V. Ruždjak

Height correction in the measurement of solar differential rotation determined by coronal bright points

Full-disc solar images obtained with the Extreme Ultraviolet Imaging Telescope (EIT) on board the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) are used to analyse solar differential rotation by tracing coronal bright points for the period June 4, 1998 to May 22, 1999. A method for the simultaneous determination of the true solar synodic rotation velocity and the height of the tracers is applied to data sets analysed with interactive and automatic methods. The calculated height of coronal bright points is on average 8000-12000 km above the photosphere. Corrected rotation velocities are transformed into sidereal ones and compared with results from the literature, obtained with various methods and tracers. The differential rotation profile determined by coronal bright points with the interactive method corresponds roughly to the profile obtained by correlating photospheric magnetic fields and the profile obtained from the automatic method corresponds roughly to the rotation of sunspot groups. This result is interpreted in terms of the differences obtained in the latitudinal distribution of coronal bright points using the two methods.

Structure and stability of prominences with helical structure

Observations of internal structure and development of four helical prominences are presented. We assume that the helically twisted fine structure threads are outlining magnetic field lines and we found that it is possible to describe the magnetic fields by the uniform twist configuration, with the twists ranging between 2π and 7π. The estimated lower limits for the magnetic fields were about 20 G which give lower limits for the currents flowing along the prominences in the range between 2 × 1010 A and 2 × 1011 A and current densities at the axis of the prominences about 10-4 A m-2. The upper limit of electron drift velocity could be estimated as 1 m s-1, which is far below the critical velocities for the onset of plasma microinstabilities.The stability of the studied prominences is discussed and the criteria for the onset of eruptive instability are established for a prominence modelled as a twisted and elliptically curved magnetic flux tube which is anchored in the photosphere and affected by its ‘mirror-current’. The eruption starts when the prominence attains a critical height which must be larger than half of the footpoint separation and depends on the values of twist, radius, and footpoint distance of the magnetic flux tube. The observed examples of eruptive prominences agree very well with the predictions. Possible applications to the two-ribbon flare process are outlined.Properties of stable cylindrical prominences in equilibrium are analyzed and a criterion for the distinction between the Kuperus-Raadu and Kippenhahn-Schlüter types of prominences is proposed. According to established criteria, two of the studied prominences were of the Kuperus-Raadu type, while the other two were of the Kippenhahn-Schlüter type.

Kinematics and evolution of twist in the eruptive prominence of August 18, 1980

The prominence which erupted at the SE limb on August 18, 1980 is one of the best observed disparition brusque events: high-resolution monochromatic ground-based observations in the Hα line were supplemented by the SMM and Solwind satellite coronographic observations; the radio wavelength range was well covered by single-frequency and spectral observations, and the prominence magnetic fields were measured two days before the eruption.The prominence showed a helical-like internal structure from the pre-eruptive phase, up to the late phases of eruption. The pitch angles of the helical-like threads were measured at several positions 31 along the prominence axis, and the evolution of twist was followed during the eruption. These measurements provide an estimate of the parameters which are directly comparable with theoretical models. The pitch angles of the helical threads decreased during the eruption. A redistribution of twist along the prominence axis could not be detected within the accuracy of measurements, although there are indications that the twist was partly transformed into an external kink-type screw of the prominence axis. The value of the total twist did not change during the eruption within the accuracy of the measurements.The kinematics of the process was followed, and accompanying events in the radio-range and soft X-rays are listed. Measurements of the magnetic field vector in the prominence are reviewed briefly. The observations were compared with predictions of cylindrical models, considering the forces acting at the prominence summit. Observational implications and constraints are discussed, and the decrease of the axial electric current and the mass loss are inferred.

Ignition of MHD shocks associated with solar flares

We have selected single frequency recordings of 28 ‘high-frequency’ type II bursts characterized by a starting frequency greater than 237 MHz to estimate as accurately as possible the ‘launch-time’ of the flare-associated MHD shocks. We established the time associations between metric type II burst onsets and the time characteristics of the microwave and X-ray fluxes of the associated flares. The associated flares were impulsive events with rise times most often about 1 min in the hard X-ray range and 1–2 min in the microwave wavelength range. The majority of the type II bursts from our sample started about 1 min after the maximum of the microwave burst. Launch times of MHD shocks producing type II bursts were obtained using the 10 × Saito coronal model and shock velocities estimated from burst characteristics at different frequencies. Back-extrapolations of type II recordings indicate that MHD shocks are launched in the time interval prior to the maximum of the first peak in the associated microwave burst, most probably at the beginning of the rapid increase of the microwave burst.

Solar differential rotation determined by tracing coronal bright points in SOHO-EIT images II. Results for 1998/99 obtained with interactive and automatic methods

Full-disc solar images obtained with the Extreme Ultraviolet Imaging Telescope (EIT) on board the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) were used to analyse solar dierential rotation by tracing coronal bright points. The results obtained with the interactive and the automatic method for the time period June 4, 1998 to May 22, 1999 are presented and compared. A possible north-south rotational asymmetry and dierences in the rotation velocity curves for various subtypes of tracers are investigated.

Oscillatory motions in an active prominence

Different types of oscillatory motions were detected in the late phases of eruption of a prominence. We found oscillations of the prominence axis and diameter with periods of 4.3 and 9.1 min, corresponding to the eigenmodes m = 4 and m = 8 with a damping factor 4.6 × 10−3 s−1. A period about 4.5 min was found for oscillations of the pitch angle of the helically twisted filaments. The m = 2 and m = 3 eigenmodes could be also identified and they led to the final relaxation of the prominence axis. The observations are compared with a model in which we consider forces acting in a curved, cylindrical magnetic tube anchored at both ends in the photosphere and carrying an electric current. The stability of the prominence is discussed.

A Method to Determine the Solar Synodic Rotation Rate and the Height of Tracers

The dependence of the measured apparent synodic solar rotation rate on the height of the chosen tracer is studied. A significant error occurs if the rotation rate is determined by tracing the apparent position of an object above the photospheric level projected on the solar disc. The centre-to-limb variation of this error can be used to determine simultaneously the height of the object and the true synodic rotation rate. The apparent (projected) heliographic coordinates are presented as a function of the height of the traced object and the coordinates of its ‘footpoint’. The relations obtained provide an explicit expression for the apparent rotation rate as a function of the observed heliographic coordinates of the tracer, enabling an analytic least-squares fit expression to determine simultaneously the real synodic rotation rate and the height of the tracer.

Large-scale patterns on the Sun observed in the millimetric wavelength range

The nature and behaviour of large-scale patterns on the solar surface, indicated by the areas of brightness-temperature depressions in the millimetric wavelength range, is studied. A large sample of 346 individual, low-temperature regions (LTRs) was employed to provide reliable statistical evidence. An association of 99% was found between the locations of LTRs and the large-scale magnetic field inversion lines, and 60% of the LTRs were associated with the inversion line filaments. A tentative physical association with filaments is reconsidered, and one particularly well-observed case is presented. The heights of the perturbers causing brightness-temperature depressions are discussed. The long-term evolution of the latitudinal distribution of LTRs is presented in a butterfly diagram. Two belts of low-temperature regions outline the active region belts, shifting with them towards the equator during the solar activity cycle. The low-temperature region belts of the forthcoming cycle appear already at the maximum of the actual cycle at latitudes of about 55 °. The superpositions of the temperature minima distributions in the synoptic maps show patterns appearing as ‘giant cells’ and compatible with indications inferred from magnetographic data. The reliability of the inferred cells is considered, and a statistical analysis reveals a negligible probability for an accidental distribution appearing in the form of giant cells.

Solar differential rotation determined by polar crown filaments

The rotation rates obtained by tracing 124 polar crown filaments are presented in comparison with previous results. Higher filament rotation rate in polar regions was detected and discussed in terms of the various phenomena such as: the projection effect due to the height of measured tracers, the connection of polar filaments with the magnetic field patterns which show an increase of the rotation rate at high latitudes, rigid rotation of polar filaments which form pivot points, and eventual change of the differential rotation law during the cycle. However, when the height correction for an average height of 1% of the solar radius is applied, the filament rotation rate in polar regions decreases. Then the rotation law becomes: Ω(φ) = 14.45 − 0.11 sin2 φ − 3.69 sin4 φ (° day−1, sidereal).

ON THE POSSIBLE CHANGES OF THE SOLAR DIFFERENTIAL ROTATION DURING THE ACTIVITY CYCLE DETERMINED USING MICROWAVE LOW-BRIGHTNESS-TEMPERATURE REGIONS AND Hα FILAMENTS AS TRACERS

The solar rotation rate obtained using the microwave Low-brightness-Temperature Regions (LTRs) as tracers in the heliographic range ± 55° from the years 1979–1980, 1981–1982, 1987–1988, and 1989–1991 varied from 3% to 4% in medium latitudes, and below 1% at the equator. Using Hα filaments as tracers at higher latitudes from the years 1979, 1980, 1982, 1984, and 1987, the solar rotation rate variation was between 2% and 8%. This represents an upper limit on the rotation rate variation during the solar activity cycle. Such changes could be caused by short-lived, large-scale velocity patterns on the solar surface. The Sun revealed a higher rotation rate on the average during the maxima of the solar activity cycles 21 and 22, i.e., in the periods 1979–1980 and 1989–1991, respectively, which differs from the rotation rates (lower on the average) in some years, 1981–1982 and 1987–1988, between the activity maximum and minimum (LTR data). Simultaneous comparison of rotation rates from LTRs and Hα filament tracings was possible in very limited time intervals and latitude bands only, and no systematic relationship was found, although the rotation rates determined by LTRs were mostly smaller than the rotation rates determined by Hα filaments. The errors obtained by applying different fitting procedures of the LTR data were analyzed, as well as the influence of the height correction. Finally, the north–south asymmetry in the rotation rate investigated by LTRs indicates that the southern solar hemisphere rotated slower in the periods under consideration, the difference being about 1%. The reliability of all obtained results is discussed and a comparison with other related studies was performed.