Chromospheric Temperature Research Articles

Potential Chromospheric Evaporation in the M Dwarf’s Flare Triggered by Einstein Probe Mission

Although flares from late-type main-sequence stars have been frequently detected in the multiwavelength, the associated dynamical process has been rarely reported so far. Here, we report follow-up observations of an X-ray transient triggered by Wide-field X-ray Telescope onboard the Einstein Probe at UT08:45:08 in 2024, May 7. The photometry in multibands and time-resolved spectroscopy started at 3 hr and 7.5 hr after the trigger, which enables us to identify the transient as a flare of the M-dwarf 2MASS J12184187−0609123. The bolometric energy released in the flare is estimated to be ∼1036 erg from its X-ray light curve. The Hα emission-line profile obtained at about 7 hr after the trigger shows an evident blue asymmetry with a maximum velocity of 200–250 km s−1. The blue wing can be likely explained by the chromospheric temperature (cool) upflow associated with chromospheric evaporation, in which the mass of the evaporating plasma is estimated to be 1.2 × 1018 g. In addition, a prominence eruption with an estimated mass of 7 × 1015 g < M p < 7 × 1018 g cannot be entirely excluded.

Solar Vortex Tubes. III. Vorticity and Energy Transport

This study investigated the mechanisms of vorticity generation and the role of vortex tubes in plasma heating and energy transport. Vortex tubes were identified using the instantaneous vorticity deviation technique in the MURaM data set of a simulated solar plage region of the solar photosphere. Within 3D kinetic vortex tubes, the misalignment of the magnetic pressure and the inverse of the density gradient, rather than baroclinic effects, primarily drive vorticity within the tubes. During their lifetime, vortices become less dense as the Lorentz force pushes plasma outwards against pressure gradients. In the simulated upper photosphere, the Lorentz force contributes to adiabatic cooling and heating by expanding or compressing the plasma around the vortex tubes. In turn, vortex motion affects the magnetic field, enhancing current generation and intensifying the Lorentz force, which may further increase adiabatic cooling and heating. Moreover, our results confirm that vortices can significantly boost viscous and ohmic heating on intergranular scales in the photosphere. They generate more magnetic than kinetic energy, with energy transport by Poynting flux notably nonuniform and dominant at the vortex boundaries. This creates energy circulation in which the net upwards Poynting flux can enhance chromospheric plasma heating and support chromospheric temperatures.

Spectroscopic evidence of cool plasma in quiet Sun small-scale brightenings detected by HRIEUV on board Solar Orbiter

Context. A large number of small and short-lived EUV brightenings have been detected in the quiet Sun (QS) over the past three years by the High Resolution Imager of the Extreme Ultraviolet Imager (HRIEUV) on board Solar Orbiter. It remains uncertain whether these events reach coronal temperatures and, thus, whether they directly contribute to coronal heating. Aims. In this work, we evaluate the maximum temperature of 11 EUV brightenings in the QS through plasma diagnostics with UV/EUV spectroscopy and imaging. Methods. We used three QS observations coordinated alongside those of HRIEUV: Spectral Imaging of the Coronal Environment (SPICE/Solar Orbiter), EUV Imaging Spectrometer (EIS/Hinode), and Atmospheric Imaging Assembly (AIA/SDO). We detected events in HRIEUV, ranging from 0.8 to 6.2 Mm in length. We then identified nine of them in SPICE and AIA, as well as three in EIS. We investigated their temporal evolution using their light curves and applied temperature diagnostics, such as the LOCI emission measure (EM) and the differential EM (DEM). We also estimated the electron density of one event identified in EIS. Results. These events are dominated by emission of plasma at chromospheric and TR temperatures and they barely reach temperatures above 1 MK. As such, we concluded that their contribution to coronal heating is not dominant. The estimated density of one of the event is ne = (1.8 ± 1.3)×1010 cm−3.

On the Response of the Transition Region and the Corona to Rapid Excursions in the Chromosphere

Spicules are the thin hair/grass-like structures that are prominently observed at the chromospheric solar limb. It is believed that fibrils and rapid blueshifted and redshifted excursions (RBEs and RREs; collectively referred to as REs) correspond to on-disk counterparts of type I spicules and type II spicules, respectively. Our investigation focuses on observing the response of these REs alongside similar spectral features in the chromosphere, transition region (TR), and corona, utilizing space–time plots derived from coordinated observations from the Swedish 1 m Solar Telescope/Hα, Interface Region Imaging Spectrograph (IRIS), and Solar Dynamics Observatory. Our analysis reveals upflowing REs, promptly reaching temperatures characteristic of the TR and corona, indicating a multithermal nature. Similarly, downflowing features exhibiting similar spectral signatures over the disk display plasma motion from the corona to chromospheric temperatures, demonstrating a multithermal nature. In addition to distinct upflows and downflows, we observe sequential upflow and downflow along the same path, depicting a distinctive parabolic trajectory in space–time plots of observations sampling TR and various coronal passbands. Similar to isolated upflows and downflows, these REs also exhibit a multithermal nature throughout their trajectory. Furthermore, our results reveal a more intricate motion of the REs in which both upflow and downflow coexist at the same spatial location. On a different note, our analysis, utilizing coordinated IRIS spectral observations, shows spatiotemporal redshifts/downflows in both the TR and chromosphere, suggesting that at least subsets of the strong redshifts/downflows observed in TR temperature spectra result from the return from the upper atmosphere flow of plasma in the form of bundles of spicules or features exhibiting similar spectra.

Eruption of a Million-Kelvin Warm Magnetic Flux Rope on the Sun

Solar magnetic flux rope (MFR) plays a central role in the physics of coronal mass ejections (CMEs). It mainly includes a cold filament at typical chromospheric temperatures (∼10,000 K) and a hot channel at high coronal temperatures (∼10 MK). The warm MFR at quiescent coronal temperatures of a million Kelvin is, however, rarely reported. In this study, using multiwavelength images from the Atmospheric Imaging Assembly (AIA) on board the Solar Dynamic Observatory and Extreme Ultraviolet Imager (EUVI) on board the Solar Terrestrial Relations Observatory-A, we present an eruption of a warm channel that represents an MFR with quiescent coronal temperatures (∼0.6–2.5 MK). On 2022 May 8, we observed the failed eruption of a hot channel, with the average temperature and emission measure (EM) of 10 MK and 1.1 × 1028 cm−5, using AIA high-temperature images in the active region (AR) 13007. This failed eruption was associated with a C8.2 flare, with no CME. Subsequently, we observed a warm channel that appeared in AIA and EUVI low-temperature images rather than in AIA high-temperature images. It then erupted and transformed into a semicircular shape. An associated C2.1 flare, along with the signatures of magnetic reconnection in AIA high-temperature images, were identified. Additionally, we observed a CME associated with this event. Compared with the hot channel, the warm channel is cooler and rarer with the average temperature and EM of 1.7 (1.6) MK and 2.0 × 1026 (2.3 × 1026) cm−5. All the results suggest an unambiguous observation of the million-Kelvin warm MFR that erupted as a CME and fill a gap in the temperature domain of coronal MFRs.

Is It Possible to Detect Coronal Mass Ejections on Solar-type Stars through Extreme-ultraviolet Spectral Observations?

Stellar coronal mass ejections (CMEs) from host stars are an important factor that affects the habitability of exoplanets. Although their solar counterparts have been well observed for decades, it is still very difficult to find solid evidence of stellar CMEs. Using the spectral line profile asymmetry caused by the Doppler shift of erupting plasma, several stellar CME candidates have been identified from spectral lines formed at chromospheric or transition region temperatures of the stars. However, a successful detection of stellar CME signals based on the profile asymmetries of coronal lines is still lacking. It is unclear whether we can detect such signals. Here we construct an analytical model for CMEs on solar-type stars and derive an expression of stellar extreme-ultraviolet (EUV) line profiles during CME eruptions. For different instrumental parameters, exposure times, CME propagation directions, and stellar activity levels, we synthesized the corresponding line profiles of Fe ix λ171.07 and Fe xv λ284.16. Further investigations provide constraints on the instrumental requirements for successful detection and characterization of stellar CMEs. Our results show that it is possible to detect stellar CME signals and infer their velocities based on spectral profile asymmetries using an EUV spectrometer with a moderate spectral resolution and signal-to-noise ratio. Our work provides important references for the design of future EUV spectrometers for stellar CME detection and the development of observation strategies.

Chromospheric and coronal heating in an active region plage by dissipation of currents from braiding

The question of what heats the outer solar atmosphere remains one of the longstanding mysteries in astrophysics. Statistical studies of Sun-like stars reveal a correlation between global chromospheric and coronal emissions, constraining theoretical models of potential heating mechanisms. However, spatially resolved observations of the Sun have surprisingly failed to show a similar correlation on small spatial scales. Here we use unique coordinated observations of the chromosphere (from the IRIS satellite) and the low corona (from the Hi-C 2.1 sounding rocket), and machine-learning-based inversion techniques, to show a strong correlation on spatial scales of a few hundred kilometres between heating in the chromosphere and emission in the upper transition region in strong magnetic field regions (‘plage’). Our observations are compatible with an advanced three-dimensional magnetohydrodynamic simulation in which the dissipation of current sheets caused by magnetic field braiding is responsible for heating the plasma simultaneously to chromospheric and coronal temperatures. Our results provide deep insight into the nature of the heating mechanism in solar active regions.

Enhanced Three-minute Oscillation above a Sunspot during a Solar Flare

Three-minute oscillations are a common phenomenon in the solar chromosphere above a sunspot. Oscillations can be affected by the energy release process related to solar flares. In this paper, we report on an enhanced oscillation in flare event SOL2012-07-05T21:42 with a period of around 3 minutes that occurred at the location of a flare ribbon at a sunspot umbral–penumbral boundary and was observed in both chromospheric and coronal passbands. An analysis of this oscillation was carried out using simultaneous ground-based observations from the Goode Solar Telescope at the Big Bear Solar Observatory and space-based observations from the Solar Dynamics Observatory. A frequency shift was observed before and after the flare, with the running penumbral wave that was present with a period of about 200 s before the flare coexisting with a strengthened oscillation with a period of 180 s at the same locations after the flare. We also found a phase difference between different passbands, with the oscillation occurring from high-temperature to low-temperature passbands. Theoretically, the change in frequency was strongly dependent on the variation of the inclination of the magnetic field and the chromospheric temperature. Following an analysis of the properties of the region, we found the frequency change was caused by a slight decrease of the magnetic inclination angle with respect to the local vertical. In addition, we suggest that the enhanced 3 minute oscillation was related to the additional heating, maybe due to the downflow, during the EUV late phase of the flare.

Extreme-ultraviolet fine structure and variability associated with coronal rain revealed by Solar Orbiter/EUI HRIEUV and SPICE

Context. Coronal rain is the most dramatic cooling phenomenon of the solar corona. Recent observations in the visible and UV spectrum have shown that coronal rain is a pervasive phenomenon in active regions. Its strong link with coronal heating through the thermal non-equilibrium (TNE) – thermal instability (TI) scenario makes it an essential diagnostic tool for the heating properties. Another puzzling feature of the solar corona in addition to the heating is its filamentary structure and variability, particularly in the extreme UV (EUV). Aims. We aim to identify observable features of the TNE-TI scenario underlying coronal rain at small and large spatial scales to understand the role it plays in the solar corona. Methods. We used EUV datasets at an unprecedented spatial resolution of ≈240 km from the High Resolution Imager (HRI) in the EUV (HRIEUV) of the Extreme Ultraviolet Imager (EUI) and SPICE on board Solar Orbiter from the perihelion in March and April 2022. Results. EUV absorption features produced by coronal rain are detected at scales as small as 260 km. As the rain falls, heating and compression is produced immediately downstream, leading to a small EUV brightening that accompanies the fall and produces a fireball phenomenon in the solar corona. Just prior to impact, a flash-like EUV brightening downstream of the rain, lasting a few minutes, is observed for the fastest events. For the first time, we detect the atmospheric response to the impact of the rain on the chromosphere, and it consists of upward-propagating rebound shocks and flows that partly reheat the loop. The observed widths of the rain clumps are 500 ± 200 km. They exhibit a broad velocity distribution of 10 − 150 km s−1and peak below 50 km s−1. Coronal strands of similar widths are observed along the same loops. They are co-spatial with cool filamentary structure seen with SPICE, which we interpret as the condensation corona transition region. Prior to the appearance of the rain, sequential loop brightenings are detected in gradually cooler lines from coronal to chromospheric temperatures. This matches the expected cooling. Despite the large rain showers, most cannot be detected in AIA 171 in quadrature, indicating that line-of-sight effects play a major role in the visibility of coronal rain. The AIA 304 and SPICE observations still reveal that only a small fraction of the rain can be captured by HRIEUV. Conclusions. Coronal rain generates EUV structure and variability over a wide range of scales, from coronal loops to the smallest resolvable scales. This establishes the major role that TNE-TI plays in the observed EUV morphology and variability of the corona.

Data-constrained Solar Modeling with GX Simulator

To facilitate the study of solar flares and active regions, we have created a modeling framework, the freely distributed GX Simulator IDL package, that combines 3D magnetic and plasma structures with thermal and nonthermal models of the chromosphere, transition region, and corona. Its object-based modular architecture, which runs on Windows, Mac, and Unix/Linux platforms, offers the ability to either import 3D density and temperature distribution models, or to assign numerically defined coronal or chromospheric temperatures and densities, or their distributions, to each individual voxel. GX Simulator can apply parametric heating models involving average properties of the magnetic field lines crossing a given voxel, as well as compute and investigate the spatial and spectral properties of radio, (sub)millimeter, EUV, and X-ray emissions calculated from the model, and quantitatively compare them with observations. The package includes a fully automatic model production pipeline that, based on minimal users input, downloads the required SDO/HMI vector magnetic field data, performs potential or nonlinear force-free field extrapolations, populates the magnetic field skeleton with parameterized heated plasma coronal models that assume either steady-state or impulsive plasma heating, and generates non-LTE density and temperature distribution models of the chromosphere that are constrained by photospheric measurements. The standardized models produced by this pipeline may be further customized through specialized IDL scripts, or a set of interactive tools provided by the graphical user interface. Here, we describe the GX Simulator framework and its applications.

Sustained Heating of the Chromosphere and Transition Region Over a Sunspot Light Bridge

Sunspot light bridges (LBs) exhibit a wide range of short-lived phenomena in the chromosphere and transition region. In contrast, we use here data from the Multi-Application Solar Telescope (MAST), the Interface Region Imaging Spectrograph (IRIS), Hinode, the Atmospheric Imaging Assembly (AIA), and the Helioseismic and Magnetic Imager (HMI) to analyze the sustained heating over days in an LB in a regular sunspot. Chromospheric temperatures were retrieved from the MAST Ca ii and IRIS Mg ii lines by nonlocal thermodynamic equilibrium inversions. Line widths, Doppler shifts, and intensities were derived from the IRIS lines using Gaussian fits. Coronal temperatures were estimated through the differential emission measure, while the coronal magnetic field was obtained from an extrapolation of the HMI vector field. At the photosphere, the LB exhibits a granular morphology with field strengths of about 400 G and no significant electric currents. The sunspot does not fragment, and the LB remains stable for several days. The chromospheric temperature, IRIS line intensities and widths, and AIA 171 and 211 Å intensities are all enhanced in the LB with temperatures from 8000 K to 2.5 MK. Photospheric plasma motions remain small, while the chromosphere and transition region indicate predominantly redshifts of 5–20 km s−1 with occasional supersonic downflows exceeding 100 km s−1. The excess thermal energy over the LB is about 3.2 × 1026 erg and matches the radiative losses. It could be supplied by magnetic flux loss of the sunspot (7.5 × 1027 erg), kinetic energy from the increase in the LB width (4 × 1028 erg), or freefall of mass along the coronal loops (6.3 × 1026 erg).

Generation of solar chromosphere heating and coronal outflows by two-fluid waves

Context. It is known that Alfvén and magnetoacoustic waves both contribute to the heating of the solar chromosphere and drive plasma outflows. In both cases, the thermalization of the wave energy occurs due to ion-neutral collisions, but the obtained rates of plasma heating cannot explain the observational data. The same is true for the magnitudes of the outflows. Aims. The aim of the present paper is to reexamine two-fluid modeling of Alfvén and magnetoacoustic waves in the partially ionized solar chromosphere. We attempt to detect variations in the ion temperature and vertical plasma flows for different wave combinations. Methods. We performed numerical simulations of the generation and evolution of coupled Alfvén and magnetoacoustic waves using the JOANNA code, which solves the two-fluid equations for ions (protons)+electrons and neutrals (hydrogen atoms), coupled by collision terms. Results. We confirm that the damping of impulsively generated small-amplitude waves negligibly affects the chromosphere temperature and generates only slow plasma flows. In contrast, waves generated by large-amplitude pulses significantly increase the chromospheric temperature and result in faster plasma outflows. The maximum heating occurs when the pulse is launched from the center of the photosphere, and the magnitude of the related plasma flows increases with the amplitude of the pulse. Conclusions. Large-amplitude coupled two-fluid Alfvén and magnetoacoustic waves can significantly contribute to the heating of the solar chromosphere and to the generation of plasma outflows.

The Effect of the Chromospheric Temperature on Coronal Heating

Recent observational and numerical studies show a variety of thermal structures in the solar chromosphere. Given that the thermal interplay across the transition region is a key to coronal heating, it is worth investigating how different thermal structures of the chromosphere yield different coronal properties. In this work, by MHD simulations of Alfvén-wave heating of coronal loops, we study how the coronal properties are affected by the chromospheric temperature. To this end, instead of solving the radiative transfer equation, we employ a simple radiative loss function so that the chromospheric temperature is easily tuned. When the chromosphere is hotter, because the chromosphere extends to a larger height, the coronal part of the magnetic loop becomes shorter, which enhances the conductive cooling. A larger loop length is therefore required to maintain the high-temperature corona against the thermal conduction. From our numerical simulations we derive a condition for the coronal formation with respect to the half loop length l loop in a simple form: , where is the minimum temperature in the atmosphere, and parameters a and l th have negative dependencies on the coronal field strength. Our conclusion is that the chromospheric temperature has a nonnegligible impact on coronal heating for loops with small lengths and weak coronal fields. In particular, the enhanced chromospheric heating could prevent the formation of the corona.

Spatio-temporal Characterization of Hot Chromospheric Fibrils

AbstractThe exact mechanisms leading to chromospheric heating are still ill-defined. While the presence of magnetic elements is undoubtedly necessary, the details of the heating, and its spatio-temporal distribution remain poorly understood. We contribute to this topic by analyzing the behavior of hot chromospheric fibrils surrounding network and plage elements, identified via the broader Hα profiles observed along their length; the H-α spectral line width has been shown to correlate with the local chromospheric temperatures through comparison with the ALMA millimeter-continuum brightness temperature. We make use of loop tracing and analysis software to investigate characteristics of the chromospheric hot fibrils including their length, number density, and transverse spatial extension in an enhanced network region.

Evaluating Non-LTE Spectral Inversions with ALMA and IBIS

We present observations of a solar magnetic network region in the millimeter continuum with the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) and in the Ca 8542 and Na 5896 Å spectral lines with the Interferometric Bidimensional Spectrometer (IBIS). Our goal is to compare the measurement of local gas temperatures provided by ALMA with the temperature diagnostics provided by non-LTE inversions using the STockholm inversion Code (STiC). In performing these inversions, we find that using column mass as the reference height scale, rather than optical depth, provides more reliable atmospheric profiles above the temperature minimum and that the treatment of non-LTE hydrogen ionization brings the inferred chromospheric temperatures into better agreement with the ALMA measurements. The Band 3 brightness temperatures are higher but well correlated spatially with the inversion-derived temperatures at the height of formation of the Ca 8542 line core. The Band 6 temperatures instead do not show good correlations with the temperatures at any specific layer in the inverted atmospheres. We then performed inversions that included the millimeter-continuum intensities as an additional constraint. Incorporating Band 3 generally resulted in atmospheres showing a strong temperature rise in the upper atmosphere, while including Band 6 led to significant regions of anomalously low temperatures at chromospheric heights. This is consistent with the idea that the Band 6 emission can come from a combination of heights ranging from the temperature minimum to upper chromosphere. The poor constraints on the chromospheric electron density with existing inversion codes introduces difficulties in determining the height(s) of formation of the millimeter continuum as well as uncertainties in the temperatures derived from the spectral lines.

An ALMA Observation of Time Variations in Chromospheric Temperature of a Solar Plage Region

Nanoflares and the shock formation of magnetohydrodynamic waves in the solar chromosphere have been considered as key physical mechanisms of the heating of the chromosphere and corona. To investigate candidates of their signature in the mm-wavelength, a tiny active region located on the solar disk was observed with the Atacama Large millimeter and sub-millimeter Array (ALMA) at 3 mm, coordinated with observatories on orbit including Hinode SOT spectro-polarimeter in the Cycle 4 solar campaign (19 March 2017). ALMA’s spatial resolution was moderate, far from the best performance, but it provided stable conditions that are suitable to investigate temporal variations in the mm-wavelength. We determined that the noise level is less than 20 K (σ) over 1 hour in the 20-s cadence time series of synthesized ALMA images. The time variations with amplitudes above the noise level were observed throughout the field of view, but variations exceeding 200 K, corresponding to energy input to the chromosphere on the order of 1020-22 erg, were localized in two locations. One location was on the polarity inversion line, where tiny concentrated magnetic patches exist in weak field and a tiny magnetic flux may be emergent. The other location was at the outer edge of a bipolar magnetic region, which was under development with a successive series of magnetic flux emergence. This observation suggests that nanoflare-class energy inputs in the chromosphere can occur associated with emerging flux activities.

Magnetism, rotation, and nonthermal emission in cool stars

Stellar dynamos generate magnetic fields that are of fundamental importance to the variability and evolution of Sun-like and low-mass stars, and for the development of their planetary systems. As a key to understanding stellar dynamos, empirical relations between stellar parameters and magnetic fields are required for comparison to ab initio predictions from dynamo models. We report measurements of surface-average magnetic fields in 292 M dwarfs from a comparison with radiative transfer calculations; for 260 of them, this is the first measurement of this kind. Our data were obtained from more than 15 000 high-resolution spectra taken during the CARMENES project. They reveal a relation between average field strength, ⟨B⟩, and Rossby number, Ro, resembling the well-studied rotation–activity relation. Among the slowly rotating stars, we find that magnetic flux, ΦB, is proportional to rotation period, P, and among the rapidly rotating stars that average surface fields do not grow significantly beyond the level set by the available kinetic energy. Furthermore, we find close relations between nonthermal coronal X-ray emission, chromospheric Hα and Ca H&amp;K emission, and magnetic flux. Taken together, these relations demonstrate empirically that the rotation–activity relation can be traced back to a dependence of the magnetic dynamo on rotation. We advocate the picture that the magnetic dynamo generates magnetic flux on the stellar surface proportional to rotation rate with a saturation limit set by the available kinetic energy, and we provide relations for average field strengths and nonthermal emission that are independent of the choice of the convective turnover time. We also find that Ca H&amp;K emission saturates at average field strengths of ⟨B⟩≈800 G while Hα and X-ray emission grow further with stronger fields in the more rapidly rotating stars. This is in conflict with the coronal stripping scenario predicting that in the most rapidly rotating stars coronal plasma would be cooled to chromospheric temperatures.

Quasiperiodic Microjets Driven by Granular Advection as Observed With High-resolution Imaging at He i 10830 Å

Abstract With high-resolution narrowband He i 10830 Å filtergrams from Goode Solar Telescope, we give an extensive analysis for four granule-sized microeruptions which appear as the gentle ejection of material in He i 10830 Å band. The analysis was aided with the EUV data from Atmospheric Imaging Assembly and line-of-sight magnetograms from the Helioseismic and Magnetic Imager on board the Solar Dynamics Observatory. The microeruptions are situated on magnetic polarity inversion lines (PILs), and their roots are accurately traced down to intergranular lanes. Their durations are different: two microeruptions are repetitive microjets, lasting ∼50 and 27 minutes respectively, while the other two events are singular, lasting ∼5 minutes. For the two microjets, they are continuous and recurrent in the He i 10830 Å band, and the recurrence is quasiperiodic with a period of ∼5 minutes. We found that only transient cospatial EUV brightenings are observed for the longer duration microjets and EUV brightenings are absent for the two singular microeruptions. What is essential to the longer duration microjets is that granules with the concentration of a positive magnetic field persistently transport the magnetic field to the PILs, canceling the opposite magnetic flux and making the base of the two microjets and the underlying granules migrate with the speed of ∼0.25 and 1.0 km s−1. The observations support the scenario of magnetic reconnection for the quasiperiodic microjets and further show that the reconnection continuously generates multitemperature components, especially the cool component with chromospheric temperature. In addition, the ongoing reconnection is modulated by p-mode oscillations inside the Sun.

Properties of the C ii 1334 Å Line in Coronal Hole and Quiet Sun as Observed by IRIS

Abstract Coronal holes (CHs) have subdued intensity and net blueshifts when compared to the quiet Sun (QS) at coronal temperatures. At transition region temperatures, such differences are obtained for regions with identical absolute photospheric magnetic flux density (∣B∣). In this work, we use spectroscopic measurements of the C ii 1334 Å line from the Interface Region Imaging Spectrograph, formed at chromospheric temperatures, to investigate the intensity, Doppler shift, line width, skew, and excess kurtosis variations with ∣B∣. We find the intensity, Doppler shift, and linewidths to increase with ∣B∣ for CHs and QS. The CHs show deficit in intensity and excess total widths over QS for regions with identical ∣B∣. For pixels with only upflows, CHs show excess upflows over QS, while for pixels with only downflows, CHs show excess downflows over QS that cease to exist at ∣B∣ ≤ 40. Finally, the spectral profiles are found to be more skewed and flatter than a Gaussian, with no difference between CHs and QS. These results are important in understanding the heating of the atmosphere in CH and QS, including solar wind formation, and provide further constraints on the modeling of the solar atmosphere.

Solar chromosphere heating and generation of plasma outflows by impulsively generated two-fluid Alfvén waves

Context. We address the heating of the solar chromosphere and the related generation of plasma inflows and outflows. Aims. We attempt to detect variations in ion temperature and vertical plasma flows, which are driven by impulsively excited two-fluid Alfvén waves. We aim to investigate the possible contribution of these waves to solar chromosphere heating and plasma outflows. Methods. We performed numerical simulations of the generation and evolution of Alfvén waves with the use of the JOANNA code, which solves the two-fluid equations for ions+electrons and neutrals, coupled by collision terms. Results. We confirm that the damping of impulsively generated small-amplitude Alfvén waves slightly affects the temperature of the chromosphere and generates slow plasma flows. In contrast, the Alfvén waves generated by large-amplitude pulses increase the chromospheric plasma temperature more significantly and result in faster plasma outflows. The maximum heating occurs when the pulse is launched from the central photosphere, and the magnitude of the related plasma flows grows with the amplitude of the pulse. Conclusions. Large-amplitude two-fluid Alfvén waves can contribute significantly to the heating of the solar chromosphere and to the generation of plasma outflows.