Big Bear Solar Observatory Research Articles

Possible Signature of Sausage Waves in Photospheric Bright Points

Sausage waves have been frequently reported in solar magnetic structures such as sunspots, pores, and coronal loops. However, they have not been unambiguously identified in photospheric bright points (BPs). Using high-resolution TiO image sequences obtained with the Goode Solar Telescope at the Big Bear Solar Observatory, we analyzed four isolated BPs. It was found that their area and average intensity oscillate for several cycles in an in-phase fashion. The oscillation periods range from 100 to 200 seconds. We interpreted the phase relation as a signature of sausage waves, particularly slow waves, after discussing sausage-wave theory and the opacity effect.

Using CME Progenitors to Assess CME Geoeffectiveness

Abstract There have been a few previous studies claiming that the effects of geomagnetic storms strongly depend on the orientation of the magnetic cloud portion of coronal mass ejections (CMEs). Aparna & Martens, using halo-CME data from 2007 to 2017, showed that the magnetic field orientation of filaments at the location where CMEs originate on the Sun can be used to credibly predict the geoeffectiveness of the CMEs being studied. The purpose of this study is to extend their survey by analyzing the halo-CME data for 1996–2006. The correlation of filament axial direction on the solar surface and the corresponding Bz signatures at L1 are used to form a more extensive analysis for the results previously presented by Aparna & Martens. This study utilizes Solar and Heliospheric Observatory Extreme-ultraviolet Imaging Telescope 195 Å, Michelson Doppler Imager magnetogram images, and Kanzelhöhe Solar Observatory and Big Bear Solar Observatory Hα images for each particular time period, along with ACE data for interplanetary magnetic field signatures. Utilizing all these, we have found that the trend in Aparna & Martens’ study of a high likelihood of correlation between the axial field direction on the solar surface and Bz orientation persists for the data between 1996 and 2006, for which we find a match percentage of 65%.

A new comprehensive dataset of solar filaments of one-hundred-year interval (II) the poleward migration of polar crown filaments

Solar filaments, hypothermia and dense structures suspended in the solar corona are formed above the magnetic polarity inversion line. Polar crown filaments (PCFs) at high-latitude regions of the Sun are of profound significance to the periodic variation of solar activities. In this paper, we statistically analyze PCFs by using full disk Hα data from 1912 to 2018, which were obtained by Kodaikanal Solar Observatory (KODA, India), National Solar Observatory (NSO, USA), Kanzelhöhe Solar Observatory (KSO, Austria), Big Bear Solar Observatory (BBSO, USA), and Huairou Solar Observing Station (HSOS, China). We first manually identify PCFs from every solar image based on the centennial data, and record the latitude and other features corresponding to the PCFs. Then we plot the PCF latitude distribution as a function of time, which clearly shows that PCFs rush to the poles at the ascending phase of each solar cycle. Our results show that the filaments drift toward mid-latitude covering solar cycle 15 to 24 after the PCFs reach the highest latitudes. The poleward migration rates of PCFs are calculated in ten solar cycles, and the range is about 0.12 degree to 0.50 degree per Carrington Rotation (CR). We also investigate the north-south (N-S) asymmetry of migration rates and the normalized N-S asymmetry index.

Earth's Albedo 1998–2017 as Measured From Earthshine

AbstractThe reflectance of the Earth is a fundamental climate parameter that we measured from Big Bear Solar Observatory between 1998 and 2017 by observing the earthshine using modern photometric techniques to precisely determine daily, monthly, seasonal, yearly and decadal changes in terrestrial albedo from earthshine. We find the inter‐annual fluctuations in albedo to be global, while the large variations in albedo within individual nights and seasonal wanderings tend to average out over each year. We measure a gradual, but climatologically significant 0.5 decline in the global albedo over the two decades of data. We found no correlation between the changes in the terrestrial albedo and measures of solar activity. The inter‐annual pattern of earthshine fluctuations are in good agreement with those measured by CERES (data began in 2001) even though the satellite observations are sensitive to retroflected light while earthshine is sensitive to wide‐angle reflectivity. The CERES decline is about twice that of earthshine.

Tracing Hα Fibrils through Bayesian Deep Learning

Abstract We present a new deep-learning method, named FibrilNet, for tracing chromospheric fibrils in Hα images of solar observations. Our method consists of a data preprocessing component that prepares training data from a threshold-based tool, a deep-learning model implemented as a Bayesian convolutional neural network for probabilistic image segmentation with uncertainty quantification to predict fibrils, and a post-processing component containing a fibril-fitting algorithm to determine fibril orientations. The FibrilNet tool is applied to high-resolution Hα images from an active region (AR 12665) collected by the 1.6 m Goode Solar Telescope (GST) equipped with high-order adaptive optics at the Big Bear Solar Observatory (BBSO). We quantitatively assess the FibrilNet tool, comparing its image segmentation algorithm and fibril-fitting algorithm with those employed by the threshold-based tool. Our experimental results and major findings are summarized as follows. First, the image segmentation results (i.e., the detected fibrils) of the two tools are quite similar, demonstrating the good learning capability of FibrilNet. Second, FibrilNet finds more accurate and smoother fibril orientation angles than the threshold-based tool. Third, FibrilNet is faster than the threshold-based tool and the uncertainty maps produced by FibrilNet not only provide a quantitative way to measure the confidence on each detected fibril, but also help identify fibril structures that are not detected by the threshold-based tool but are inferred through machine learning. Finally, we apply FibrilNet to full-disk Hα images from other solar observatories and additional high-resolution Hα images collected by BBSO/GST, demonstrating the tool’s usability in diverse data sets.

Observation of solar coronal heating powered by magneto-acoustic oscillations in a moss region

In this paper, we report the observed temporal correlation between extreme-ultraviolet (EUV) emission and magneto-acoustic oscillations in an EUV moss region, which is the footpoint region only connected by magnetic loops with million-degree plasma. The result is obtained from a detailed multi-wavelength data analysis of the region with the purpose of resolving fine-scale mass and energy flows that come from the photosphere, pass through the chromosphere and finally heat the solar transition region or the corona. The data set covers three atmospheric levels on the Sun, consisting of high-resolution broad-band imaging at TiO 7057 Å and the line of sight magnetograms for the photosphere, high-resolution narrow-band images at helium i 10830 Å for the chromosphere and EUV images at 171 Å for the corona. The 10830 Å narrow-band images and the TiO 7057 Å broad-band images are from a much earlier observation on 2012 July 22 with the 1.6 meter aperture Goode Solar Telescope (GST) at Big Bear Solar Observatory (BBSO) and the EUV 171 Å images and the magnetograms are from observations made by Atmospheric Imaging Assembly (AIA) or Helioseismic and Magnetic Imager (HMI) onboard the Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO). We report the following new phenomena: (1) Repeated injections of chromospheric material appearing as 10830 Å absorption are squirted out from inter-granular lanes with a period of ∼ 5 minutes. (2) EUV emissions are found to be periodically modulated with similar periods of ∼ 5 minutes. (3) Around the injection area where 10830 Å absorption is enhanced, both EUV emissions and strength of the magnetic field are remarkably stronger. (4) The peaks on the time profile of the EUV emissions are found to be in sync with oscillatory peaks of the stronger magnetic field in the region. These findings may give a series of strong evidences supporting the scenario that coronal heating is powered by magneto-acoustic waves.

High-resolution He I 10830 Å Narrowband Imaging for a Small-scale Chromospheric Jet

Abstract Solar jets are ubiquitous phenomena in the solar atmosphere. They are important in mass and energy transport to the upper atmosphere and interplanetary space. Here, we report a detailed analysis of a small-scale chromospheric jet with high-resolution He i 10830 Å and TiO 7057 Å images observed by the 1.6 m aperture Goode Solar Telescope at the Big Bear Solar Observatory. The observation reveals the finest dark threads inside the jet are rooted in the intergranular lanes. Their width is equal to the telescope’s diffraction limit at 10830 Å (∼100 km). The jet is recurrent and its association with the emergence and convergence of magnetic flux is observed. Together with other important features like photospheric flow toward the magnetic polarity inversion line, a bald-patch magnetic configuration, and earlier excitation of helium atoms, we propose that the jet might be initiated by magnetic reconnection in a U-shaped loop configuration. The plasmoid configuration results from the possible buoyancy of the magnetic reconnection, which reoccurs in a second step with an overlying magnetic field line. Notably, the second-step magnetic reconnection produces not only bidirectional cool or hot flows but also a new U-shaped loop configuration. The feature may be used to explain the recurrent behavior of the jet, since the new U-shaped loop can be driven to reconnect again.

Research on Multiwavelength Isolated Bright Points Based on Deep Learning

Abstract Multiwavelength bright points (BPs) are taken to be cross sections of magnetic flux tubes extending from the surface of the photosphere upward to the higher photosphere. We aim to study the characteristics of isolated multiwavelength BPs using the cotemporal and cospatial TiO band and Hα line wings from the Goode Solar Telescope at Big Bear Solar Observatory. A deep-learning method, based on Track Region-based Convolutional Neural Networks, is proposed to detect, segment, and match the BPs across multiple wavelength observations, including the TiO, Hα + 1 Å, Hα − 1 Å, Hα + 0.8 Å, and Hα − 0.8 Å line wings. Based on the efficient detection and matching result with a precision of 0.98, 1283 groups of BPs matched in all five wavelengths are selected for statistics analysis. The characteristic values of the BPs observed at the same red and blue line wings are averaged. For the BPs of the TiO, averaged Hα ± 1 Å, and averaged Hα ± 0.8 Å line wings, the mean equivalent diameters are 162 ± 32, 254 ± 33, and 284 ± 28 km, respectively. The maximum intensity contrasts are 1.11 ± 0.09, 1.05 ± 0.03, and 1.05 ± 0.02 , respectively. The mean eccentricities are 0.65 ± 0.14, 0.63 ± 0.11, and 0.65 ± 0.11, respectively. Moreover, the characteristic ratios of each Hα ± 1 Å and Hα ± 0.8 Å BP to its corresponding TiO BP are derived. Hα ± 1 Å and Hα ± 0.8 Å line wings BPs show 60% and 80% increases compared to TiO BPs, respectively. With increasing height, most BPs almost keep their shapes. This work is helpful for modeling the three-dimensional structure of flux tubes.

Migration of Solar Polar Crown Filaments in the Past 100 Years

Abstract Polar crown filaments (PCFs) are formed above the polarity inversion line, which separates unipolar polar fields and the nearest dispersed fields. They are important features in studying solar polar fields and their cyclical variations. Due to the relatively weak field strength and projection effects, measuring polar magnetic fields is more difficult than obtaining the field strengths concentrated in active regions at lower latitudes. “Rush-to-the-pole” of PCFs represent the progress of unipolar polar fields from the previous solar cycle being canceled by the dispersed fields generated in the current cycle. Such progress is a good indicator of the polarity reversal in the polar areas and a precursor for the solar maximum. In this study, PCFs are identified from a 100 yr archive, covering cycles 16–24. This archive consists of full-disk Hα images obtained from the Kodaikanal Solar Observatory of the Indian Institute of Astrophysics, Kanzelhöhe Solar Observatory, and Big Bear Solar Observatory. The poleward migration speeds are measured and show an obvious asymmetry in the northern and southern hemispheres. In addition, our results show that the PCFs usually reach their highest latitudes first in the northern hemisphere, except cycle 17. Similarly, previous studies show that the magnetic field reversed first at the north pole in six out of nine cycles. We also compare the temporal variations of PCF migration and the latitude gradient factor of the differential rotation, which shows a trend in the southern hemisphere. Moreover, the migration speed of PCFs does not seem to be well correlated with the maximum sunspot numbers.

Solitary Facular Knot: Fountain Magnetic Structure and Temperature Profile

Based on the previously proposed steady-state 3D model of a solar facular knot, we have developed its modified version in which the solitary nature of the facular object is reflected: its magnetic field is sharply bounded in the radial direction. The facula temperature profile calculated for the steady state of such a magnetic structure is compared with the high-resolution filtergram taken in the photospheric TiO 7057 A line at Big Bear Solar Observatory on June 19, 2017, at the New Solar Telescope (with a 1.6-m aperture). The image shows two closely spaced very dark micropores with a diameter $${\sim}300$$ km each. The micropores are surrounded by a fan of thin, light, radially elongated fibrils resembling a sunspot penumbra. The theoretically calculated $$T$$ profile of the facular knot completely reproduces these morphological features of the object being modeled.

Impulsive wave excitation by rapidly changing granules

It is not yet fully understood how magnetohydrodynamic waves in the interior and atmosphere of the Sun are excited. Traditionally, turbulent convection in the interior is considered to be the source of wave excitation in the quiet Sun. Over the last few decades, acoustic events observed in the intergranular lanes in the photosphere have emerged as a strong candidate for a wave excitation source. Here we report our observations of wave excitation by a new type of event: rapidly changing granules. Our observations were carried out with the Fast Imaging Solar Spectrograph in the Hα and Ca II 8542 Å lines and the TiO 7057 Å broadband filter imager of the 1.6 m Goode Solar Telescope at the Big Bear Solar Observatory. We identify granules in the internetwork region that undergo rapid dynamic changes such as collapse (event 1), fragmentation (event 2), or submergence (event 3). In the photospheric images, these granules become significantly darker than neighboring granules. Following the granules’ rapid changes, transient oscillations are detected in the photospheric and chromospheric layers. In the case of event 1, the dominant period of the oscillations is close to 4.2 min in the photosphere and 3.8 min in the chromosphere. Moreover, in the Ca II–0.5 Å raster image, we observe repetitive brightenings in the location of the rapidly changing granules that are considered the manifestation of shock waves. Based on our results, we suggest that dynamic changes of granules can generate upward-propagating acoustic waves in the quiet Sun that ultimately develop into shocks.

Spectral Diagnostics of Solar Photospheric Bright Points

Abstract Through the use of the high-resolution spectral data and the broadband imaging obtained with the Goode Solar Telescope at the Big Bear Solar Observatory on 2013 June 6, the spectra of three typical photospheric bright points (PBPs) have been analyzed. Based on the Hα and Ca ii 8542 Å line profiles, as well as the TiO continuum emission, for the first time, the non-LTE semiempirical atmospheric models for the PBPs are computed. The attractive characteristic is the temperature enhancement in the lower photosphere. The temperature enhancement is about 200–500 K at the same column mass density as in the atmospheric model of the quiet-Sun. The total excess radiative energy of a typical PBP is estimated to be 1 × 1027–2 × 1027 erg, which can be regarded as the lower limit energy of the PBPs. The radiation flux in the visible continuum for the PBPs is about 5.5 × 1010 erg cm−2 s−1. Our result also indicates that the temperature in the atmosphere above PBPs is close to that of a plage. It gives clear evidence that PBPs may contribute significantly to the heating of the plage atmosphere. Using our semiempirical atmospheric models, we estimate self-consistently the average magnetic flux density B in the PBPs. It is shown that the maximum value is about 1 kG, and it decreases toward both higher and lower layers, reminding us of the structure of a flux tube between photospheric granules.

Identifying and Tracking Solar Magnetic Flux Elements with Deep Learning

Deep learning has drawn a lot of interest in recent years due to its effectiveness in processing big and complex observational data gathered from diverse instruments. Here we propose a new deep learning method, called SolarUnet, to identify and track solar magnetic flux elements or features in observed vector magnetograms based on the Southwest Automatic Magnetic Identification Suite (SWAMIS). Our method consists of a data pre-processing component that prepares training data from the SWAMIS tool, a deep learning model implemented as a U-shaped convolutional neural network for fast and accurate image segmentation, and a post-processing component that prepares tracking results. SolarUnet is applied to data from the 1.6 meter Goode Solar Telescope at the Big Bear Solar Observatory. When compared to the widely used SWAMIS tool, SolarUnet is faster while agreeing mostly with SWAMIS on feature size and flux distributions, and complementing SWAMIS in tracking long-lifetime features. Thus, the proposed physics-guided deep learning-based tool can be considered as an alternative method for solar magnetic tracking.

Analysis of quiet-sun turbulence on the basis of SDO/HMI and goode solar telescope data

ABSTRACT We analysed line-of-sight magnetic fields and magnetic power spectra of an undisturbed photosphere using magnetograms acquired by the Helioseismic and Magnetic Imager (HMI) on-board the Solar Dynamic Observatory and the Near InfraRed Imaging Spectrapolarimeter (NIRIS) operating at the Goode Solar Telescope of the Big Bear Solar Observatory. In the NIRIS data, we revealed thin flux tubes of 200–400 km in diameter and of 1000–2000 G field strength. The HMI power spectra determined for a coronal hole, a quiet sun, and a plage areas exhibit the same spectral index of −1 on a broad range of spatial scales from 10–20 Mm down to 2.4 Mm. This implies that the same mechanism(s) of magnetic field generation operate everywhere in the undisturbed photosphere. The most plausible one is the local turbulent dynamo. When compared to the HMI spectra, the −1.2 slope of the NIRIS spectrum appears to be more extended into the short spatial range until the cut-off at 0.8–0.9 Mm, after which it continues with a steeper slope of −2.2. Comparison of the observed and Kolmogorov-type spectra allowed us to infer that the Kolmogorov turbulent cascade cannot account for more than 35 per cent of the total magnetic energy observed in the scale range of 3.5–0.3 Mm. The energy excess can be attributed to other mechanisms of field generation such as the local turbulent dynamo and magnetic superdiffusivity observed in an undisturbed photosphere that can slow down the rate of the Kolmogorov cascade leading to a shallower resulting spectrum.

Comparison of Enhanced Absorption in He i 10830 Å in Observations and Modeling during the Early Phase of a Solar Flare

Abstract The He i 10830 Å triplet is a very informative indicator of chromospheric activities as the helium is the second most abundant element in the solar atmosphere. Taking advantage of the high resolution of the 1.6 m Goode Solar Telescope at Big Bear Solar Observatory, previous observations have shown clear evidence of the enhanced absorption, instead of typically observed emission, for two M-class flares. In this study, we analyze the evolution of the He i 10830 Å emission in numerical models and compare it with observations. The models represent the RADYN simulation results obtained from the F-CHROMA database. We consider the models with the injected electron spectra parameters close to observational estimates for the 2013 August 17 flare event (δ = 8, , ) in detail, as well as other available models. The modeling results agree well with observations, in the sense of both the maximum intensity decrease (−17.1%, compared with the observed value of −13.7%) and the trend of temporal variation (initial absorption phase followed by the emission). All models demonstrate the increased number densities and decreased ratio of the upper and lower level populations of the He i 10830 Å transition in the initial phase, which enhances the opacity and forms an absorption feature. Models suggest that the temperatures and free electron densities at heights of 1.3–1.5 Mm should be larger than ∼104 K and 6 × 1011 cm−3 thresholds for the line to start being in emission.

Spectral Deconvolution With Deep Learning: Removing the Effects of Spectral PSF Broadening

We explore novel methods of recovering the original spectral line profiles from data obtained by instruments that sample those profiles with an extended or multipeaked spectral transmission profile. The techniques are tested on data obtained at high spatial resolution from the Fast Imaging Solar Spectrograph (FISS) grating spectrograph at the Big Bear Solar Observatory and from the Interferometric Bidimensional Spectrometer (IBIS) instrument at the Dunn Solar Telescope. The method robustly deconvolves wide spectral transmission profiles for fields of view sampling a variety of solar structures (granulation, plage and pores) with a photometrical precision of less than 1%. The results and fidelity of the method are tested on data from IBIS obtained using several different spectral resolution modes. The method, based on convolutional neural networks (CNN), is extremely fast, performing about $10^5$ deconvolutions per second on a CPU and $10^6$ deconvolutions per second on NVIDIA TITAN RTX GPU for a spectrum with 40 wavelength samples. This approach is applicable for deconvolving large amounts of data from instruments with wide spectral transmission profiles, such as the Visible Tunable Filter (VTF) on the DKI Solar Telescope (DKIST). We also investigate its application to future instruments by recovering spectral line profiles obtained with a theoretical multi-peaked spectral transmission profile. We further discuss the limitations of this deconvolutional approach through the analysis of the dimensionality of the original and multiplexed data.

Inferring Vector Magnetic Fields from Stokes Profiles of GST/NIRIS Using a Convolutional Neural Network

Abstract We propose a new machine-learning approach to Stokes inversion based on a convolutional neural network (CNN) and the Milne–Eddington (ME) method. The Stokes measurements used in this study were taken by the Near InfraRed Imaging Spectropolarimeter (NIRIS) on the 1.6 m Goode Solar Telescope (GST) at the Big Bear Solar Observatory. By learning the latent patterns in the training data prepared by the physics-based ME tool, the proposed CNN method is able to infer vector magnetic fields from the Stokes profiles of GST/NIRIS. Experimental results show that our CNN method produces smoother and cleaner magnetic maps than the widely used ME method. Furthermore, the CNN method is four to six times faster than the ME method and able to produce vector magnetic fields in nearly real time, which is essential to space weather forecasting. Specifically, it takes ∼50 s for the CNN method to process an image of 720 × 720 pixels comprising Stokes profiles of GST/NIRIS. Finally, the CNN-inferred results are highly correlated to the ME-calculated results and closer to the ME’s results with the Pearson product-moment correlation coefficient (PPMCC) being closer to 1, on average, than those from other machine-learning algorithms, such as multiple support vector regression and multilayer perceptrons (MLP). In particular, the CNN method outperforms the current best machine-learning method (MLP) by 2.6%, on average, in PPMCC according to our experimental study. Thus, the proposed physics-assisted deep learning–based CNN tool can be considered as an alternative, efficient method for Stokes inversion for high-resolution polarimetric observations obtained by GST/NIRIS.

Morphology of the Flare-Productive Active Region NOAA 9087

Evolution and morphological properties of the active region NOAA 9087 are analyzed based on space and ground observational data. Data on hard X-ray (HXR) and soft X-ray (SXR) were obtained from Yohkoh Telescopes (HXT and SXT) and the Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite. Magnetograms and images in far ultraviolet were obtained from the Michelson Doppler Imager (MDI) and Extreme ultraviolet Imaging Telescope (EIT) of the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO). White light images from the Big Bear Observatory (BBSO) and Hα-filtergrams from the Meudon Observatory were used. Data on the 2.69 GHz radio flux were taken from the World Data Center of the Learmonth Observatory (Australia). The investigated active region (AR) was observed on the solar disk from July 15 to 27, 2000, and showed a complex multipolar magnetic field configuration. A high flare activity and emissions were observed in this AR. According to Solar Geophysical Data (SGD), the 3N/M6.4 two-ribbon flare occurred on July 19, 2000, and lasted 2.5 h. The energy was released sequentially in different locations in the AR. All observational data indicate a continuous change in the structure and power of the flare at different wavelengths. HXR and type III radio bursts were observed at the initial phase of the flare. The HXR coronal source was above the line of magnetic polarity inversion of the AR. Observational evidence of magnetic reconnections during the main phase of the flare is obtained based on the analysis of sequential images of loops in the ultraviolet wavelength band. Postflare loops were observed in the 19.5 nm passband at the gradual phase, which is a manifestation of the EUV late phase. These extended loops connect the primary and secondary energy release sites of the flare. There was an additional energy transfer and heating mechanism during the main phase of the flare.

Source Depth of Three-minute Umbral Oscillations

Abstract We infer the depth of the internal sources giving rise to three-minute umbral oscillations. Recent observations of ripple-like velocity patterns of umbral oscillations supported the notion that there exist internal sources exciting the umbral oscillations. We adopt the hypothesis that the fast magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) waves generated at a source below the photospheric layer propagate along different paths, reach the surface at different times, and excited slow MHD waves by mode conversion. These slow MHD waves are observed as the ripples that apparently propagate horizontally. The propagation distance of the ripple given as a function of time is strongly related to the depth of the source. Using the spectral data of the Fe i 5435 Å line taken by the Fast Imaging Solar Spectrograph of the Goode Solar Telescope at Big Bear Solar Observatory, we identified five ripples and determined the propagation distance as a function of time in each ripple. From the model fitting to these data, we obtained the depth between 1000 and 2000 km. Our result will serve as an observational constraint to understanding the detailed processes of magnetoconvection and wave generation in sunspots.

Possible Production of Solar Spicules by Microfilament Eruptions

Abstract We examine Big Bear Solar Observatory (BBSO) Goode Solar Telescope (GST) high spatial resolution (0.″06), high-cadence (3.45 s), Hα-0.8 Å images of central-disk solar spicules, using data of Samanta et al. We compare with coronal-jet chromospheric-component observations of Sterling et al. Morphologically, bursts of spicules, referred to as “enhanced spicular activities” by Samanta et al., appear as scaled-down versions of the jet’s chromospheric component. Both the jet and the enhanced spicular activities appear as chromospheric-material strands, undergoing twisting-type motions of ∼20–50 km s−1 in the jet and ∼20–30 km s−1 in the enhanced spicular activities. Presumably, the jet resulted from a minifilament-carrying magnetic eruption. For two enhanced spicular activities that we examine in detail, we find tentative candidates for corresponding erupting microfilaments, but not the expected corresponding base brightenings. Nonetheless, the enhanced-spicular-activities’ interacting mixed-polarity base fields, frequent-apparent-twisting motions, and morphological similarities to the coronal jet’s chromospheric-temperature component, suggest that erupting microfilaments might drive the enhanced spicular activities but be hard to detect, perhaps due to Hα opacity. Degrading the BBSO/GST-image resolution with a 1.″0-FWHM smoothing function yields enhanced spicular activities resembling the “classical spicules” described by, e.g., Beckers. Thus, a microfilament eruption might be the fundamental driver of many spicules, just as a minifilament eruption is the fundamental driver of many coronal jets. Similarly, a 0.″5-FWHM smoothing renders some enhanced spicular activities to resemble previously reported “twinned” spicules, while the full-resolution features might account for spicules sometimes appearing as 2D-sheet-like structures.