23 research outputs found
Coronal Shock Waves, EUV waves, and their Relation to CMEs. II. Modeling MHD Shock Wave Propagation Along the Solar Surface, Using Nonlinear Geometrical Acoustics
We model the propagation of a coronal shock wave, using nonlinear geometrical
acoustics. The method is based on the Wentzel-Kramers-Brillouin (WKB) approach
and takes into account the main properties of nonlinear waves: i) dependence of
the wave front velocity on the wave amplitude, ii) nonlinear dissipation of the
wave energy, and iii) progressive increase in the duration of solitary shock
waves. We address the method in detail and present results of the modeling of
the propagation of shock-associated extreme-ultraviolet (EUV) waves as well as
Moreton waves along the solar surface in the simplest solar corona model. The
calculations reveal deceleration and lengthening of the waves. In contrast,
waves considered in the linear approximation keep their length unchanged and
slightly accelerate.Comment: 15 pages, 7 figures, accepted for publication in Solar Physic
Coronal Shock Waves, EUV Waves, and Their Relation to CMEs. III. Shock-Associated CME/EUV Wave in an Event with a Two-Component EUV Transient
On 17 January 2010, STEREO-B observed in extreme ultraviolet (EUV) and white
light a large-scale dome-shaped expanding coronal transient with perfectly
connected off-limb and on-disk signatures. Veronig et al. (2010, ApJL 716, 57)
concluded that the dome was formed by a weak shock wave. We have revealed two
EUV components, one of which corresponded to this transient. All of its
properties found from EUV, white light, and a metric type II burst match
expectations for a freely expanding coronal shock wave including correspondence
to the fast-mode speed distribution, while the transient sweeping over the
solar surface had a speed typical of EUV waves. The shock wave was presumably
excited by an abrupt filament eruption. Both a weak shock approximation and a
power-law fit match kinematics of the transient near the Sun. Moreover, the
power-law fit matches expansion of the CME leading edge up to 24 solar radii.
The second, quasi-stationary EUV component near the dimming was presumably
associated with a stretched CME structure; no indications of opening magnetic
fields have been detected far from the eruption region.Comment: 18 pages, 10 figures. Solar Physics, published online. The final
publication is available at http://www.springerlink.co
Coronal Shock Waves, EUV waves, and Their Relation to CMEs. I. Reconciliation of "EIT waves", Type II Radio Bursts, and Leading Edges of CMEs
We show examples of excitation of coronal waves by flare-related abrupt
eruptions of magnetic rope structures. The waves presumably rapidly steepened
into shocks and freely propagated afterwards like decelerating blast waves that
showed up as Moreton waves and EUV waves. We propose a simple quantitative
description for such shock waves to reconcile their observed propagation with
drift rates of metric type II bursts and kinematics of leading edges of coronal
mass ejections (CMEs). Taking account of different plasma density falloffs for
propagation of a wave up and along the solar surface, we demonstrate a close
correspondence between drift rates of type II bursts and speeds of EUV waves,
Moreton waves, and CMEs observed in a few known events.Comment: 30 pages, 15 figures. Solar Physics, published online. The final
publication is available at http://www.springerlink.co
An Extreme Solar Event of 20 January 2005: Properties of the Flare and the Origin of Energetic Particles
The extreme solar and SEP event of 20 January 2005 is analyzed from two
perspectives. Firstly, we study features of the main phase of the flare, when
the strongest emissions from microwaves up to 200 MeV gamma-rays were observed.
Secondly, we relate our results to a long-standing controversy on the origin of
SEPs arriving at Earth, i.e., acceleration in flares, or shocks ahead of CMEs.
All emissions from microwaves up to 2.22 MeV line gamma-rays during the main
flare phase originated within a compact structure located just above sunspot
umbrae. A huge radio burst with a frequency maximum at 30 GHz was observed,
indicating the presence of a large number of energetic electrons in strong
magnetic fields. Thus, protons and electrons responsible for flare emissions
during its main phase were accelerated within the magnetic field of the active
region. The leading, impulsive parts of the GLE, and highest-energy gamma-rays
identified with pi^0-decay emission, are similar and correspond in time. The
origin of the pi^0-decay gamma-rays is argued to be the same as that of lower
energy emissions. We estimate the sky-plane speed of the CME to be 2000-2600
km/s, i.e., high, but of the same order as preceding non-GLE-related CMEs from
the same active region. Hence, the flare itself rather than the CME appears to
determine the extreme nature of this event. We conclude that the acceleration,
at least, to sub-relativistic energies, of electrons and protons, responsible
for both the flare emissions and the leading spike of SEP/GLE by 07 UT, are
likely to have occurred simultaneously within the flare region. We do not rule
out a probable contribution from particles accelerated in the CME-driven shock
for the leading GLE spike, which seemed to dominate later on.Comment: 34 pages, 14 Postscript figures. Solar Physics, accepted. A typo
corrected. The original publication is available at
http://www.springerlink.co
Excitation of standing kink oscillations in coronal loops
In this work we review the efforts that have been done to study the
excitation of the standing fast kink body mode in coronal loops. We mainly
focus on the time-dependent problem, which is appropriate to describe flare or
CME induced kink oscillations. The analytical and numerical studies in slab and
cylindrical loop geometries are reviewed. We discuss the results from very
simple one-dimensional models to more realistic (but still simple) loop
configurations. We emphasise how the results of the initial value problem
complement the eigenmode calculations. The possible damping mechanisms of the
kink oscillations are also discussed
Siberian Radioheliograph: first results
Regular observations of active processes in the solar atmosphere have been started using the first stage of the multiwave Siberian Radioheliograph (SRH), a T-shaped 48-antenna array with a 4–8 GHz operating frequency range and a 10 MHz instantaneous receiving band. Antennas are mounted on the central antenna posts of the Siberian Solar Radio Telescope. The maximum baseline is 107.4 m, and the angular resolution is up to 70. We present examples of observations of the solar disk at different frequencies, “negative” bursts, and solar flares. The sensitivity to compact sources reaches 0.01 solar flux units (≈10−4 of the total solar flux) with an accumulation time of about 0.3 s. The high sensitivity of SRH enables monitoring of solar activity and allows studying active processes from characteristics of their microwave emission, including faint events, which could not be detected previously