Comparison of Solar Fine Structure Observed Simultaneously in Ly-{\alpha} and Mg II h

The Chromospheric Lyman Alpha Spectropolarimeter (CLASP) observed the Sun in H I Lyman-{\alpha} during a suborbital rocket flight on September 3, 2015. The Interface Region Imaging Telescope (IRIS) coordinated with the CLASP observations and recorded nearly simultaneous and co-spatial observations in the Mg II h&k lines. The Mg II h and Ly-{\alpha} lines are important transitions, energetically and diagnostically, in the chromosphere. The canonical solar atmosphere model predicts that these lines form in close proximity to each other and so we expect that the line profiles will exhibit similar variability. In this analysis, we present these coordinated observations and discuss how the two profiles compare over a region of quiet sun at viewing angles that approach the limb. In addition to the observations, we synthesize both line profiles using a 3D radiation-MHD simulation. In the observations, we find that the peak width and the peak intensities are well correlated between the lines. For the simulation, we do not find the same relationship. We have attempted to mitigate the instrumental differences between IRIS and CLASP and to reproduce the instrumental factors in the synthetic profiles. The model indicates that formation heights of the lines differ in a somewhat regular fashion related to magnetic geometry. This variation explains to some degree the lack of correlation, observed and synthesized, between Mg II and Ly-{\alpha}. Our analysis will aid in the definition of future observatories that aim to link dynamics in the chromosphere and transition region.Comment: Accepted by Ap

Automated Detection of Rapid Variability of Moss Using SDO/AIA and Its Connection to the Solar Corona

Active region moss—the upper transition region of hot loops—was observed exhibiting rapid intensity variability on timescales of order 15 s by Testa et al. in a short time series (~150 s) data set from Hi-C (High-resolution Coronal Imager). The intensity fluctuations in the subarcsecond 193A images (~1.5 MK plasma) were uncharacteristic of steadily heated moss and were considered an indication of heating events connected to the corona. Intriguingly, these brightenings displayed a connection to the ends of transient hot loops seen in the corona. Following the same active region, AR11520, for 6 days, we demonstrate an algorithm designed to detect the same temporal variability in lower resolution Atmospheric Imaging Assembly (AIA) data, significantly expanding the number of events detected. Multiple analogous regions to the Hi-C data are successfully detected, showing moss that appears to "sparkle" prior to clear brightening of connected high-temperature loops; this is confirmed by the hot AIA channels and the isolated Fe xviii emission. The result is illuminating, as the same behavior has recently been shown by Polito et al. while simulating nanoflares with a beam of electrons depositing their energy in the lower atmosphere. Furthermore, the variability is localized mostly to the hot core of the region, hence we reinforce the diagnostic potential of moss variability as the driver of energy release in the corona. The ubiquitous nature of this phenomenon, and the ability to detect it in data with extended time series, and large fields of view, opens a new window into investigating the coronal heating mechanism

The Formation of IRIS Diagnostics. VI. The Diagnostic Potential of the C II Lines at 133.5 nm in the Solar Atmosphere

We use 3D radiation magnetohydrodynamic models to investigate how the thermodynamic quantities in the simulation are encoded in observable quantities, thus exploring the diagnostic potential of the C ii 133.5 nm lines. We find that the line core intensity is correlated with the temperature at the formation height but the correlation is rather weak, especially when the lines are strong. The line core Doppler shift is a good measure of the line-of-sight velocity at the formation height. The line width is both dependent on the width of the absorption profile (thermal and non-thermal width) and an opacity broadening factor of 1.2–4 due to the optically thick line formation with a larger broadening for double peak profiles. The C ii 133.5 nm lines can be formed both higher and lower than the core of the Mg ii k line depending on the amount of plasma in the 14–50 kK temperature range. More plasma in this temperature range gives a higher C ii 133.5 nm formation height relative to the Mg ii k line core. The synthetic line profiles have been compared with Interface Region Imaging Spectrograph observations. The derived parameters from the simulated line profiles cover the parameter range seen in observations but, on average, the synthetic profiles are too narrow. We interpret this discrepancy as a combination of a lack of plasma at chromospheric temperatures in the simulation box and too small non-thermal velocities. The large differences in the distribution of properties between the synthetic profiles and the observed ones show that the C ii 133.5 nm lines are powerful diagnostics of the upper chromosphere and lower transition region. Reproduced with permission from the Astrophysical Journal. © IOP Publishin

Synthesized spectra of optically thin emission lines produced by the Bifrost stellar atmosphere code, including nonequilibrium ionization effects: A study of the intensity, nonthermal line widths, and Doppler shifts

In recent years realistic 3D numerical models of the solar atmosphere have become available. The models attempt to recreate the solar atmosphere and mimic observations in the best way, in order to make it possible to couple complicated observations with physical properties such as the temperatures, densities, velocities, and magnetic fields. We here present a study of synthetic spectra created using the Bifrost code in order to assess how well they fit with previously taken solar data. A study of the synthetic intensity, nonthermal line widths, Doppler shifts, and correlations between any two of these three components of the spectra first assuming statistical equilibrium is made, followed by a report on some of the effects nonequilibrium ionization will have on the synthesized spectra. We find that the synthetic intensities compare well with the observations. The synthetic observations depend on the assumed resolution and point-spread function (PSF) of the instrument, and we find a large effect on the results, especially for intensity and nonthermal line width. The Doppler shifts produce the reported persistent redshifts for the transition region (TR) lines and blueshifts for the upper TR and corona lines. The nonthermal line widths reproduce the well-known turnoff point around (2–3) × 105 K, but with much lower values than those observed. The nonthermal line widths tend to increase with decreasing assumed instrumental resolution, also when nonequilibrium ionization is included. Correlations between the nonthermal line width of any two TR line studies as reported by Chae et al. are reproduced, while the correlations of intensity to line width are reproduced only after applying a PSF to the data. Doppler shift correlations reported by Doschek for the TR lines and correlations of Doppler shift to nonthermal line width of the Fe xii 19.5 line reported by Doschek et al. are reproduced. Reproduced with permission from the Astrophysical Journal. © IOP Publishin

Solar Hα features with hot onsets: IV. Network fibrils

Even in quiet areas underneath coronal holes the solar chromosphere contains ubiquitous heating events. They tend to be small scale and short lived, hence difficult to identify. Here we do not address their much-debated contribution to outer-atmosphere heating, but their aftermaths. We performed a statistical analysis of high-resolution observations in the Balmer Hα line to suggest that many slender dark Hα fibrils spreading out from network represent cooling gas that outlines tracks of preceding rapid type II spicule events or smaller similar but as yet unresolved heating agents in which the main gas constituent, hydrogen, ionizes at least partially. Subsequent recombination then causes dark Hα fibrils enhanced by nonequilibrium overopacity. We suggest that the extraordinary fibrilar appearance of the Hα chromosphere around network results from intermittent, frequent small-scale prior heating

On the active region bright grains observed in the transition region imaging channels of IRIS

The Interface Region Imaging Spectrograph (IRIS) provides spectroscopy and narrow band slit-jaw (SJI) imaging of the solar chromosphere and transition region at unprecedented spatial and temporal resolutions. Combined with high-resolution context spectral imaging of the photosphere and chromosphere as provided by the Swedish 1 m Solar Telescope (SST), we can now effectively trace dynamic phenomena through large parts of the solar atmosphere in both space and time. IRIS SJI 1400 images from active regions, which primarily sample the transition region with the Si iv 1394 and 1403 Å lines, reveal ubiquitous bright "grains" which are short-lived (two to five minute) bright roundish small patches of sizes 0farcs5–1farcs7 that generally move limbward with velocities up to about 30 km s−1. In this paper, we show that many bright grains are the result of chromospheric shocks impacting the transition region. These shocks are associated with dynamic fibrils (DFs), most commonly observed in Hα. We find that the grains show the strongest emission in the ascending phase of the DF, that the emission is strongest toward the top of the DF, and that the grains correspond to a blueshift and broadening of the Si iv lines. We note that the SJI 1400 grains can also be observed in the SJI 1330 channel which is dominated by C ii lines. Our observations show that a significant part of the active region transition region dynamics is driven from the chromosphere below rather than from coronal activity above. We conclude that the shocks that drive DFs also play an important role in the heating of the upper chromosphere and lower transition region. Reproduced with permission from the Astrophysical Journal. © IOP Publishin

TIME DEPENDENT NONEQUILIBRIUM IONIZATION of TRANSITION REGION LINES OBSERVED with IRIS

The properties of nonstatistical equilibrium ionization of silicon and oxygen ions are analyzed in this work. We focus on five solar targets (quiet Sun; coronal hole; plage; quiescent active region, AR; and flaring AR) as observed with the Interface Region Imaging Spectrograph (IRIS). IRIS is best suited for this work owing to the high cadence (up to 0.5 s), high spatial resolution (up to 0farcs32), and high signal-to-noise ratios for O iv λ1401 and Si iv λ1402. We find that the observed intensity ratio between lines of three times ionized silicon and oxygen ions depends on their total intensity and that this correlation varies depending on the region observed (quiet Sun, coronal holes, plage, or active regions) and on the specific observational objects present (spicules, dynamic loops, jets, microflares, or umbra). In order to interpret the observations, we compare them with synthetic profiles taken from 2D self-consistent radiative MHD simulations of the solar atmosphere, where the statistical equilibrium or nonequilibrium treatment of silicon and oxygen is applied. These synthetic observations show vaguely similar correlations to those in the observations, i.e., between the intensity ratios and their intensities, but only in the nonequilibrium case do we find that (some of) the observations can be reproduced. We conclude that these lines are formed out of statistical equilibrium. We use our time-dependent nonequilibrium ionization simulations to describe the physical mechanisms behind these observed properties. Reproduced with permission from the Astrophysical Journal. © IOP Publishin

The Formation of IRIS Diagnostics. VIII. IRIS Observations in the C II 133.5 nm Multiplet

The C ii 133.5 nm multiplet has been observed by NASA's Interface Region Imaging Spectrograph (IRIS) in unprecedented spatial resolution. The aims of this work are to characterize these new observations of the C ii lines, place them in context with previous work, and to identify any additional value the C ii lines bring when compared with other spectral lines. We make use of wide, long exposure IRIS rasters covering the quiet Sun and an active region. Line properties such as velocity shift and width are extracted from individual spectra and analyzed. The lines have a variety of shapes (mostly single-peak or double-peak), are strongest in active regions and weaker in the quiet Sun. The ratio between the 133.4 and 133.5 nm components is always less than 1.8, indicating that their radiation is optically thick in all locations. Maps of the C ii line widths are a powerful new diagnostic of chromospheric structures, and their line shifts are a robust velocity diagnostic. Compared with earlier quiet Sun observations, we find similar absolute intensities and mean line widths, but smaller redshifts; this difference can perhaps be attributed to differences in spectral resolution and spatial coverage. The C ii intensity maps are somewhat similar to those of transition region lines, but also share some features with chromospheric maps such as those from the Mg ii k line, indicating that they are formed between the upper chromosphere and transition region. C ii intensity, width, and velocity maps can therefore be used to gather additional information about the upper chromosphere. Reproduced with permission from the Astrophysical Journal. © IOP Publishin

A Novel Inversion Method to Determine the Coronal Magnetic Field Including the Impact of Bound–Free Absorption

The magnetic field governs the corona; hence, it is a crucial parameter to measure. Unfortunately, existing techniques for estimating its strength are limited by strong assumptions and limitations. These techniques include photospheric or chromospheric field extrapolation using potential or nonlinear force-free methods, estimates based on coronal seismology, or direct observations via, e.g., the Cryo-NIRSP instrument on DKIST, which will measure the coronal magnetic field but only off the limb. Alternately, in this work, we investigate a recently developed approach based on the magnetic-field-induced transition (MIT) of Fe x 257.261Å In order to examine this approach, we have synthesized several Fe x lines from two 3D magnetohydrodynamic simulations, one modeling an emerging flux region and the second an established mature active region. In addition, we take bound–free absorption from neutral hydrogen and helium and singly ionized helium into account. The absorption from cool plasma that occurs at coronal heights has a significant impact on determining the magnetic field. We investigate in detail the challenges of using these Fe x lines to measure the field, considering their density and temperature dependence. We present a novel approach to deriving the magnetic field from the MIT using inversions of the differential emission measure as a function of the temperature, density, and magnetic field. This approach successfully estimates the magnetic field strength (up to 18% relative error) in regions that do not suffer from significant absorption and that have relatively strong coronal magnetic fields (>250 G). This method allows regions where absorption is significant to be masked