Coronal Emission Research Articles

Generally Applicable Formalism for Modeling the Observable Signatures of Inflows, Outflows, and Moving Coronal Plasma Close to Kerr Black Holes

Abstract We present a generally applicable formalism for modeling the emission, absorption, reflection, and reprocessing of radiation by moving plasma streams close to a Kerr black hole. The formalism can be used to investigate the observational signatures of a wide range of phenomena, including (i) the reflection of coronal X-ray radiation off plasma plunging from the inner edge of a black hole accretion disk toward the black hole, (ii) the reflection of coronal X-ray emission off the upper layers of a geometrically thick accretion flow, (iii) the illumination of the accretion disk by a corona moving with relativistic velocities toward or away from the accretion disk, and (iv) the emission from a jet forming close to the black hole. After introducing the general relativistic treatment, we show the results for a fast wind forming close to a Kerr black hole. The approach presented here can be used to model X-ray spectral, timing, reverberation, and polarization data.

Fundamental Reference AGN Monitoring Experiment (FRAMEx). I. Jumping Out of the Plane with the VLBA

Abstract We present the first results from the Fundamental Reference active galactic nucleus (AGN) Monitoring Experiment, an observational campaign dedicated to understanding the physical processes that affect the apparent positions and morphologies of AGNs. In this work, we obtained simultaneous Swift X-ray Telescope and Very Long Baseline Array (VLBA) radio observations for a snapshot campaign of 25 local AGNs that form a volume-complete sample with hard X-ray (14–195 keV) luminosities above 1042 erg s−1, out to a distance of 40 Mpc. Despite achieving an observation depth of ∼20 μJy, we find that 16 of 25 AGNs in our sample are not detected with the VLBA on milliarcsecond (subparsec) scales, and the corresponding core radio luminosity upper limits are systematically below predictions from the Fundamental Plane of black hole activity. Using archival Jansky Very Large Array (VLA) radio measurements, our sample jumps back onto the Fundamental Plane, suggesting that extended radio emission is responsible for the apparent correlation between radio emission, X-ray emission, and black hole mass. We suggest that this discrepancy is likely due to extranuclear radio emission produced via interactions between the AGN and host environment. We compare VLBA observations of AGNs to VLA observations of nearby Galactic black holes, and we find a mass-independent correlation between radio and X-ray luminosities of black holes of / ∼10−6, in line with predictions for coronal emission, but allowing for the possibility of truly radio-silent AGNs.

Transition Region Contribution to AIA Observations in the Context of Coronal Heating

Abstract We investigate the ratio of coronal and transition region intensity in coronal loops observed by the Atmospheric Imaging Assembly (AIA) on the Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO). Using Enthalpy-based Thermal Evolution of Loops (EBTEL) hydrodynamic simulations, we model loops with multiple lengths and energy fluxes heated randomly by events drawn from power-law distributions with different slopes and minimum delays between events to investigate how each of these parameters influences observable loop properties. We generate AIA intensities from the corona and transition region for each realization. The variations within and between models generated with these different parameters illustrate the sensitivity of narrowband imaging to the details of coronal heating. We then analyze the transition region and coronal emission from a number of observed active regions and find broad agreement with the trends in the models. In both models and observations, the transition region brightness is significant, often greater than the coronal brightness in all six “coronal” AIA channels. We also identify an inverse relationship, consistent with heating theories, between the slope of the differential emission measure (DEM) coolward of the peak temperature and the observed ratio of coronal to transition region intensity. These results highlight the use of narrowband observations and the importance of properly considering the transition region in investigations of coronal heating.

The Relative Emission from Chromospheres and Coronae: Dependence on Spectral Type and Age*

Abstract Extreme-ultraviolet and X-ray emission from stellar coronae drives mass loss from exoplanet atmospheres, and ultraviolet emission from stellar chromospheres drives photochemistry in exoplanet atmospheres. Comparisons of the spectral energy distributions of host stars are, therefore, essential for understanding the evolution and habitability of exoplanets. The large number of stars observed with the MUSCLES, Mega-MUSCLES, and other recent Hubble Space Telescope observing programs has provided for the first time a large sample (79 stars) of reconstructed Lyα fluxes that we compare with X-ray fluxes to identify significant patterns in the relative emission from these two atmospheric regions as a function of stellar age and effective temperature. We find that as stars age on the main sequence, the emissions from their chromospheres and coronae follow a pattern in response to the amount of magnetic heating in these atmospheric layers. A single trend-line slope describes the pattern of X-ray versus Lyα emission for G and K dwarfs, but the different trend lines for M dwarf stars show that the Lyα fluxes of M stars are significantly smaller than those of warmer stars with the same X-ray flux. The X-ray and Lyα luminosities divided by the stellar bolometric luminosities show different patterns depending on stellar age. The L(Lyα)/L(bol) ratios increase smoothly to cooler stars of all ages, but the L(X)/L(bol) ratios show different trends. For older stars, the increase in coronal emission with decreasing is much steeper than that of chromospheric emission. We suggest a fundamental link between atmospheric properties and trend lines relating coronal and chromospheric heating,

The Effect of Solar Wind Expansion and Nonequilibrium Ionization on the Broadening of Coronal Emission Lines

Abstract When observing spectral lines in the optically thin corona, line-of-sight (LOS) effects can strongly affect the interpretation of the data, especially in regions just above the limb. We present a semiempirical forward model, called the Global Heliospheric Optically thin Spectral Transport Simulation (GHOSTS), to characterize these effects. GHOSTS uses inputs from several other models to compute nonequilibrium ionization states (which include the solar-wind freezing-in effect) for many ions. These are used to generate ensembles of simulated spectral lines that are examined in detail, with emphasis on (1) relationships between quantities derived from observables and the radial variation of the observed quantities, (2) the behavior of thermal and nonthermal components of the line width, and (3) relative contributions of collisionally excited and radiatively scattered photons. We find that rapidly changing temperatures in the low corona can cause ion populations to vary dramatically with height. This can lead to line width measurements that are constant with height (a “plateau” effect) even when the temperature is increasing rapidly, as the plane of sky becomes evacuated and the foreground/background plasma dominates the observation. We find that LOS effects often drive the velocity width to be close to the plane-of-sky value of the wind speed, despite it flowing perpendicularly to the LOS there. The plateau effect can also cause the nonthermal component of the line width to greatly exceed the solar wind velocity at the observation height. Lastly, we study how much of the LOS is significant to the observation, and the importance of including continuum in the solar spectrum when computing the radiatively scattered emission.

NuSTAR Hard X-Ray Spectra of Radio Galaxies

Abstract The Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array (NuSTAR) observatory, with its 3–78 keV broadband spectral coverage, enables the detection of the high-energy cutoff in a number of active galaxies, including several individual radio-loud ones. In this work, we present systematic and uniform analyses of 55 Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array (NuSTAR) spectra for a large sample of 28 radio galaxies, 20 of which are FR II galaxies. We perform spectral fitting to measure the high-energy cutoff E cut, photon index Γ, reflection factor R, and Fe Kα line equivalent width (EW). Measurements of E cut are given for 13 sources, and lower limits are given for the rest. We find that those E cut nondetections could primarily be attributed to the obviously smaller net photon counts in their spectra. This indicates that the NuSTAR spectra of the majority of our sample are dominated by the thermal coronal emission, and the E cut distribution of the sample is indistinguishable from that of a radio-quiet one in the literature. The flatter NuSTAR spectra we observed, comparing with radio-quiet sources, are thus unlikely due to jet contamination. The radio galaxies also show weaker X-ray reflection (both in R and Fe Kα line EW) compared with radio-quiet ones. Combining with the radio-quiet sample, we see a correlation between R and EW but with considerably large scatter. Notably, the radio-loud and -quiet sources appear to follow a common Γ–R correlation trend, supporting the outflowing corona model for both populations in which higher bulk outflowing velocity yields weaker reflection and flatter X-ray slope.

The frequency of extreme X-ray variability for radio-quiet quasars

ABSTRACT We analyse 1598 serendipitous Chandra X-ray observations of 462 radio-quiet quasars to constrain the frequency of extreme amplitude X-ray variability that is intrinsic to the quasar corona and innermost accretion flow. The quasars in this investigation are all spectroscopically confirmed, optically bright (mi ≤ 20.2), and contain no identifiable broad absorption lines in their optical/ultraviolet spectra. This sample includes quasars spanning z ≈ 0.1–4 and probes X-ray variability on time-scales of up to ≈12 rest-frame years. Variability amplitudes are computed between every epoch of observation for each quasar and are analysed as a function of time-scale and luminosity. The tail-heavy distributions of variability amplitudes at all time-scales indicate that extreme X-ray variations are driven by an additional physical mechanism and not just typical random fluctuations of the coronal emission. Similarly, extreme X-ray variations of low-luminosity quasars seem to be driven by an additional physical mechanism, whereas high-luminosity quasars seem more consistent with random fluctuations. The amplitude at which an X-ray variability event can be considered extreme is quantified for different time-scales and luminosities. Extreme X-ray variations occur more frequently at long time-scales (Δt ≳ 300 d) than at shorter time-scales and in low-luminosity quasars compared to high-luminosity quasars over a similar time-scale. A binomial analysis indicates that extreme intrinsic X-ray variations are rare, with a maximum occurrence rate of $\lt 2.4{{\ \rm per\ cent}}$ of observations. Finally, we present X-ray variability and basic optical emission-line properties of three archival quasars that have been newly discovered to exhibit extreme X-ray variability.

An underlying clock in the extreme flip-flop state transitions of the black hole transient Swift J1658.2-4242

Aims. Flip-flops are top-hat-like X-ray flux variations, which have been observed in some transient accreting black hole binary systems, and feature simultaneous changes in the spectral hardness and the power density spectrum (PDS). They occur at a crucial time in the evolution of these systems, when the accretion disc emission starts to dominate over coronal emission. Flip-flops remain a poorly understood phenomenon, so we aim to thoroughly investigate them in a system featuring several such transitions. Methods. Within the multitude of observations of Swift J1658.2-4242 during its outburst in early 2018, we detected 15 flip-flops, enabling a detailed analysis of their individual properties and the differences between them. We present observations by XMM-Newton, NuSTAR, Astrosat, Swift, Insight-HXMT, INTEGRAL, and ATCA. We analysed their light curves, searched for periodicities, computed their PDSs, and fitted their X-ray spectra, to investigate the source behaviour during flip-flop transitions and how the interval featuring flip-flops differs from the rest of the outburst. Results. The flip-flops of Swift J1658.2-4242 are of an extreme variety, exhibiting flux differences of up to 77% within ∼100 s, which is much larger than what has been seen previously. We observed radical changes in the PDS simultaneous with the sharp flux variations, featuring transitions between the quasi-periodic oscillation types C and A, which have never been observed before. Changes in the PDS are delayed, but more rapid than changes in the light curve. Flip-flops occur in two intervals within the outburst, separated by about two weeks in which these phenomena were not seen. Transitions between the two flip-flop states occurred at random integer multiples of a fundamental period of 2.761 ks in the first interval and 2.61 ks in the second. Spectral analysis reveals the high and low flux flip-flop states to be very similar, but distinct from intervals lacking flip-flops. A change of the inner temperature of the accretion disc is responsible for most of the flux difference in the flip-flops. We also highlight the importance of correcting for the influence of the dust scattering halo on the X-ray spectra.

Total Solar Eclipse Observations: A Treasure Trove from the Source and Acceleration Regions of the Solar Wind

A comprehensive exploration of the inner corona, namely the spatial span starting from the solar surface out to a few solar radii, is essential for investigating the physical processes responsible for its quiescent and dynamic state. Such an exploration encompasses the source regions of the solar wind, and is thus essential for reliably establishing their link to in-situ measurements, including those from the more recent Parker Solar Probe mission. Total solar eclipses are the only platform available at present to fulfill these requirements, as they offer a spatially uninterrupted diagnosis of the inner corona through multi-wavelength imaging and spectroscopy. This review highlights results from almost two decades of eclipse observations. Particular emphasis is placed on the discovery of the complexity of coronal structures, in particular at the source regions of the solar wind, directly connected to prominences. Complex structures include different manifestations of waves and plasma instabilities. Imaging in coronal emission lines yields the only diagnostic tool, known to date, for the empirical inference of the freeze-in distance of heavy ions. Imaging also enables the mapping of the electron temperature in the inner corona, and its changes in response to the passage of a coronal mass ejection (CME). Furthermore, spectroscopic observations reveal that cool prominence material associated with a CME, travels in tandem, unscathed, into interplanetary space. Multi-wavelength imaging and spectroscopy during total solar eclipses thus yield a treasure trove from the sources and acceleration regions of the solar wind, which beg continued exploitation in search of signatures of coronal heating and solar wind acceleration processes.

Proxima Centauri – the nearest planet host observed simultaneously with AstroSat, Chandra, and HST

ABSTRACT Our nearest stellar neighbour, Proxima Centauri, is a low-mass star with spectral type dM5.5 and hosting an Earth-like planet orbiting within its habitable zone. However, the habitability of the planet depends on the high-energy radiation of the chromospheric and coronal activity of the host star. We report the AstroSat, Chandra, and HST observation of Proxima Centauri carried out as part of the multiwavelength simultaneous observational campaign. Using the soft X-ray data, we probe the different activity states of the star. We investigate the coronal temperatures, emission measures and abundance. Finally, we compare our results with earlier observations of Proxima Centauri.

Stellar coronal X-ray emission and surface magnetic flux

Context. Observations show that the coronal X-ray emission of the Sun and other stars depends on the surface magnetic field. Aims. Using power-law scaling relations between different physical parameters, we aim to build an analytical model to connect the observed X-ray emission to the surface magnetic flux. Methods. The basis for our model are the scaling laws of Rosner, Tucker & Vaiana (RTV) that connect the temperature and pressure of a coronal loop to its length and energy input. To estimate the energy flux into the upper atmosphere, we used scalings derived for different heating mechanisms, such as field-line braiding or Alfvén wave heating. We supplemented this with observed relations between active region size and magnetic flux and derived scalings of how X-ray emissivity depends on temperature. Results. Based on our analytical model, we find a power-law dependence of the X-ray emission on the magnetic flux, LX ∝ Φm, with a power-law index m being in the range from about one to two. This finding is consistent with a wide range of observations, from individual features on the Sun, such as bright points or active regions, to stars of different types and varying levels of activity. The power-law index m depends on the choice of the heating mechanism, and our results slightly favor the braiding and nanoflare scenarios over Alfvén wave heating. In addition, the choice of instrument will have an impact on the power-law index m because of the sensitivity of the observed wavelength region to the temperature of the coronal plasma. Conclusions. Overall, our simple analytical model based on the RTV scaling laws gives a good representation of the observed X-ray emission. Therefore we might be able to understand stellar coronal activity though a collection of basic building blocks, like loops, which we can study in spatially resolved detail on the Sun.

A 700 pc Extended Coronal Gas Emission in the Circinus Galaxy

Abstract We report the first characterization of an extended outflow of high ionized gas in the Circinus Galaxy by means of the coronal line (CL) [Fe vii] λ6087. This emission is located within the ionization cone already detected in the [O iii] λ5007 line and is found to extend up to a distance of ∼700 pc from the active galactic nucleus. The gas distribution appears clumpy, with several knots of emission. Its kinematics is complex, with split profiles and line centroids shifted from the systemic velocity. The physical conditions of the gas show that the extended coronal emission is likely the remnant of shells inflated by the passage of a radio jet. This scenario is supported by extended X-ray emission, which is spatially coincident with the morphology and extension of the [Fe vii] λ6087 gas in the NW side of the galaxy. The extension of the coronal gas in the Circinus galaxy is unique among active galaxies and demonstrates the usefulness of CLs for tracing the shock ionization component in these objects.

An X-ray activity cycle on the young solar-like star ɛ Eridani

Chromospheric Ca II activity cycles are frequently found in late-type stars, but no systematic programs have been created to search for their coronal X-ray counterparts. The typical time scale of Ca II activity cycles ranges from years to decades. Therefore, long-lasting missions are needed to detect the coronal counterparts. The XMM-Newton satellite has so far detected X-ray cycles in five stars. A particularly intriguing question is at what age (and at what activity level) X-ray cycles set in. To this end, in 2015 we started the X-ray monitoring of the young solar-like star ɛ Eridani, previously observed on two occasions: in 2003 and in early 2015, both by XMM-Newton. With an age of 440 Myr, it is one of the youngest solar-like stars with a known chromospheric Ca II cycle. We collected the most recent Mount Wilson S-index data available for ɛ Eridani, starting from 2002, including previously unpublished data. We found that the Ca II cycle lasts 2.92 ± 0.02 yr, in agreement with past results. From the long-term XMM-Newton lightcurve, we find clear and systematic X-ray variability of our target, consistent with the chromospheric Ca II cycle. The average X-ray luminosity is 2 × 1028erg s−1, with an amplitude that is only a factor of 2 throughout the cycle. We apply a new method to describe the evolution of the coronal emission measure distribution of ɛ Eridani in terms of solar magnetic structures: active regions, cores of active regions, and flares covering the stellar surface at varying filling fractions. Combinations of these three types of magnetic structures can only describe the observed X-ray emission measure of ɛ Eridani if the solar flare emission measure distribution is restricted to events in the decay phase. The interpretation is that flares in the corona of ɛ Eridani last longer than their solar counterparts. We ascribe this to the lower metallicity of ɛ Eridani. Our analysis also revealed that the X-ray cycle of ɛ Eridani is strongly dominated by cores of active regions. The coverage fraction of cores throughout the cycle changes by the same factor as the X-ray luminosity. The maxima of the cycle are characterized by a high percentage of covering fraction of the flares, consistent with the fact that flaring events are seen in the corresponding short-term X-ray lightcurves predominately at the cycle maxima. The high X-ray emission throughout the cycle of ɛ Eridani is thus explained by the high percentage of magnetic structures on its surface.

Pointing Chandra toward the Extreme Ultraviolet Fluxes of Very Low Mass Stars

Abstract The X-ray and EUV emission of stars plays a key role in the loss and evolution of the atmospheres of their planets. The coronae of dwarf stars later than M6 appear to behave differently from those of earlier spectral types and are more X-ray dim and radio bright. Too faint to have been observed by the Extreme Ultraviolet Explorer, their EUV behavior is currently highly uncertain. We have devised a method to use the Chandra X-ray Observatory High Resolution Camera to provide a measure of EUV emission in the 50–170 Å range and applied it to the M6.5 dwarf LHS 248 in a pilot 10 ks exposure. Analysis with model spectra using simple, idealized coronal emission measure distributions inspired by the Chandra Low Energy Transmission Grating spectra of the M5.5 dwarf Proxima Cen and results from the literature finds the greatest consistency with a very shallow emission measure distribution slope, DEM ∝ T 3/2 or shallower, in the range log T = 5.5–6.5, although this could be an artifact of systematic errors. Instead, cooler, more solar-like differential emission measures (DEMs) with a wide range of slopes were able to match the observations. Within the limitations of systematic errors, model spectra constrained by this method can provide accurate (within a factor of 2–4) synthesis and extrapolation of EUV spectra for wavelengths <400–500 Å. At longer wavelengths, models are uncertain by an order of magnitude or more and depend on the details of the emission measure distribution at temperatures log T < 5.5. The method is sensitive to the possible incompleteness of plasma radiative loss models in the 30–170 Å range for which reexamination would be warranted.

Origins of X-Ray Line Emissions in Circinus X-1 at Very Low X-Ray Flux

Abstract Accretion conditions and morphologies of X-ray transients containing neutron stars are still poorly understood. Circinus X-1 is an enigmatic case where we observe X-ray flux changes covering four orders of magnitude. We observed Circinus X-1 several times at its very lowest X-ray flux using the high-energy transmission grating spectrometer on board the Chandra X-ray Observatory. At a flux of erg cm−2 s−1 we observed a single 1.6 keV blackbody spectrum. The observed continuum luminosity of 1035 erg s−1 is about two orders of magnitude too low to explain the observed photoionized luminosity, suggesting a much more complex structure of the X-ray source that is partially or entirely obscured, as had been previously suggested. This affects most emissions from the accretion disk, including previously observed accretion-disk coronal line emissions. Instead, the strongest observed photoionized lines are blueshifted by about ∼400 km s−1, and we suggest that they originate in the ionized wind of a B5Ia supergiant companion, supporting a previous identification. The neutron star in Cir X-1 is very young and should have a high magnetic field. At the observed luminosity, the emission radius of the blackbody is small enough to be associated with the accretion hot spot as the X-ray-emitting region. The small emission radius then points to a field strength below 1012 G, which would be consistent with the observation of occasional type I X-ray bursts at high magnetic fields. We discuss Cir X-1 in the context of being a high-mass X-ray binary, with some emphasis on a possible Be-star X-ray binary nature.

Hidden magnetic fields of young suns

Global magnetic fields of active solar-like stars are, nowadays, routinely detected with spectropolarimetric measurements and are mapped with Zeeman Doppler imaging (ZDI). However, due to the cancellation of opposite field polarities, polarimetry only captures a tiny fraction of the magnetic flux and cannot assess the overall stellar surface magnetic field if it is dominated by a small-scale component. The analysis of Zeeman broadening in high-resolution intensity spectra can reveal these hidden complex magnetic fields. Historically, there were very few attempts to obtain such measurements for G dwarf stars due to the difficulty of disentangling the Zeeman effect from other broadening mechanisms affecting spectral lines. Here, we developed a new magnetic field diagnostic method based on relative Zeeman intensification of optical atomic lines with different magnetic sensitivity. By using this technique, we obtained 78 field strength measurements for 15 Sun-like stars, including some of the best-studied young solar twins. We find that the average magnetic field strengthBfdrops from 1.3−2.0 kG in stars younger than about 120 Myr to 0.2−0.8 kG in older stars. The mean field strength shows a clear correlation with the Rossby number and with the coronal and chromospheric emission indicators. Our results suggest that magnetic regions have roughly the same local field strengthB ≈ 3.2 kG in all stars, with the filling factorfof these regions systematically increasing with stellar activity. In comparing our results with the spectropolarimetric analyses of global magnetic fields in the same stars, we find that ZDI recovers about 1% of the total magnetic field energy in the most active stars. This figure drops to just 0.01% for the least active targets.

Synthesising solar radio images from Atmospheric Imaging Assembly extreme-ultraviolet data

During non-flaring times, the radio flux of the Sun at wavelengths of a few centimeters to several tens of centimeters mostly originates from thermal bremsstrahlung emission, very similar to extremeultraviolet (EUV) radiation. Owing to such a proximity, it is feasible to investigate the relationship between the EUV emission and radio emission in a quantitative way. In this paper, we reconstruct the radio images of the Sun through the differential emission measure obtained from multi-wavelength EUV images of the Atmospheric Imaging Assembly on board Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO). Through comparing the synthetic radio images at 6GHz with those observed by the Siberian Radioheliograph, we find that the predicted radio flux is qualitatively consistent with the observed value, confirming thermal origin of the coronal radio emission during non-flaring times. The results further show that the predicted radio flux is closer to the observations in the case that includes the contribution of plasma with temperatures above 3MK than in the case of only involving low temperature plasma, as was usually done in the pre-SDO era. We also discuss applications of the method and uncertainties of the results.

The ambiguous transient ASASSN-17hx

Aims. Some transients, although classified as novae based on their maximum and early decline optical spectra, cast doubts on their true nature, and raise the question of whether nova impostors might exist. Methods. We monitored a candidate nova that displayed a distinctly unusual light curve at maximum and early decline through optical spectroscopy (3000–10 000 Å, 500 < R < 100 000) complemented with Swift UV and AAVSO optical photometry. We use the spectral line series to characterize the ejecta dynamics, structure, and mass. Results. We find that the ejecta are in free ballistic expansion and have a typical classical nova structure. However, their derived mass is at least an order of magnitude higher than the typical ejecta masses obtained for classical novae. Specifically, we find Mej ≃9 × 10−3 M⊙ independent of the distance for a filling factor ε = 1. By constraining the distance we derived ε in the range 0.08–0.10, giving a mass 7 × 10−4 ≲ Mej ≲ 9 × 10−4 M⊙. The nebular spectrum, characterized by unusually strong coronal emission lines, confines the ionizing source energy to the range 20–250 eV, possibly peaking in the range 75–100 or 75–150 eV. Conclusions. We link this source to other slow novae that show similar behavior, and we suggest that they might form a distinct physical subgroup. The sources may result from a classical nova explosion occurring on a very low-mass white dwarf or they may be impostors for an entirely different type of transient.

Prediction of the Sun’s Coronal Magnetic Field and Forward-modeled Polarization Characteristics for the 2019 July 2 Total Solar Eclipse

Abstract On 2019 July 2 a total solar eclipse—visible across parts of the Southern Pacific Ocean, Chile, and Argentina—enabled observations of the Sun’s corona. The structure and emission characteristics of the corona are determined by underlying magnetic fields, which also govern coronal heating and solar eruptive events. However, coronal magnetic field measurements remain an outstanding challenge. Coronal magnetic field models serve an important purpose in this context. Earlier work has demonstrated that the large-scale coronal structure is governed by surface flux evolution and memory buildup, which allows for its prediction on solar rotational timescales. Utilizing this idea and based upon a 51 day forward run of a predictive solar surface flux transport model and a potential field source surface model, we predict the coronal structure of the 2019 July 2 solar eclipse. We also forward model the polarization characteristics of the coronal emission. Our prediction of two large-scale streamer structures and their locations on the east and west limbs of the Sun match eclipse observations reasonably well. We demonstrate that the Sun’s polar fields strongly influence the modeled corona, concluding that accurate polar field observations are critical. This study is relevant for coronal magnetometry initiatives envisaged with the Daniel K. Inouye Solar Telescope, Coronal Multichannel Polarimeter and upcoming space-based instruments such as Solar Orbiter, Solar Ultraviolet Imaging Telescope and the Variable Emission Line Coronagraph on board the Indian Space Research Organisation’s Aditya-L1 space mission.

Aircraft Charging and its Influence on Triggered Lightning

AbstractThis paper reports on a laboratory experiment to study the effect of vehicle net charge on the inception of a positive leader from an aircraft exposed to high atmospheric electric fields. The experiment models the first stage of aircraft‐triggered lightning in which a positive leader typically develops from the vehicle and is shortly afterwards followed by a negative leader. This mechanism of lightning initiation amounts to around 90% of strikes to aircraft. Aircraft can acquire net charge levels of the order of a millicoulomb from a number of sources including corona emission, charged particles in the engine exhaust, and charge transfer by collisions with particles in the atmosphere. In addition, aircraft could potentially be artificially charged through controlled charge emission from the surface. Experiments were performed on a model aircraft with a 1m wingspan, which was suspended between two parallel electrodes in a 1.45m gap with voltage difference of a few hundred kilovolts applied across it. In this configuration, it is found that the breakdown field can vary by as much as 30% for the range of charging levels tested. The experimental results show agreement with an electrostatic model of leader initiation from aircraft, and the model indicates that the effect can be substantially stronger if additional negative charge is added to the aircraft. The results from this work suggest that flying uncharged is not optimal in terms of lightning avoidance and open up the possibility of developing risk‐reduction strategies based on net charge control.