Beyond small-scale transients: A closer look at the diffuse quiet solar corona

Abstract

Aims. Within the quiet Sun corona imaged at 1 MK, much of the field of view consists of diffuse emission that appears to lack the spatial structuring that is so evident in coronal loops or bright points. Our aim is to determine if these diffuse regions are categorically different in terms of their intensity fluctuations and spatial configuration from the better-studied dynamic coronal features. Methods. We analyzed a time series of observations from Solar Orbiter’s High Resolution Imager in the extreme ultraviolet to quantify the characterization of the diffuse corona at high spatial and temporal resolutions. We then compared this to the dynamic features within the field of view, mainly a coronal bright point. Results. We find that the diffuse corona lacks visible structuring, such as small embedded loops, and that this is persistent over the 25 min duration of the observation. The intensity fluctuations of the diffuse corona, which are within ±5%, are significantly smaller in comparison to the coronal bright point; however, the total intensity observed in the diffuse corona is on the same order as the bright point. Conclusions. It seems inconsistent with our data that the diffuse corona is a composition of small loops or jets or that it is driven by discrete small heating events that follow a power-law-like distribution. We speculate that small-scale processes such as magnetohydrodynamic turbulence might be energizing the diffuse regions, but at this point we cannot offer a conclusive explanation for the nature of this feature.