Subscribe to the gold package and get unlimited access to Shamra Academy
Register a new userSparse Bayesian Inference and the Temperature Structure of the Solar Corona
316
0
0.0
(
0
)
Ask ChatGPT about the research
No Arabic abstract
Measuring the temperature structure of the solar atmosphere is critical to understanding how it is heated to high temperatures. Unfortunately, the temperature of the upper atmosphere cannot be observed directly, but must be inferred from spectrally resolved observations of individual emission lines that span a wide range of temperatures. Such observations are inverted to determine the distribution of plasma temperatures along the line of sight. This inversion is ill-posed and, in the absence of regularization, tends to produce wildly oscillatory solutions. We introduce the application of sparse Bayesian inference to the problem of inferring the temperature structure of the solar corona. Within a Bayesian framework a preference for solutions that utilize a minimum number of basis functions can be encoded into the prior and many ad hoc assumptions can be avoided. We demonstrate the efficacy of the Bayesian approach by considering a test library of 40 assumed temperature distributions.
rate research
Read More
We carry out a study of the global three-dimensional (3D) structure of the electron density and temperature of the quiescent inner solar corona ($r<1.25 R_odot$) by means of tomographic reconstructions and magnetohydrodynamic simulations. We use differential emission measure tomography (DEMT) and the Alfven Wave Solar Model (AWSoM), in their late
We developed a new technique for registration of the far solar corona from ground-based observations at distances comparable to those obtained from space coronagraphs. It makes possible visualization of fine details of studied objects invisible by naked eye. Here we demonstrate that streamers of the electron corona sometimes punch the dust corona and that the shape of the dust corona may vary with time. We obtained several experimental evidences that the far coronal streamers (observed directly only from the space or stratosphere) emit only in discrete regions of the visible spectrum like resonance fluorescence of molecules and ions in comets. We found that interaction of the coronal streamers with the dust corona can produce molecules and radicals, which are known to cause the resonance fluorescence in comets.
Current analytical and numerical modelling suggest the existence of ubiquitous thin current sheets in the corona that could explain the observed heating requirements. On the other hand, new high resolution observations of the corona indicate that its magnetic field may tend to organise itself in fine strand-like structures of few hundred kilometres widths. The link between small structure in models and the observed widths of strand-like structure several orders of magnitude larger is still not clear. A popular theoretical scenario is the nanoflare model, in which each strand is the product of an ensemble of heating events. Here, we suggest an alternative mechanism for strand generation. Through forward modelling of 3D MHD simulations we show that small amplitude transverse MHD waves can lead in a few periods time to strand-like structure in loops in EUV intensity images. Our model is based on previous numerical work showing that transverse MHD oscillations can lead to Kelvin-Helmholtz instabilities that deform the cross-sectional area of loops. While previous work has focused on large amplitude oscillations, here we show that the instability can occur even for low wave amplitudes for long and thin loops, matching those presently observed in the corona. We show that the vortices generated from the instability are velocity sheared regions with enhanced emissivity hosting current sheets. Strands result as a complex combination of the vortices and the line-of-sight angle, last for timescales of a period and can be observed for spatial resolutions of a tenth of loop radius.
The quiet solar corona emits meter-wave thermal bremsstrahlung. Coronal radio emission can only propagate above that radius, $R_omega$, where the local plasma frequency eqals the observing frequency. The radio interferometer LOw Frequency ARray (LOFAR) observes in its low band (10 -- 90 MHz) solar radio emission originating from the middle and upper corona. We present the first solar aperture synthesis imaging observations in the low band of LOFAR in 12 frequencies each separated by 5 MHz. From each of these radio maps we infer $R_omega$, and a scale height temperature, $T$. These results can be combined into coronal density and temperature profiles. We derived radial intensity profiles from the radio images. We focus on polar directions with simpler, radial magnetic field structure. Intensity profiles were modeled by ray-tracing simulations, following wave paths through the refractive solar corona, and including free-free emission and absorption. We fitted model profiles to observations with $R_omega$ and $T$ as fitting parameters. In the low corona, $R_omega < 1.5$ solar radii, we find high scale height temperatures up to 2.2e6 K, much more than the brightness temperatures usually found there. But if all $R_omega$ values are combined into a density profile, this profile can be fitted by a hydrostatic model with the same temperature, thereby confirming this with two independent methods. The density profile deviates from the hydrostatic model above 1.5 solar radii, indicating the transition into the solar wind. These results demonstrate what information can be gleaned from solar low-frequency radio images. The scale height temperatures we find are not only higher than brightness temperatures, but also than temperatures derived from coronograph or EUV data. Future observations will provide continuous frequency coverage, eliminating the need for local hydrostatic density models.
Magnetic loops filled with hot plasma are the main building blocks of the solar corona. Usually they have lengths of the order of the barometric scale height in the corona that is 50 Mm. Previously it has been suggested that miniatu
Log in to be able to interact and post comments
comments
Fetching comments
Sign in to be able to follow your search criteria
