Coronal Green Line Research Articles

Study of the Intensity Distribution of the Green Line in the Inner Corona

The corona is a key region of solar atmospheric activity, and the source of solar-terrestrial space weather. Limited by observation, research on the plasma structure and magnetic field state of the lower coronal atmosphere is still very lacking, and there are few international studies on the brightness stratification of the lower coronal atmosphere in the visible light band. In this paper, the coronal green line (FeXIV5303 Å) observation data of Lijiang coronagraph YOGIS (Yunnan Observatories Green-line Imaging System) is used to analyze the bright structure and mid-coronal loops in the inner coronal region (1.03R⊙–1.25R⊙, where R⊙ represents the solar radius) effectively. By fitting the exponential decay of the intensity of the bright structures at the radial height of the sun and comparing these fitting results, it is found that the decay index of the static inner coronal loops obtained is around a fixed value. Then, the more obvious coronal loops are extracted, and by performing the same exponential fitting on the intensities of different heights, the obtained decay index is also relatively similar to that of the bright structure, which provides a reference for further study of the evolution of physical parameters in the corona.

How Are the Abnormally Hot Chromosphere and Corona Heated by the Solar Magnetic Fields?

The corona is a structure possessed by stars, including the Sun. The abnormal heating of the solar corona and chromosphere is one of the greatest mysteries in modern astronomy. While state-of-the-art observations have identified some candidates of magnetic activity events that could be responsible for this abnormal heating, and theoretical studies have proposed various heating modes, a complete physical picture of how they are heated as a whole remains elusive. In this study, the characteristics of the heated corona and chromosphere are investigated, and for the first time, the question of how they are abnormally heated is explicitly answered by analyzing the long-term observations of the global chromosphere in the Ca ii K line and the global corona in the coronal green line. The findings reveal that both the quiet chromosphere and corona are in antiphase with the solar cycle, whereas the active chromosphere and corona are in phase with it. Different parts of the solar corona and chromosphere exhibit significantly different variation characteristics and are found to be heated by different magnetic categories and probably in different modes. This study posits that unraveling the heating mystery is best approached through the lens of magnetic categories, rather than magnetic activity events.

Study of the Green Coronal Line with Altitude from Out-of-Eclipse Observations during Solar Cycle 24

Study of the Green Coronal Line with Altitude from Out-of-Eclipse Observations during Solar Cycle 24

Study of the Green Coronal Line with Altitude from Out-of-Eclipse Observations during Solar Cycle 24

The results of studies of the coronal emission line λ = 5303 Å (Fe XIV) for the period of solar cycle 24 are presented. The spectral data were obtained with an out-of-eclipse Lyot coronagraph at the Mountain Astronomical Station of the Pulkovo Observatory, Russian Academy of Sciences (near Kislovodsk). As a result of processing of out-of-eclipse observations, a database of three types of daily coronal maps of green line intensity I5303 was created with a height distribution h from 1R☉ to 1.38R☉ (R☉ is the radius of the Sun). Irregularities along the λ = 5303 Å line were found and identified, which were associated with the configuration of magnetic fields in the solar corona above active regions. The length of the green line from the position angle of the Sun was calculated. We have shown that the time distribution of the line length in the polar regions has two maxima, which coincide with the times of the reversal of the polar magnetic field on the Sun. The maximum values of the average length of the coronal line along the entire limb occur in 2012–2014. For different phases (the rise, the period of maximum, the decline, and the minimum solar activity) of this solar cycle and for different regions of solar activity, dependences of the height variations of the I5303 values were plotted and studied. The regression equations for these fitting curves are presented. The variation in I5303 with height for the polar regions is most likely determined by a logarithmic function, and the approximating trend curves for the remaining latitudinal zones are determined by a third-order power function.

Complexity of the Upper Solar Atmosphere Revealed from Spectropolarimetry during a Solar Eclipse

We analyze linear polarimetric spectrum data of solar emission lines with different formation temperatures in a visible light band from 516.3–532.6 nm, obtained during the 2013 Gabon solar eclipse using the prototype Fiber Arrayed Solar Optical Telescope. Complexities are found from the chromosphere through the transition zone to the corona at the spatial resolution limit of 2″ and temporal resolution of seconds. The observations show irregular spatial and spectral variations in linear polarization amplitudes, directions, and profile shapes. Within the observational band, spectral lines with different formation temperatures can have comparable polarization amplitudes in one spatial volume but one order difference in another, and at the same spatial volume, the amplitudes can differ by one order at different lines. The polarization amplitudes do not consistently increase with elongation in local regions. The variation in the direction of the polarization along the elongation is found from the green coronal line and the transition zone line more frequently than from the chromospheric lines. Such a variation in orientation is not synchronous for the different lines. Finally, Stokes Q/I profiles of the broad lines, such as the magnesium triplet and the green coronal line, show very diverse and complicated patterns. After pixel binning, we show that some of the complexity may be caused by the integration over different polarization sources at subresolution scales and/or along the line of sight in the optically thin layers with complex geometric corrugations.

Spatial and Temporal Distribution of Solar Green-Line Corona for Solar Cycles 18 – 24

The homogeneous coronal data set (HCDS) of the green corona (Fe xiv) and the coronal index of solar activity (CI) have been used to study the time–latitudinal distribution in Solar Cycles 18 – 24 and compared with similar distribution of sunspots, the magnetic fields, and the solar 10.7 cm radio flux. The most important results are: i) the distribution of coronal intensities related to the cycle maximum are different for individual cycles, ii) the poleward migration of the HCDS from mid-latitudes in each cycle exists, even in the extremely weak Cycle 24, and the same is valid for the equatorward migration, iii) the overall values of HCDS are slightly stronger for the northern hemisphere than for the southern one, iv) the distribution of the HDCS is in coincidence with the strongest photospheric magnetic fields (B>50 Gauss) and histograms of the sunspot groups, v) the Gnevyshev gap was confirmed with at least 95% confidence in the CI, however with different behavior for odd and even cycles. Principal component analysis (PCA) showed that the first and second components account for 87.7% and 7.3% of the total variation of the CI. Furthermore, the second PCA component of the green corona was quite different for Cycle 21, compared with other cycles.

On the Relation Between Coronal Green Line Brightness and Magnetic Fields Intensity

Two-dimensional (2D) solar coronal magnetogram is difficult to be measured directly until now. From the previous knowledge, a general relation has been noticed that the brighter green-line brightness for corona, the higher coronal magnetic field intensity may correspond to. To try to further reveal the relationship between coronal green line brightness and magnetic field intensity, we use the 2D coronal images observed by Yunnan Observatories Green-line Imaging System (YOGIS) of the 10 cm Lijiang coronagraph and the coronal magnetic field maps calculated from the current-free extrapolations with the photospheric magnetograms taken by Helioseismic and Magnetic Imager (HMI) on board the Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) spacecraft. In our analysis, we identified the coronal loop structures and construct two-dimensional maps of the corresponding magnetic field intensity in the plane of the sky (POS) above the limb. We derive the correlation coefficients between the coronal brightness and the magnetic field intensity for different heights of coronal layers. We further use a linear combination of a Gaussian and a quadratic profile to fit the correlation coefficients distribution, finding a largest correlation coefficient of 0.82 near 1.1 R ⊙ (solar radii) where is almost the top of the closed loop system. For the small closed loop system identified, the correlation coefficient distributions crossing and covering the loop are calculated. We also investigate the correlation with extended heliocentric latitude zones and long period of one whole Carrington Rotation, finding again that the maximum correlation coefficient occurs at the same height. It is the first time for us to find that the correlation coefficients are high (all are larger than 0.8) at the loop-tops and showing poor correlation coefficients with some fluctuations near the feet of the coronal loops. Our findings indicate that, for the heating of the low-latitude closed loops, both DC (dissipation of currents) and AC (dissipation of Alfvén and magnetosonic waves) mechanisms should act simultaneously on the whole closed loop system while the DC mechanisms dominate in the loop-top regions. Therefore, in the distributions of the correlation coefficients with different heights of coronal layers, for both large- and small-scale latitude ranges, the coefficients can reach their maximum values at the same coronal height of 1.1 R ⊙, which may indicate the particular importance of the height of closed loops for studying the coupling of the local emission mechanism and the coronal magnetic fields, which maybe helpful for studying the origin of the low-speed solar wind.

Comparison of the Coronal Green-line Intensities with the EUV Measurements from SDO/AIA

The intensity of the green line (Fe xiv 5303 Å) is the strongest in the visible spectrum of the solar corona, and this line has been used as long-term powerful diagnostic tools for studying the coronal configurations and hot plasma dynamics. However, it remains unclear and an open question whether there exists close relationship between the green line intensities and the coronal extreme ultraviolet (EUV) line emissions for various coronal structures. In this paper, we use the green-line data by the Lijiang YOGIS Lyot coronagraph and the EUV data from the Solar Dynamics Observatory/Atmospheric Imaging Assembly instruments in order to perform direct comparisons and analyses, based on two algorithms developed to extract particular features in the low corona. It is found that, among the correlation coefficients obtained between the intensities of 5303 Å and the EUV lines, the coefficients between the green line and the 211 Å wavelength for different coronal structures and different limb locations always keep the highest values (ranging from 0.89 to 0.99), which has not been reported before. This result can be helpful and promising to link together the various physical processes involved at different heights in the corona by precisely tracking the bright loops or other features observed in 5303 Å above the limb down to the correct surface locations revealed by the 211 Å data. Furthermore, the ground-based observations of the coronal green line and the space-based EUV observations at 211 Å can advantageously complement each other when there is a need.

Characteristics of the Solar Coronal Line Profiles from Fabry–Perot Interferometric Observations

This article reports the analysis of a set of Fabry-Perot interferograms that were studied to probe the physical parameters of the inner solar corona. The observations were carried out in the coronal green line, Fe XIV 5302.86 {\AA}, during the total solar eclipse of 21 June 2001 which occurred in Lusaka, Zambia. The study was performed in the radial range of 1.1-1.5 Ro and examines the Doppler velocity, halfwidth, centroid and asymmetry and their correlations with each other at various points in the corona. It is found that 59 % of the line profiles are blueshifted, 34 % of them are single components and only 7 % of them are redshifted. The variations of halfwidth and Doppler velocity with respect to coronal height have a large scatter and shows no significant changes. It has been found that the variations of halfwidth with Doppler velocity or centroid follow a parabolic trend with a weak correlation, whereas the relation between halfwidth and the asymmetry is inconclusive. These results may provide more insight to the coronal dynamics and help in understanding the coronal physical problems.

Laboratory precision measurements of optical emissions from coronal iron

Total solar eclipses, as the recent one seen across North America, are rare opportunities for optical spectroscopy of the corona. In view of the dearth of accurate rest-frame wavelength data, we measured 11 of the strongest optical coronal lines belonging to Fe X-XIV thereby proving the existence of the Fe XII line at 290.385(8) nm. Four lines, such as the green coronal line at 530.28113(13) nm, were measured with unprecedented precision, allowing in principle for absolute velocity determinations of plasmas with uncertainties of 0.08 km ${\mathrm{s}}^{\ensuremath{-}1}$. These results furthermore stringently benchmark the theory of complex open-$3p$-shell ions.

Magnetic Field as a Tracer for Studying the Differential Rotation of the Solar Corona

The differential rotation of the solar corona for the period 1976-2004 was studied as a function of the distance from the center of the Sun. For this study, we developed a method using the coronal magnetic field as a tracer. The field in a spherical layer from the base of the corona up to the source surface was determined from photospheric measurements. Calculations were performed for 14 heliocentric distances from the base of the corona up to 2.45 solar radii and from the equator to about 75 degrees of latitude at 5 degrees steps. For each day, we calculated three components, which were then used to obtain the field strength. The coronal rotation periods were determined by the periodogram method for all distances and latitudes under consideration. The variations in the coronal rotation during the time interval 1976-2004 were as follows: the gradient of differential rotation decreased with the increase of heliocentric distance; the rotation remaining differential even in the vicinity of the source surface. The largest rotation rates were recorded at the cycle minimum at small heights in the corona. The lowest rotation rate was observed at the middle of the ascending branch at large distances. At the minimum of the cycle, the differential rotation is most clearly pronounced, especially at small heliocentric distances. As the distance increases, the differential gradient decreases in all phases. The results based on magnetic data and on the brightness of the coronal green line 530.3nm FeXIV used earlier show a satisfactory agreement. Since the rotation of the magnetic field at the corresponding heights in the corona is probably determined by the conditions in the field generation region, an opportunity arises to use this method for diagnostics of differential rotation in the subphotospheric layers.

Spatio-Temporal Evolution and North–South Asymmetry of Quasi-Biennial Oscillations in the Coronal Fe xiv Emission

In this work, we apply multichannel singular spectrum analysis (MSSA), a data-adaptive, multivariate, non-parametric technique that simultaneously exploits the spatial and temporal correlations of the input data to extract common modes of variability, to investigate the intermediate quasi-periodicities of the Fe XIV green coronal emission line at 530.3 nm for the period between 1944 and 2008. Our analysis reveals several significant mid-term periodicities in a range from about one to four years that are consistent with the so-called quasi-biennial oscillations (QBOs), which have been detected by several authors using different data sets and analysis methods. These QBOs display amplitudes varying significantly with time and latitude over the six solar cycles (18 to 23) covered by this study. A clear North-South asymmetry is detected both in their intensity and period distribution, with a net predominance of spectral power in the active-region belt of the northern hemisphere. On the other hand, while the QBOs with periods > 1.7 years are particularly intense around the polar regions and therefore related to the global magnetic field, the ones with shorter periods are mainly generated at mid-latitudes, in correspondence with the emergence of active regions. Our findings indicate that the North-South asymmetry manifested in the uneven latitudinal distribution of QBOs is a fundamental, albeit puzzling, characteristic of solar activity.

Multivariate analysis of intermediate periodicities of the green corona

AbstractSolar activity is observed to fluctuate with time, undergoing a wide range of periodicities from minutes up to thousands of years as evinced from proxies based on cosmogenic isotopes. In this work, we apply Multichannel Singular Spectrum Analysis (MSSA), a data-adaptive, multivariate technique that simultaneously exploits the spatial and temporal correlations of the input data to extract common modes of variability to investigate the intermediate quasi-periodicities of the green coronal emission line at 530.3 nm for the period between 1944 and 2008. A preliminary MSSA analysis confirms the presence of significant quasi-biennial oscillations in the data with amplitude varying significantly with time and latitude. On the other hand, a clear North-South asymmetry is observed both in their intensity and period distribution.

The morphological comparison and analysis of coronal green line

AbstractThe coronal is the origins of large-scale solar activity and disastrous space weather, it contains extremely rich information and various physical processes. The coronal loop is a kind of bright structure with hot plasma which is bounded by magnetic field in the coronal, it is a good reflection of the magnetic structure that we can hardly observe directly. It is also the energy channel between the photosphere and coronal, and the study of coronal loop is helpful for us to understand the magnetic line foot movement.

The coronal green line monitoring: a traditional but powerful tool for coronal physics

AbstractThe particular environment with high temperature and low plasma density in the corona results to the formation of some forbidden emission lines, in which the well-known green line at 530.3 nm has been utilized to diagnose the corona for a few decades. For the green line, besides its contribution on revealing the long-term coronal cycles as well as their relationship to the other solar phenomena, it is also helpful to detect limb coronal waves and ejections originated from the lower corona which seems not to be paid close attention to. Suggestions are presented that we not only need to keep the green line observation as a routine task for current coronagraph observations, but need to develop larger coronagraphs with advanced technology.

Precursors of an upcoming solar cycle at high latitudes from coronal green line data

After reviewing potential early indicators of an upcoming solar cycle at high latitudes, we focus attention on the rush–to-the-poles (RTTP) phenomenon in coronal green line emission. Considering various correlations between properties of the RTTP with the upcoming solar cycle we find a correlation between the rate of the RTTP and the time delay until the maximum of the next solar cycle. On the basis of this correlation and the known internal regularities of the sunspot number series we predict that, following a minimum in 2019, cycle 25 will peak in late 2024 at an amplitude of about 130 (in terms of smoothed monthly revised sunspot numbers). This slightly exceeds the amplitude of cycle 24 but it would still make cycle 25 a fairly weak cycle.

Spectro-Imaging Polarimetry of the Local Corona During Solar Eclipse

Results are presented from spectro-imaging polarimetry of radiation from the local solar corona during the 2013 total solar eclipse in Gabon. This polarimetric observation was performed from 516.3 nm to 532.6 nm using a prototype Fiber Arrayed Solar Optical Telescope (FASOT). A polarimetric noise level on the order of 10^{-3} results from a reduced polarimetric optical switching demodulation (RPOSD) procedure for data reduction. It is revealed that the modality of fractional linear polarization profiles of the green coronal line shows a diversity, which may indicate complex mechanisms. The polarization degree can approach 3.2 % above the continuum polarization level on a scale of 1500 km, and the nonuniform spatial distribution in amplitude and polarization direction is found even within a small field of view of 7500 km. All of this implies that the coronal polarization is highly structured and complex even on a small scale.

22-year cycle of differential rotation of the solar corona and the rule by Gnevyshev–Ohl

The time variation of the parameters of differential rotation of the solar corona is considered based on data on the coronal green-line brightness. Separate analysis is performed for even and odd cycles. It is shown that the equatorial rotation rate of the corona increases in the epochs of minimum between the even and odd cycles and reaches its minimum values between the odd and even cycles. Besides, it is found that the differential rotation gradient in absolute value increases in the even cycles. Both these factors may act to increase the amplitude of the odd cycle compared to the preceding even one. Perhaps, this is what explains the effect of Gnevyshev–Ohl.

Hysteresis Effect in the Activity Indices of the Atmospheres of the Sun and Solar-Type Stars During the Rising and Falling Phases of Cycles

The hysteresis effect that shows up as a nonunique relationship among the emissions from the photosphere, chromosphere, and corona during the rising and falling phases of solar and stellar activity is analyzed. The following solar indices are analyzed and compared in different phases of the cycle: the radiative flux in the hydrogen Lyman alpha line FLα, radio emission at 10.7 cm F10.7, the sunspot number SSN, the radiative flux in the 530.0 nm green coronal line F530.3, the solar constant TSI, and the relative flux ratio c/w (ratio of the fluxes in the center and in the wings) for the 280 nm Mg II line. In stars with cycles, a hysteresis effect is observed between the CaII chromospheric S-activity index for stars in the Mount Wilson HK project and the photospheric flux Fph for these stars.

A link between high-speed solar wind streams and explosive extratropical cyclones

A link between solar wind magnetic sector boundary (heliospheric current sheet) crossings by the Earth and the upper-level tropospheric vorticity was discovered in the 1970s. These results have been later confirmed but the proposed mechanisms remain controversial. Extratropical-cyclone tracks obtained from two meteorological reanalysis datasets are used in superposed epoch analysis of time series of solar wind plasma parameters and green coronal emission line intensity. The time series are keyed to times of maximum growth of explosively developing extratropical cyclones in the winter season. The new statistical evidence corroborates the previously published results (Prikryl et al., 2009). This evidence shows that explosive extratropical cyclones tend to occur after arrivals of solar wind disturbances such as high-speed solar wind streams from coronal holes when large amplitude magneto-hydrodynamic waves couple to the magnetosphere-ionosphere system. These MHD waves modulate Joule heating and/or Lorentz forcing of the high-latitude thermosphere generating medium-scale atmospheric gravity waves that propagate energy upward and downward from auroral zone through the atmosphere. At the tropospheric level, in spite of significantly reduced amplitudes, these gravity waves can provide a lift of unstable air to release the moist symmetric instability thus initiating slantwise convection and forming cloud/precipitation bands. The release of latent heat is known to provide energy for rapid development and intensification of extratropical cyclones.