Structure of solar coronal loops: from miniature to large-scale

We will use new data from the High-resolution Coronal Imager (Hi-C) with unprecedented spatial resolution of the solar corona to investigate the structure of coronal loops down to 0.2 arcsec. During a rocket flight Hi-C provided images of the solar corona in a wavelength band around 193 A that is dominated by emission from Fe XII showing plasma at temperatures around 1.5 MK. We analyze part of the Hi-C field-of-view to study the smallest coronal loops observed so far and search for the a possible sub-structuring of larger loops. We find tiny 1.5 MK loop-like structures that we interpret as miniature coronal loops. These have length of the coronal segment above the chromosphere of only about 1 Mm and a thickness of less than 200 km. They could be interpreted as the coronal signature of small flux tubes breaking through the photosphere with a footpoint distance corresponding to the diameter of a cell of granulation. We find loops that are longer than 50 Mm to have a diameter of about 2 arcsec or 1.5 Mm, consistent with previous observations. However, Hi-C really resolves these loops with some 20 pixels across the loop. Even at this greatly improved spatial resolution the large loops seem to have no visible sub-structure. Instead they show a smooth variation in cross-section. The fact that the large coronal loops do not show a sub-structure at the spatial scale of 0.1 arcsec per pixel implies that either the densities and temperatures are smoothly varying across these loops or poses an upper limit on the diameter of strands the loops might be composed of. We estimate that strands that compose the 2 arcsec thick loop would have to be thinner than 15 km. The miniature loops we find for the first time pose a challenge to be properly understood in terms of modeling.Comment: Accepted for publication in A&A (Jun 19, 2013), 11 pages, 10 figure

Posteruptive phenomena in coronal mass ejections and substorms: Indicators of a universal process?

[1] We examine phenomena associated with eruptions in the two different regimes of the solar corona and the terrestrial magnetosphere. We find striking similarities between the speeds of shrinking magnetic field lines in the corona and dipolarization fronts traversing the magnetosphere. We also examine the similarities between supra-arcade downflows observed during solar flares and bursty bulk flows seen in the magnetotail and find that these phenomena have remarkably similar speeds, velocity profiles, and size scales. Thus we show manifest similarities in the magnetic reconfiguration in response to the ejection of coronal mass ejections in the corona and the ejection of plasmoids in the magnetotail. The subsequent return of loops to a quasi-potential state in the corona and field dipolarization in the magnetotail are physical analogs and trigger similar phenomena such as downflows, which provides key insights into the underlying drivers of the plasma dynamics

Outer jet X-ray and radio emission in R Aquarii: 1999.8 to 2004.0

Chandra and VLA observations of the symbiotic star R Aqr in 2004 reveal significant changes over the three to four year interval between these observations and previous observations taken with the VLA in 1999 and with Chandra in 2000. This paper reports on the evolution of the outer thermal X-ray lobe-jets and radio jets. The emission from the outer X-ray lobe-jets lies farther away from the central binary than the outer radio jets, and comes from material interpreted as being shock heated to ~10^6 K, a likely result of collision between high speed material ejected from the central binary and regions of enhanced gas density. Between 2000 and 2004, the Northeast (NE) outer X-ray lobe-jet moved out away from the central binary, with an apparent projected motion of ~580 km s^-1. The Southwest (SW) outer X-ray lobe-jet almost disappeared between 2000 and 2004, presumably due to adiabatic expansion and cooling. The NE radio bright spot also moved away from the central binary between 2000 and 2004, but with a smaller apparent velocity than of the NE X-ray bright spot. The SW outer lobe-jet was not detected in the radio in either 1999 or 2004. The density and mass of the X-ray emitting material is estimated. Cooling times, shock speeds, pressure and confinement are discussed.Comment: 23 pages, 8 figure

The gas density around SN 1006

The density of the ambient medium where the supernova remnant evolves is a relevant parameter for its hydrodynamical evolution, for the mechanism of particle acceleration, and for the emission at TeV energies. Using XMM-Newton X-ray observations, we present a study of the ambient medium density of the historical supernova remnant SN 1006. We modelled the post-shock thermal emission to constrain the ambient medium density. Our study is focused on the North-West and the South-East rims of the remnant, where the thermal emission dominates. We used a plane-parallel shock plasma model plus another component for the ejecta that are not negligible in the regions of our study. The importance of the synchrotron component is also studied. In order to improve statistics, we combined several observations of the remnant. The density found in the South-East rim is low, roughly 0.05 cm-3, and seems to be representative of the rest of the remnant. However, in the North-West rim (close to the bright optical filament), the density is significantly higher (about 0.15-0.25 cm-3). This confirms a picture of SN 1006 evolving in a tenuous ambient medium, except in the North-West where the remnant has recently encountered a denser region. A density this low is compatible with the non-detection of the remnant by the HESS gamma-ray observatory. The lower density in the South-East implies a higher shock speed of 4900 km/s, higher than that of 2890 km/s measured in the North-West. This new estimate of the velocity could increase the maximum energy that accelerated particles can reach to energies of about 1 PeV.Comment: 8 pages, 4 figures, accepted for publication in A&A, Figure 3 correcte

A simple model for electron plasma heating in supernova remnants

Context: Multiwavelength observations of supernova remnants can be explained within the framework of diffusive shock acceleration theory, which allows effective conversion of the explosion energy into cosmic rays. Although the models of nonlinear shocks describe reasonably well the nonthermal component of emission, certain issues, including the heating of the thermal electron plasma and the related X-ray emission, still remain open. Methods: Numerical solution of the equations of the Chevalier model for supernova remnant evolution, coupled with Coulomb scattering heating of the electrons. Results: The electron temperature and the X-ray thermal Bremsstrahlung emission from supernova remnants have been calculated as functions of the relevant parameters. Since only the Coulomb mechanism was considered for electron heating, the values obtained for the electron temperatures should be treated as lower limits. Results from this work can be useful to constrain model parameters for observed SNRs.Comment: Accepted to A&A as a research not

Sparkling extreme-ultraviolet bright dots observed with Hi-C

Observing the Sun at high time and spatial scales is a step toward understanding the finest and fundamental scales of heating events in the solar corona. The high-resolution coronal (Hi-C) instrument has provided the highest spatial and temporal resolution images of the solar corona in the EUV wavelength range to date. Hi-C observed an active region on 2012 July 11 that exhibits several interesting features in the EUV line at 193 Å. One of them is the existence of short, small brightenings "sparkling" at the edge of the active region; we call these EUV bright dots (EBDs). Individual EBDs have a characteristic duration of 25 s with a characteristic length of 680 km. These brightenings are not fully resolved by the SDO/AIA instrument at the same wavelength; however, they can be identified with respect to the Hi-C location of the EBDs. In addition, EBDs are seen in other chromospheric/coronal channels of SDO/AIA, which suggests a temperature between 0.5 and 1.5 MK. Based on their frequency in the Hi-C time series, we define four different categories of EBDs: single peak, double peak, long duration, and bursty. Based on a potential field extrapolation from an SDO/HMI magnetogram, the EBDs appear at the footpoints of large-scale, trans-equatorial coronal loops. The Hi-C observations provide the first evidence of small-scale EUV heating events at the base of these coronal loops, which have a free magnetic energy of the order of 1026 erg. © 2014. The American Astronomical Society. All rights reserved

Synthesis of 3-D coronal-solar wind energetic particle acceleration modules

1. Introduction Acute space radiation hazards pose one of the most serious risks to future human and robotic exploration. Large solar energetic particle (SEP) events are dangerous to astronauts and equipment. The ability to predict when and where large SEPs will occur is necessary in order to mitigate their hazards. The Coronal-Solar Wind Energetic Particle Acceleration (C-SWEPA) modeling effort in the NASA/NSF Space Weather Modeling Collaborative [Schunk, 2014] combines two successful Living With a Star (LWS) (http://lws. gsfc.nasa.gov/) strategic capabilities: the Earth-Moon-Mars Radiation Environment Modules (EMMREM) [Schwadron et al., 2010] that describe energetic particles and their effects, with the Next Generation Model for the Corona and Solar Wind developed by the Predictive Science, Inc. (PSI) group. The goal of the C-SWEPA effort is to develop a coupled model that describes the conditions of the corona, solar wind, coronal mass ejections (CMEs) and associated shocks, particle acceleration, and propagation via physics-based modules. Assessing the threat of SEPs is a difficult problem. The largest SEPs typically arise in conjunction with X class flares and very fast (\u3e1000 km/s) CMEs. These events are usually associated with complex sunspot groups (also known as active regions) that harbor strong, stressed magnetic fields. Highly energetic protons generated in these events travel near the speed of light and can arrive at Earth minutes after the eruptive event. The generation of these particles is, in turn, believed to be primarily associated with the shock wave formed very low in the corona by the passage of the CME (injection of particles from the flare site may also play a role). Whether these particles actually reach Earth (or any other point) depends on their transport in the interplanetary magnetic field and their magnetic connection to the shock

Circumstellar Na I and Ca II lines of type Ia supernovae in symbiotic scenario

Formation of circumstellar lines of Na I and Ca II in type Ia supernovae is studied for the case, when supernova explodes in a binary system with a red giant. The model suggests a spherically-symmetric wind and takes into account ionization and heating of the wind by X-rays from the shock wave and by gamma-quanta of ^{56}Ni radioactive decay. For the wind density typical of the red giant the expected optical depth of the wind in Na I lines turnes out too low (\tau<0.001}) to detect the absorption. For the same wind densities the predicted optical depth of Ca II 3934 \AA is sufficient for the detection (\tau>0.1). I conclude that the absorption lines detected in SN 2006X cannot form in the red giant wind; they are rather related to clouds at distances larger than the dust evaporation radius (r>10^{17} cm). From the absence in SN 2006X of Ca II absorption lines not related with the similar Na I components I derive the upper limit of the mass loss rate by the wind with velocity u: \dot{M}<10^{-8}(u/10 km/s) M_{\odot} yr^{-1}.Comment: 10 pages, 6 figures, Astronomy Letters (accepted

Coronal electron temperature in the protracted solar minimum, the cycle 24 mini maximum, and over centuries

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/106800/1/jgra50869.pd