Abstract
Coronal bright points (CBPs) are a fundamental class of solar activity. They represent a set of low-corona small-scale loops with enhanced emission in the extreme-ultraviolet and X-ray spectrum that connect magnetic flux concentrations of opposite polarities. CBPs are one of the main building blocks of the solar atmosphere outside active regions uniformly populating the solar atmosphere including active region latitudes and coronal holes. Their plasma properties classify them as downscaled active regions. Most importantly, their simple structure and short lifetimes of less than 20 h that allow to follow their full lifetime evolution present a unique opportunity to investigate outstanding questions in solar physics including coronal heating. The present Living Review is the first review of this essential class of solar phenomena and aims to give an overview of the current knowledge about the CBP general, plasma and magnetic properties. Several transient dynamic phenomena associated with CBPs are also briefly introduced. The observationally derived energetics and the theoretical modelling that aims at explaining the CBP formation and eruptive behaviour are reviewed.
Highlights
The solar corona seen in extreme-ultraviolet (EUV) and X-rays is mainly composed of loops with a wide spectrum of sizes
The coronal bright points (CBPs) appeared to be composed of dynamically evolving small-scale loops seen in IRIS slit-jaw images (SJI) taken in the Mg ii k 2796 Å and C ii 1330 Å passbands, as well as in the SDO/AIA Fe ix/x 171 Å passband that is dominated by emission from plasma at 0.8 MK (Fig. 4)
This scale is one of four scales identified by applying a magnetic range of influence (MRoI) that is a measure of a length over which the photospheric lineof-sight magnetic field is
Summary
The solar corona seen in extreme-ultraviolet (EUV) and X-rays is mainly composed of loops with a wide spectrum of sizes. Luminous active region (AR) loops together with AR interconnecting bright loops overlay the strong magnetic fields of sunspots and faculae (1 × 1020 Mx to 3 × 1022 Mx, half of total unsigned flux, van Driel-Gesztelyi and Green 2015, and the references therein) dominating the solar corona during the solar maximum at latitudes of up to ± 35◦. Outside these regions small magnetic flux concentrations of up to 1 × 1020 Mx with a salt and pepper pattern are omnipresent and involved in various processes including emergence, coalescence, fragmentation, and cancellation.
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