Fe XII STALKS AND THE ORIGIN OF THE AXIAL FIELD IN FILAMENT CHANNELS

Abstract

Employing Fe XII images and line-of-sight magnetograms, we deduce the direction of the axial field in high-latitude filament channels from the orientation of the adjacent stalklike structures. Throughout the rising phase of the current solar cycle 24, filament channels poleward of latitude 30° overwhelmingly obeyed the hemispheric chirality rule, being dextral (sinistral) in the northern (southern) hemisphere, corresponding to negative (positive) helicity. During the deep minimum of 2007-2009, the orientation of the Fe XII stalks was often difficult to determine, but no obvious violations of the rule were found. Although the hemispheric trend was still present during the maximum and early declining phase of cycle 23 (2000-2003), several high-latitude exceptions were identified at that time. From the observation that dextral (sinistral) filament channels form through the decay of active regions whose Fe XII features show a counterclockwise (clockwise) whorl, we conclude that the axial field direction is determined by the intrinsic helicity of the active regions. In contrast, generation of the axial field component by the photospheric differential rotation is difficult to reconcile with the observed chirality of polar crown and circular filament channels, and with the presence of filament channels along the equator. The main role of differential rotation in filament channel formation is to expedite the cancellation of flux and thus the removal of the transverse field component. We propose further that, rather than being ejected into the heliosphere, the axial field is eventually resubmerged by flux cancellation as the adjacent unipolar regions become increasingly mixed.