Silvio Giordano

Morphology, dynamics and plasma parameters of plumes and inter-plume regions in solar coronal holes

Coronal plumes, which extend from solar coronal holes (CH) into the high corona and—possibly—into the solar wind (SW), can now continuously be studied with modern telescopes and spectrometers on spacecraft, in addition to investigations from the ground, in particular, during total eclipses. Despite the large amount of data available on these prominent features and related phenomena, many questions remained unanswered as to their generation and relative contributions to the high-speed streams emanating from CHs. An understanding of the processes of plume formation and evolution requires a better knowledge of the physical conditions at the base of CHs, in plumes and in the surrounding inter-plume regions. More specifically, information is needed on the magnetic field configuration, the electron densities and temperatures, effective ion temperatures, non-thermal motions, plume cross sections relative to the size of a CH, the plasma bulk speeds, as well as any plume signatures in the SW. In spring 2007, the authors proposed a study on ‘Structure and dynamics of coronal plumes and inter-plume regions in solar coronal holes’ to the International Space Science Institute (ISSI) in Bern to clarify some of these aspects by considering relevant observations and the extensive literature. This review summarizes the results and conclusions of the study. Stereoscopic observations allowed us to include three-dimensional reconstructions of plumes. Multi-instrument investigations carried out during several campaigns led to progress in some areas, such as plasma densities, temperatures, plume structure and the relation to other solar phenomena, but not all questions could be answered concerning the details of plume generation process(es) and interaction with the SW.

Stray light, radiometric, and spectral characterization of UVCS/SOHO: laboratory calibration and flight performance

The Ultraviolet Coronagraph Spectrometer is one of the instruments on board the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory spacecraft, which was launched in December, 1995. The instrument is designed to make ultraviolet spectrometric measurements and visible polarimetric measurements of the extended solar corona. Prior to launch laboratory measurements were carried out to determine system level values for many of the key performance parameters. Further measurements on instrument performance have been carried out since launch. Presented are descriptions of measurement techniques and representative results.

CORONAL ROTATION AT SOLAR MINIMUM FROM UV OBSERVATIONS

The observations of the UVCS SOHO instrument from 1996 May to 1997 May have been analyzed to reconstruct intensity time series of the O VI 1032 A and H I Lyα 1216 A spectral lines at different coronal heliolatitudes from 1.5 to 3.0 R☉ from Sun center. At solar minimum, some features persist for several rotations, thus allowing analysis of the UV emission as time series modulated at the period of the solar rotation. We find evidence of coronal differential rotation, which significantly differs from that of the photospheric plasma. The estimated equatorial synodic rotation period of the corona at 1.5 R☉ is 27.48 ± 0.10 days. The study of the latitudinal variation shows that the UV corona decelerates toward the photospheric rates from the equator up to the poleward boundary of the midlatitude streamers, reaching a peak of 28.16 ± 0.20 days around +30° from the equator at 1.5 R☉, while a less evident peak is observed in the northern hemisphere. This result suggests a real north-south rotational asymmetry as a consequence of different activity and weak coupling between the magnetic fields of the two hemispheres. The study of the radial rotation profiles shows that the corona is rotating almost rigidly with height, but we find an abrupt increase by about half a day between 2.3 and 2.5 R☉. The larger gradients of the rotation rates are localized at the boundaries between open and closed field lines, suggesting that in these regions the differential rotation might be a source of magnetic stress and, consequently, of energy release.

Bright Ray-like Features in the Aftermath of Coronal Mass Ejections: White Light versus Ultraviolet Spectra

Current sheets (CSs) are important signatures of magnetic reconnection in the eruption of confined solar magnetic structures. Models of coronal mass ejections (CMEs) involve formation of a CS connecting the ejected flux rope with the post-eruption magnetic loops. CSs have been identified in white light (WL) images of CMEs as narrow rays trailing the outward moving CME core, and in ultraviolet spectra as narrow bright features emitting the [Fe XVIII] line. In this work, samples of rays detected in WL images or in ultraviolet spectra have been analyzed. Temperatures, widths, and line intensities of the rays have been measured, and their correlation to the CME properties has been studied. The samples show a wide range of temperatures with hot, coronal, and cool rays. In some cases, the UV spectra support the identification of rays as CSs, but they show that some WL rays are cool material from the CME core. In many cases, both hot and cool material are present, but offset from each other along the Ultraviolet Coronagraph Spectrometer slit. We find that about 18% of the WL rays show very hot gas consistent with the CS interpretation, while about 23% show cold gas that we attribute to cool prominence material draining back from the CME core. The remaining events have ordinary coronal temperatures, perhaps because they have relaxed back to a quiescent state.

MULTI-FLUID MODEL OF A STREAMER AT SOLAR MINIMUM AND COMPARISON WITH OBSERVATIONS

We present the results of a time-dependent 2.5-dimensional three-fluid magnetohydrodynamic model of the coronal streamer belt, which is compared with the slow solar wind plasma parameters obtained in the extended corona by the UV spectroscopic data from the Ultraviolet Coronagraph Spectrometer (UVCS) on board SOHO during the past minimum of solar activity (Carrington Rotation 1913). Our previous three-fluid streamer model has been improved by considering the solar magnetic field configuration relevant for solar minimum conditions, and preferential heating for O5 + ions. The model was run until a fully self-consistent streamer solution was obtained in the quasi-steady state. The plasma parameters from the multi-fluid model were used to compute the expected UV observables from H I Lyα 1216 A and O VI 1032 A spectral lines, and the results were compared in detail with the UVCS measurements. A good agreement between the model and the data was found. The results of the study provide insight into the acceleration and heating of the multi-ion slow solar wind.

DIFFERENTIAL ROTATION OF THE ULTRAVIOLET CORONA AT SOLAR MAXIMUM

Synoptic observations of the O VI 1032 A spectral line from the UltraViolet Coronagraph Spectrometer (UVCS) telescope on board the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) have been analyzed in order to establish the rotational characteristics of the solar corona in the time interval from 1999 March 18 to 2002 December 31, corresponding to the maximum phase of solar cycle 23. By using autocorrelation analysis techniques, we determined the latitude and time dependence of the coronal rotation rate at a heliocentric distance of 1.6 R ☉ from the solar equator up to about 15° from the poles. Although the equatorial rotation rate is initially consistent with the coronal synodic rotation period (~27.5 days) inferred in a previous study by Giordano & Mancuso around solar minimum, a systematic and substantial acceleration is observed to occur during the second part of the year 2000, with the equatorial coronal synodic rotation period settling to an average value of 25.7 days in the time interval extending from 2001 August to 2002 April, corresponding to a ~7% increase in coronal rotation rate. It is shown that the coronal magnetic structures rotate much faster at all latitudes, and less differentially, than the underlying small-scale magnetic structures linked to the photospheric plasma. The rotation rate of sunspots is however compatible, at least within ~20° from the solar equator, with the one estimated in the middle corona.

ULTRAVIOLET SPECTRA OF THE C-2003K7 COMET: EVIDENCE FOR DUST SUBLIMATION IN Si AND C LINES

UV spectra of the bright sungrazing comet C-2003K7 detected at 2.37 R ☉ above the Sun surface by the Ultraviolet Coronagraph Spectrometer (UVCS) during the daily synoptic scan show bright lines of H I Lyα, Si III λ 1206, and C III λ 977. The derived outgassing rate is an order of magnitude larger than those of the other sungrazers observed by UVCS. Analysis of the spectra suggests that the comet broke apart into smaller pieces before it reached the UVCS slit. The observations provide lower and upper limits to the values of the Si III/C III ratio, in the range 8-22. The ratio indicates a larger abundance of silicates in the cometary dust as compared to organic refractory materials.

Ultraviolet and Visible-light Coronagraphic Imager (UVCI)

The HERSCHEL (HElium Resonance Scattering in the Corona and HELiosphere) Sun-Earth Sub-Orbital Program is a proposed sounding-rocket payload designed to investigate helium coronal abundance and solar wind acceleration from a range of solar source structures by obtaining simultaneous observations of the electron, proton and helium solar coronae. HERSCHEL will provide the first measurements of the coronal helium abundance in source regions of the solar wind, thus bringing key elements to our understanding of the Sun-Earth connections. The HERSCHEL instrument package consists of the Extreme Ultraviolet Imaging Telescope (EIT) for on-disk coronal observations and the Ultraviolet and Visible-light Coronagraphic Imager (UVCI) for off-limb observations of the corona. The UVCI is an externally occulted, reflecting coronagraph with an off-axis Gregorian telescope. UVCI will be able to take coronal images at heliocentric heights comprised between 1.2 to 3.5 solar radii of a) K-corona polarized brightness (pB); b) H I Lyman-α, 121.6 nm, line-emission; c) He II Lyman-α, 30.4 nm, line. The key element in the UVCI instrument concept is that the mirrors with multilayer coatings optimized for 30.4 nm still have good reflectivity at 121.6 nm and in the visible. The optical design concept for the UVCI instrument will be discussed, together with its expected optical and throughput performances.

Oxygen abundance in the extended corona at solar minimum

We present a study on the abundance of oxygen relative to hydrogen in the solar minimum corona and for the first time we measure this quantity in polar coronal holes. The results are derived from the observations of the extended corona obtained with the Ultraviolet Coronagraph Spectrometer (UVCS) on SOHO. The diagnostic method used to obtain the oxygen abundance is based on the resonant components of the O VI 1032 A and HI 1216 A emission lines. This method fully accounts for the effects of the outflow velocity of the solar wind, which can be determined through Doppler dimming, and of the width of the absorbing profiles of the coronal ions or neutral atoms involved in resonant scattering. The oxygen abundance is higher in the polar coronal hole regions, where the fast wind is accelerated, than in the streamer belt. In the polar regions the observed oxygen abundance is consistent with the photospheric value and with the composition results obtained with Ulysses for the fast wind. The oxygen abundance values derived with UVCS suggest that the plasma remains substantially contained in quiescent streamers, that therefore do not contribute significantly to the solar wind.

Coronal equatorial rotation during solar cycle 23: radial variation and connections with helioseismology

Time-series observations of the O vi 1032 A spectral line intensity provided by the UltraViolet Coronagraph Spectrometer (UVCS) telescope aboard the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) spacecraft have been analyzed to establish the rotational charac- teristics of the equatorial solar corona as a function of height and time during solar cycle 23. Overall, the coronal rotation period is observed to vary considerably from 1996 to 2006, with episodes of sudden acceleration and deceleration. On average, the rotation period in the equatorial corona tends to increase radially by ∼0. 2d ays/Rfrom 1.6 to 3.0 R� . An anticorrelation throughout the solar cycle is observed between the radial gradients in the inner corona ( 2.4 R� ), where the field lines open up. Around the equator, the extended corona is found to rotate faster than the underlying photosphere, but its rotation rate is comparable to that estimated within the subphotospheric layers in the outer 5% of the Sun. Moreover, a striking significant positive correlation (r = 0.629 at the 0.99 Rlevel) has been discovered between the variations in the residual rotation rates of the coronal and subphotospheric equatorial plasma, at least down to 0.95 R� . This correlation suggests that the observed variations in the coronal rotation rate reflect the dynamic changes inferred within the near-surface shear layer, where the tracer structures responsible for the observed coronal emission are thus most probably anchored. These results raise the possibility that the plasma in the upper layers of the solar convection zone, at least around the equa- tor, may be tightly connected to the plasma in the extended corona and that the deeper layers in the Sun might thus directly influence the dynamic evolution of the solar wind.