The outer solar atmosphere, the corona, contains plasma at temperatures of more than a million K, more than 100 times hotter that solar surface. How this gas is heated is a fundamental question tightly interwoven with the structure of the magnetic fi
eld in the upper atmosphere. Conducting numerical experiments based on magnetohydrodynamics we account for both the evolving three-dimensional structure of the atmosphere and the complex interaction of magnetic field and plasma. Together this defines the formation and evolution of coronal loops, the basic building block prominently seen in X-rays and extreme ultraviolet (EUV) images. The structures seen as coronal loops in the EUV can evolve quite differently from the magnetic field. While the magnetic field continuously expands as new magnetic flux emerges through the solar surface, the plasma gets heated on successively emerging fieldlines creating an EUV loop that remains roughly at the same place. For each snapshot the EUV images outline the magnetic field, but in contrast to the traditional view, the temporal evolution of the magnetic field and the EUV loops can be different. Through this we show that the thermal and the magnetic evolution in the outer atmosphere of a cool star has to be treated together, and cannot be simply separated as done mostly so far.
The solar atmosphere was traditionally represented with a simple one-dimensional model. Over the past few decades, this paradigm shifted for the chromosphere and corona that constitute the outer atmosphere, which is now considered a dynamic structure
d envelope. Recent observations by IRIS (Interface Region Imaging Spectrograph) reveal that it is difficult to determine what is up and down even in the cool 6000-K photosphere just above the solar surface: this region hosts pockets of hot plasma transiently heated to almost 100,000 K. The energy to heat and accelerate the plasma requires a considerable fraction of the energy from flares, the largest solar disruptions. These IRIS observations not only confirm that the photosphere is more complex than conventionally thought, but also provide insight into the energy conversion in the process of magnetic reconnection.
We will use new data from the High-resolution Coronal Imager (Hi-C) with unprecedented spatial resolution of the solar corona to investigate the structure of coronal loops down to 0.2 arcsec. During a rocket flight Hi-C provided images of the solar c
orona in a wavelength band around 193 A that is dominated by emission from Fe XII showing plasma at temperatures around 1.5 MK. We analyze part of the Hi-C field-of-view to study the smallest coronal loops observed so far and search for the a possible sub-structuring of larger loops. We find tiny 1.5 MK loop-like structures that we interpret as miniature coronal loops. These have length of the coronal segment above the chromosphere of only about 1 Mm and a thickness of less than 200 km. They could be interpreted as the coronal signature of small flux tubes breaking through the photosphere with a footpoint distance corresponding to the diameter of a cell of granulation. We find loops that are longer than 50 Mm to have a diameter of about 2 arcsec or 1.5 Mm, consistent with previous observations. However, Hi-C really resolves these loops with some 20 pixels across the loop. Even at this greatly improved spatial resolution the large loops seem to have no visible sub-structure. Instead they show a smooth variation in cross-section. The fact that the large coronal loops do not show a sub-structure at the spatial scale of 0.1 arcsec per pixel implies that either the densities and temperatures are smoothly varying across these loops or poses an upper limit on the diameter of strands the loops might be composed of. We estimate that strands that compose the 2 arcsec thick loop would have to be thinner than 15 km. The miniature loops we find for the first time pose a challenge to be properly understood in terms of modeling.
Magnetic field diagnostics of the transition region from the chromosphere to the corona faces us with the problem that one has to apply extreme UV spectro-polarimetry. While for coronal diagnostic techniques already exist through infrared coronagraph
y above the limb and radio observations on the disk, for the transition region one has to investigate extreme UV observations. However, so far the success of such observations has been limited, but there are various projects to get spectro-polarimetric data in the extreme UV in the near future. Therefore it is timely to study the polarimetric signals we can expect for such observations through realistic forward modeling. We employ a 3D MHD forward model of the solar corona and synthesize the Stokes I and Stokes V profiles of C IV 1548 A. A signal well above 0.001 in Stokes V can be expected, even when integrating for several minutes in order to reach the required signal-to-noise ratio, despite the fact that the intensity in the model is rapidly changing (just as in observations). Often this variability of the intensity is used as an argument against transition region magnetic diagnostics which requires exposure times of minutes. However, the magnetic field is evolving much slower than the intensity, and thus when integrating in time the degree of (circular) polarization remains rather constant. Our study shows the feasibility to measure the transition region magnetic field, if a polarimetric accuracy on the order of 0.001 can be reached, which we can expect from planned instrumentation.
The corona of the Sun is dominated by emission from loop-like structures. When observed in X-ray or extreme ultraviolet emission, these million K hot coronal loops show a more or less constant cross section. In this study we show how the interplay of
heating, radiative cooling, and heat conduction in an expanding magnetic structure can explain the observed constant cross section. We employ a three-dimensional magnetohydrodynamics (3D MHD) model of the corona. The heating of the coronal plasma is the result of braiding of the magnetic field lines through footpoint motions and subsequent dissipation of the induced currents. From the model we synthesize the coronal emission, which is directly comparable to observations from, e.g., the Atmospheric Imaging Assembly on the Solar Dynamics Observatory (AIA/SDO). We find that the synthesized observation of a coronal loop seen in the 3D data cube does match actually observed loops in count rate and that the cross section is roughly constant, as observed. The magnetic field in the loop is expanding and the plasma density is concentrated in this expanding loop; however, the temperature is not constant perpendicular to the plasma loop. The higher temperature in the upper outer parts of the loop is so high that this part of the loop is outside the contribution function of the respective emission line(s). In effect, the upper part of the plasma loop is not bright and thus the loop actually seen in coronal emission appears to have a constant width. From this we can conclude that the underlying field-line-braiding heating mechanism provides the proper spatial and temporal distribution of the energy input into the corona --- at least on the observable scales.
Condensations in the more than 10^6 K hot corona of the Sun are commonly observed in the extreme ultraviolet (EUV). While their contribution to the total solar EUV radiation is still a matter of debate, these condensations certainly provide a valuabl
e tool for studying the dynamic response of the corona to the heating processes. We investigate different distributions of energy input in time and space to investigate which process is most relevant for understanding these coronal condensations. For a comparison to observations we synthesize EUV emission from a time-dependent, one-dimensional model for coronal loops, where we employ two heating scenarios: simply shutting down the heating and a model where the heating is very concentrated at the loop footpoints, while keeping the total heat input constant. The heating off/on model does not lead to significant EUV count rates that one observes with SDO/AIA. In contrast, the concentration of the heating near the footpoints leads to thermal non-equilibrium near the loop top resulting in the well-known catastrophic cooling. This process gives a good match to observations of coronal condensations. This shows that the corona needs a steady supply of energy to support the coronal plasma, even during coronal condensations. Otherwise the corona would drain very fast, too fast to even form a condensation.
The magnetic field plays a pivotal role in many fields of Astrophysics. This is especially true for the physics of the solar atmosphere. Measuring the magnetic field in the upper solar atmosphere is crucial to understand the nature of the underlying
physical processes that drive the violent dynamics of the solar corona -- that can also affect life on Earth. SolmeX, a fully equipped solar space observatory for remote-sensing observations, will provide the first comprehensive measurements of the strength and direction of the magnetic field in the upper solar atmosphere. The mission consists of two spacecraft, one carrying the instruments, and another one in formation flight at a distance of about 200m carrying the occulter to provide an artificial total solar eclipse. This will ensure high-quality coronagraphic observations above the solar limb. Solmex integrates two spectro-polarimetric coronagraphs for off-limb observations, one in the EUV and one in the IR, and three instruments for observations on the disk. The latter comprises one imaging polarimeter in the EUV for coronal studies, a spectro-polarimeter in the EUV to investigate the low corona, and an imaging spectro-polarimeter in the UV for chromospheric studies. SOHO and other existing missions have investigated the emission of the upper atmosphere in detail (not considering polarization), and as this will be the case also for missions planned for the near future. Therefore it is timely that SolmeX provides the final piece of the observational quest by measuring the magnetic field in the upper atmosphere through polarimetric observations.
We present a study of the temporal evolution of coronal loops in active regions and its implications for the dynamics in coronal loops. We analyzed images of the Atmospheric Imaging Assembly (AIA) on the Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) at multiple t
emperatures to detect apparent motions in the coronal loops. Quasi-periodic brightness fluctuations propagate upwards from the loop footpoint in hot emission at 1MK, while sporadic downflows are seen in cool emission below 1MK. The upward motion in hot emission increases just after the cool downflows. The apparent propagating pattern suggests a hot upflow from the loop footpoints, and is considered to supply hot plasma into the coronal loop, but a wavelike phenomenon cannot be ruled out. Coronal condensation occasionally happens in the coronal loop, and the cool material flows down to the footpoint. Emission from cool plasma could have a significant contribution to hot AIA channels in the event of coronal condensation.
We investigate the processes that lead to the formation, ejection and fall of a confined plasma ejection that was observed in a numerical experiment of the solar corona. By quantifying physical parameters such as mass, velocity, and orientation of th
e plasma ejection relative to the magnetic field, we provide a description of the nature of this particular phenomenon. The time-dependent three-dimensional magnetohydrodynamic (3D MHD) equations are solved in a box extending from the chromosphere to the lower corona. The plasma is heated by currents that are induced through field line braiding as a consequence of photospheric motions. Spectra of optically thin emission lines in the extreme ultraviolet range are synthesized, and magnetic field lines are traced over time. Following strong heating just above the chromosphere, the pressure rapidly increases, leading to a hydrodynamic explosion above the upper chromosphere in the low transition region. The explosion drives the plasma, which needs to follow the magnetic field lines. The ejection is then moving more or less ballistically along the loop-like field lines and eventually drops down onto the surface of the Sun. The speed of the ejection is in the range of the sound speed, well below the Alfven velocity. The plasma ejection is basically a hydrodynamic phenomenon, whereas the rise of the heating rate is of magnetic nature. The granular motions in the photosphere lead (by chance) to a strong braiding of the magnetic field lines at the location of the explosion that in turn is causing strong currents which are dissipated. Future studies need to determine if this process is a ubiquitous phenomenon on the Sun on small scales. Data from the Atmospheric Imaging Assembly on the Solar Dynamics Observatory (AIA/SDO) might provide the relevant information.
