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Register a new userChromospheric cannonballs on the Sun
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In the highly dynamic chromosphere, there exist many kinds of small-scale activities, such as spicules, surges, and Ellerman bombs. Here, we report the discovery of a new phenomenon in the chromosphere observed with the New Vacuum Solar Telescope at the Fuxian Solar Observatory. In the high tempo-spatial resolution H$alpha$ images, some dark or bright structures are found to fly along the curved trajectory, looking like cannonballs. Their average size, mass, and velocity are about 1.5 $times$ 10$^{9}$ km$^{3}$, 1.5 $times$ 10$^{8}$ kg, and 56 km s$^{-1}$, respectively. In the simultaneous (extreme-)ultraviolet images obtained by the Solar Dynamics Observatory, these cannonballs appear as brighter features compared to the surrounding area, implying that there exists some kind of heating during this process. The photospheric magnetograms show the magnetic flux emergence and interaction with the pre-existing fields. These observations reveal that the cannonballs are chromospheric material blobs launched due to the magnetic reconnection between emerging magnetic flux and the pre-existing loops.
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We present Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) observations of a quiet-Sun region at a wavelength of 3 mm, obtained during the first solar ALMA cycle on April 27, 2017, and compare them with available chromospheric observations in the UV and visible as well as with photospheric magnetograms. ALMA images clearly reveal the presence of distinct particularly dark/cool areas in the millimeter maps having temperatures as low as 60% of the normal quiet Sun at 3 mm, which are not seen in the other data. We speculate that ALMA is sensing cool chromospheric gas, whose presence had earlier been inferred from infrared CO spectra.
Spicules are the most ubuiquitous type of jets in the solar atmosphere. The advent of high-resolution imaging and spectroscopy from the Interface Region Imaging Spectrograph (IRIS) and ground-based observatories has revealed the presence of very high apparent motions of order 100-300 km/s in spicules, as measured in the plane of the sky. However, line-of-sight measurements of such high speeds have been difficult to obtain, with values deduced from Doppler shifts in spectral lines typically of order 30-70 km/s. In this work we resolve this long-standing discrepancy using recent 2.5D radiative MHD simulations. This simulation has revealed a novel driving mechanism for spicules in which ambipolar diffusion resulting from ion-neutral interactions plays a key role. In our simulation we often see that the upward propagation of magnetic waves and electrical currents from the low chromosphere into already existing spicules can lead to rapid heating when the currents are rapidly dissipated by ambipolar diffusion. The combination of rapid heating and the propagation of these currents at Alfvenic speeds in excess of 100 km/s leads to the very rapid apparent motions, and often wholesale appearance, of spicules at chromospheric and transition region temperatures. In our simulation, the observed fast apparent motions in such jets are actually a signature of a heating front, and much higher than the mass flows, which are of order 30-70 km/s. Our results can explain the behavior of transition region network jets and the very high apparent speeds reported for some chromospheric spicules.
Using a model based on the rotational modulation of the visibility of active regions, we analyse the high-accuracy CoRoT lightcurve of the active young star CoRoT102899501. Spectroscopic follow-up observations are used to derive its fundamental parameters. We compare its chromospheric activity level with a model of chrosmospheric activity evolution established by combining relationships between the RHK index and the Rossby number with a recent model of stellar rotation evolution on the main sequence. We measure the spot coverage of the stellar surface as a function of time, and find evidence for a tentative increase from 5-14% at the beginning of the observing run to 13-29% 35 days later. A high level of magnetic activity on CoRoT102899501 is corroborated by a strong emission in the Balmer and Ca II HK lines (logRHK ~ -4). The starspots used as tracers of the star rotation constrain the rotation period to 1.625+/-0.002 days and do not show evidence for differential rotation. The effective temperature (Teff=5180+/-80 K), surface gravity (logg=4.35+/-0.1), and metallicity ([M/H]=0.05+/-0.07 dex) indicate that the object is located near the evolutionary track of a 1.09+/-0.12 M_Sun pre-main sequence star at an age of 23+/-10 Myrs. This value is consistent with the gyro-age of about 8-25 Myrs, inferred using a parameterization of the stellar rotation period as a function of colour index and time established for the I-sequence of stars in stellar clusters. We conclude that the high magnetic activity level and fast rotation of CoRoT102899501 are manifestations of its stellar youth consistent with its estimated evolutionary status and with the detection of a strong Li I 6707.8 A absorption line in its spectrum. We argue that a magnetic activity level comparable to that observed on CoRoT102899501 could have been present on the Sun at the time of planet formation.
The activity levels of the solar-twin candidates HD 101364 and HD 197027 are measured and compared with the Sun, the known solar twin 18 Sco, and the solar-like star 51 Peg. Furthermore, the absolute ages of these five objects are estimated from their positions in the HR diagram and the evolutionary (relative) age compared with their activity levels. To represent the activity level of these stars, the Mount Wilson S-indices were used. To obtain consistent ages and evolutionary advance on the main sequence, we used evolutionary tracks calculated with the Cambridge Stellar Evolution Code. From our spectroscopic observations of HD 101364 and HD 197027 and based on the established calibration procedures, the respective Mount Wilson S-indices are determined. We find that the chromospheric activity of both stars is comparable with the present activity level of the Sun and that of 18 Sco, at least for the period in consideration. Furthermore, the absolute age of HD 101364, HD 197027, 51 Peg, and 18 Sco are found to be 7.2, 7.1, 6.1, and 5.1 Gyr, respectively. With the exception of 51 Peg, which has a significantly higher metallicity and a mass higher by about 10% than the Sun, the present Sun and its twins compare relatively well in their activity levels, even though the other twins are somewhat older. Even though 51 Peg has a similar age of 6.1 Gyr, this star is significantly less active. Only when we compare it on a relative age scale (which is about 20% shorter for 51 Peg than for the Sun in absolute terms) and use the higher-than-present long-term S$_{rm{MWO}}$ average of 0.18 for the Sun, does the S-index show a good correlation with evolutionary (relative) age. This shows that in the search for a suitably similar solar twin, the relative main-sequence age matters for obtaining a comparable activity level.
We need to establish a correspondence between the magnetic structures generated by models and usual stellar activity indexes to simulate radial velocity time series for stars less active than the Sun. This is necessary to compare the outputs of such models with observed radial velocity jitters and is critical to better understand the impact of stellar activity on exoplanet detectability. We propose a coherent picture to describe the relationship between magnetic activity, including the quiet Sun regions, and the chromospheric emission using the Sun as a test-bench and a reference. We analyzed a time series of MDI magnetograms jointly with chromospheric emission time series obtained at Sacramento Peak and Kitt Peak observatories. This has allowed us to study the variability in the quiet Sun over the solar cycle, and then, based on available relations between magnetic fields in active structures and chromospheric emission, to propose an empirical reconstruction of the solar chromospheric emission based on all contributions. We show that the magnetic flux covering the solar surface, including in the quieted regions, varies in phase with the solar cycle, suggesting a long-term relationship between the global dynamo and the contribution of all components of solar activity. We have been able to propose a reconstruction of the solar S-index, including a relationship between the weak field component and its chomospheric emission, which is in good agreement with the literature. This allows us to explain that stars with a low average chromospheric emission level exhibit a low variability. We conclude that weak flux regions significantly contribute to the chromospheric emission; these regions should be critical in explaining the lower variability associated with the lower average activity level in other stars as compared to the Sun and estimated from their chromospheric emission.
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