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Register a new userThe Non-Homologous Nature of Solar Diameter Variations
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We show in this paper that the changes of the solar diameter in response to variations of large scale magnetic fields and turbulence are not homologous. For the best current model, the variation at the photospheric level is over 1000 times larger than the variation at a depth of 5 Mm, which is about the level at which f-mode solar oscillations determine diameter variations. This model is supported by observations that indicate larger diameter changes for high degree f-modes than for low degree f-modes, since energy of the former are concentrated at shallower layers than the latter.
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The solar brightness varies on timescales from minutes to decades. Determining the sources of such variations, often referred to as solar noise, is of importance for multiple reasons: a) it is the background that limits the detection of solar oscillations, b) variability in solar brightness is one of the drivers of the Earths climate system, c) it is a prototype of stellar variability which is an important limiting factor for the detection of extra-solar planets. Here we show that recent progress in simulations and observations of the Sun makes it finally possible to pinpoint the source of the solar noise. We utilise high-cadence observations from the Solar Dynamic Observatory and the SATIRE model to calculate the magnetically-driven variations of solar brightness. The brightness variations caused by the constantly evolving cellular granulation pattern on the solar surface are computed with the MURAM code. We find that surface magnetic field and granulation can together precisely explain solar noise on timescales from minutes to decades, i.e. ranging over more than six orders of magnitude in the period. This accounts for all timescales that have so far been resolved or covered by irradiance measurements. We demonstrate that no other sources of variability are required to explain the data. Recent measurements of Sun-like stars by CoRoT and Kepler uncovered brightness variations similar to that of the Sun but with much wider variety of patterns. Our finding that solar brightness variations can be replicated in detail with just two well-known sources will greatly simplify future modelling of existing CoRoT and Kepler as well as anticipated TESS and PLATO data.
In this paper, we identified the magnetic source locations of 142 quasi- homologous (QH) coronal mass ejections (CMEs), of which 121 are from solar cycle (SC) 23 and 21 from SC 24. Among those CMEs, 63% originated from the same source location as their predecessor (defined as S-type), while 37% origi- nated from a different location within the same active region as their predecessor (defined as D-type). Their distinctly different waiting time distribution, peaking around 7.5 and 1.5 hours for S- and D-type CMEs, suggests that they might involve different physical mechanisms with different characteristic time scales. Through detailed analysis based on non-linear force free (NLFF) coronal mag- netic field modeling of two exemplary cases, we propose that the S-type QH CMES might involve a recurring energy release process from the same source location (by magnetic free energy replenishment), whereas the D-type QH CMEs can happen when a flux tube system disturbed by a nearby CME.
The measurement of the Suns diameter has been first tackled by the Greek astronomers from a geometric point of view. Their estimation of ~1800, although incorrect, was not truly called into question for several centuries. The first pioneer works for measuring the Suns diameter with an astrometric precision were made around the year 1660 by Gabriel Mouton, then by Picard and La Hire. A canonical value of the solar radius of 959.63 was adopted by Auwers in 1891. Despite considerable efforts during the second half of the XXth century, involving dedicated space instruments, no consensus was reached on this issue. However, with the advent of high sensitivity instruments on board satellites, such as the Michelson Doppler Imager (MDI) on Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SoHO) and the Helioseismic and Magnetic Imager (HMI) aboard NASAs Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO), it was possible to extract with an unprecedented accuracy the surface gravity oscillation f modes, over nearly two solar cycles, from 1996 to 2017. Their analysis in the range of angular degree l=140-300 shows that the so-called seismic radius exhibits a temporal variability in anti-phase with the solar activity. Even if the link between the two radii (photospheric and seismic) can be made only through modeling, such measurements provide an interesting alternative which led to a revision of the standard solar radius by the International Astronomical Union in 2015. This new look on such modern measurements of the Suns global changes from 1996 to 2017 gives a new way for peering into the solar interior, mainly to better understand the subsurface fields which play an important role in the implementation of the solar cycles.
The solar wind is a magnetized plasma and as such exhibits collective plasma behavior associated with its characteristic spatial and temporal scales. The characteristic length scales include the size of the heliosphere, the collisional mean free paths of all species, their inertial lengths, their gyration radii, and their Debye lengths. The characteristic timescales include the expansion time, the collision times, and the periods associated with gyration, waves, and oscillations. We review the past and present research into the multi-scale nature of the solar wind based on in-situ spacecraft measurements and plasma theory. We emphasize that couplings of processes across scales are important for the global dynamics and thermodynamics of the solar wind. We describe methods to measure in-situ properties of particles and fields. We then discuss the role of expansion effects, non-equilibrium distribution functions, collisions, waves, turbulence, and kinetic microinstabilities for the multi-scale plasma evolution.
Recent observations in extreme-ultraviolet (EUV) wavelengths reveal a new late phase in some solar flares, which is seen as a second peak in warm coronal emissions ($sim3$ MK) several tens of minutes to a few hours after the soft X-ray (SXR) peak. The origin of the EUV late phase (ELP) is explained by either a long-lasting cooling process in the long ELP loops, or a delayed energy ejection into the ELP loops well after the main flare heating. Using the observations with the emph{Solar Dynamics Observatory} (emph{SDO}), we investigate the production of the ELP in six homologous flares (F1--F6) originating from a complex active region (AR) NOAA 11283, with an emphasis on the emission characteristics of the flares. It is found that the main production mechanism of the ELP changes from additional heating in flare F1 to long-lasting cooling in flares F3--F6, with both mechanisms playing a role in flare F2. The transition is evidenced by an abrupt decrease of the time lag of the ELP peak, and the long-lasting cooling process in the majority of the flares is validated by a positive correlation between the flare ribbon fluence and the ELP peak intensity. We attribute the change in ELP production mechanism to an enhancement of the envelope magnetic field above the AR, which facilitates a more prompt and energetic heating of the ELP loops. In addition, the last and the only confined flare F6 exhibits an extremely large ELP. The different emission pattern revealed in this flare may reflect a different energy partitioning inside the ELP loops, which is due to a different magnetic reconnection process.
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