Excitation Sources of Oscillations in Solar Coronal Loops: A Multi-wavelength Analysis

Abstract

Abstract An investigation into the excitation sources of oscillations detected in a coronal loop structure is carried out using the images obtained with Interface Region Imaging Spectrometer (IRIS) and the Atmospheric Imaging Assembly (AIA) instrument on board the Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO). A loop structure in the active region AR 11967 on 2014 January 28, oscillating in the vicinity of a strong eruption and an M3.6 class flare site, is clearly noticeable in SDO/AIA 171 Å images. We study in detail, the oscillations with detected periods between 4 and 13 minutes and their connection in IRIS SJI 1330 Å and SDO/AIA 1700 Å images; both of these wavelengths sample the lower parts of the solar atmosphere. The simultaneous presence of many oscillations in the region of interest in all three wavelength passbands suggest that these oscillations were excited in the lower-chromosphere–photosphere plasma connected to the loop structure and then propagated at higher heights. We further investigate the Doppler velocity measurements from the spectrograph snapshots in IRIS C ii 1336 Å, Si iv 1403 Å and Mg ii k 2796 Å. These show signatures of upflows in the vicinity of the loop structure’s endpoints estimated from 171 Å images. We suggest that some of the oscillations observed in AIA 171 Å have been triggered by plasma ejections and perturbations seen in the lower layers of the solar atmosphere. Based on the estimated phase speeds, the oscillations are likely to be slow magnetoacoustic in nature.