. A typical isobaric evolution of the plasma properties is reproduced when the acoustic time scale is short enough. However, the cooling of a hot temperature equilibrium to a cool one creates supersonic flows which are not allowed for in this model.

Visualization of three-dimensional datasets

The effective visualization of three-dimensional (3d) datasets, both observationally and computationally derived, is an increasing problem in solar physics. We present here plots of computational data derived from the 3d reconstruction of the magnetic field of a loop system, rendered as anaglyphs. By combining images of the same 3d object from two slightly different angles a realistic and useful 3d effect is obtained, aiding data visualization. The application of the same technique to real solar data (such as from the Coronal Diagnostic Spectrometer (CDS) on board the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO)) is discussed.