Time-varying sources derived from EUV spectroheliograms of the quiet Sun

Abstract

Activity in the chromosphere-corona transition region of the quiet Sun is found both at network boundaries and in cell interiors using a time series of the EUV spectroheliograms obtained with the Harvard experiment on Skylab. We identify time-varying sources by subtracting the minimum count at each pixel in the time series from the counts at any time. Larger flux enhancements in emission lines occur only at the network boundary, though the cell interiors also have variable intensities. Time-varying sources in the cell interior appear often in the shape of streaks which seem to originate from sources at the network boundary, or as expanding network boundary sources. It is likely that the sources in the cell interior come from the transition sheaths of chromospheric inhomogenities. A multi-temperature analysis shows that two types of sources occur in the quiet Sun. One is due to heating of cool chromospheric inhomogenities like dark mottles. Sometimes cool matter is heated to coronal temperatures. The typical mass of the coronal material produced is 1011-1012g. The other type seems to be due to draining of transition region material at the network boundary as the result of thermal instabilities. This quiet Sun activity is compatible with the time-varying sources at 6 cm wavelength.