On the structure and evolution of a polar crown prominence/filament system

Polar crown prominences are made of chromospheric plasma partially circling the Suns poles between 60 and 70 degree latitude. We aim to diagnose the 3D dynamics of a polar crown prominence using high cadence EUV images from the Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO)/AIA at 304 and 171A and the Ahead spacecraft of the Solar Terrestrial Relations Observatory (STEREO-A)/EUVI at 195A. Using time series across specific structures we compare flows across the disk in 195A with the prominence dynamics seen on the limb. The densest prominence material forms vertical columns which are separated by many tens of Mm and connected by dynamic bridges of plasma that are clearly visible in 304/171A two-color images. We also observe intermittent but repetitious flows with velocity 15 km/s in the prominence that appear to be associated with EUV bright points on the solar disk. The boundary between the prominence and the overlying cavity appears as a sharp edge. We discuss the structure of the coronal cavity seen both above and around the prominence. SDO/HMI and GONG magnetograms are used to infer the underlying magnetic topology. The evolution and structure of the prominence with respect to the magnetic field seems to agree with the filament linkage model.Comment: 24 pages, 14 figures, Accepted for publication in Solar Physics Journal, Movies can be found at http://www2.mps.mpg.de/data/outgoing/panesar

4pi Models of CMEs and ICMEs

Coronal mass ejections (CMEs), which dynamically connect the solar surface to the far reaches of interplanetary space, represent a major anifestation of solar activity. They are not only of principal interest but also play a pivotal role in the context of space weather predictions. The steady improvement of both numerical methods and computational resources during recent years has allowed for the creation of increasingly realistic models of interplanetary CMEs (ICMEs), which can now be compared to high-quality observational data from various space-bound missions. This review discusses existing models of CMEs, characterizing them by scientific aim and scope, CME initiation method, and physical effects included, thereby stressing the importance of fully 3-D ('4pi') spatial coverage.Comment: 14 pages plus references. Comments welcome. Accepted for publication in Solar Physics (SUN-360 topical issue

Origins of the Ambient Solar Wind: Implications for Space Weather

The Sun's outer atmosphere is heated to temperatures of millions of degrees, and solar plasma flows out into interplanetary space at supersonic speeds. This paper reviews our current understanding of these interrelated problems: coronal heating and the acceleration of the ambient solar wind. We also discuss where the community stands in its ability to forecast how variations in the solar wind (i.e., fast and slow wind streams) impact the Earth. Although the last few decades have seen significant progress in observations and modeling, we still do not have a complete understanding of the relevant physical processes, nor do we have a quantitatively precise census of which coronal structures contribute to specific types of solar wind. Fast streams are known to be connected to the central regions of large coronal holes. Slow streams, however, appear to come from a wide range of sources, including streamers, pseudostreamers, coronal loops, active regions, and coronal hole boundaries. Complicating our understanding even more is the fact that processes such as turbulence, stream-stream interactions, and Coulomb collisions can make it difficult to unambiguously map a parcel measured at 1 AU back down to its coronal source. We also review recent progress -- in theoretical modeling, observational data analysis, and forecasting techniques that sit at the interface between data and theory -- that gives us hope that the above problems are indeed solvable.Comment: Accepted for publication in Space Science Reviews. Special issue connected with a 2016 ISSI workshop on "The Scientific Foundations of Space Weather." 44 pages, 9 figure

The Origin, Early Evolution and Predictability of Solar Eruptions

Coronal mass ejections (CMEs) were discovered in the early 1970s when space-borne coronagraphs revealed that eruptions of plasma are ejected from the Sun. Today, it is known that the Sun produces eruptive flares, filament eruptions, coronal mass ejections and failed eruptions; all thought to be due to a release of energy stored in the coronal magnetic field during its drastic reconfiguration. This review discusses the observations and physical mechanisms behind this eruptive activity, with a view to making an assessment of the current capability of forecasting these events for space weather risk and impact mitigation. Whilst a wealth of observations exist, and detailed models have been developed, there still exists a need to draw these approaches together. In particular more realistic models are encouraged in order to asses the full range of complexity of the solar atmosphere and the criteria for which an eruption is formed. From the observational side, a more detailed understanding of the role of photospheric flows and reconnection is needed in order to identify the evolutionary path that ultimately means a magnetic structure will erupt

Observations of a hybrid double-streamer/pseudostreamer in the solar corona

We report on the first observation of a single hybrid magnetic structure that contains both a pseudostreamer and a double streamer. This structure was originally observed by the SWAP instrument on board the PROBA2 satellite between 2013 May 5 and 10. It consists of a pair of filament channels near the south pole of the Sun. On the western edge of the structure, the magnetic morphology above the filaments is that of a side-by-side double streamer, with open field between the two channels. On the eastern edge, the magnetic morphology is that of a coronal pseudostreamer without the central open field. We investigated this structure with multiple observations and modeling techniques. We describe the topology and dynamic consequences of such a unified structure

Observations of a hybrid double-streamer/pseudostreamer in the solar corona

We report on the first observation of a single hybrid magnetic structure that contains both a pseudostreamer and a double streamer. This structure was originally observed by the SWAP instrument on board the PROBA2 satellite between 2013 May 5 and 10. It consists of a pair of filament channels near the south pole of the Sun. On the western edge of the structure, the magnetic morphology above the filaments is that of a side-by-side double streamer, with open field between the two channels. On the eastern edge, the magnetic morphology is that of a coronal pseudostreamer without the central open field. We investigated this structure with multiple observations and modeling techniques. We describe the topology and dynamic consequences of such a unified structure

Marshall Grazing Incidence X-ray Spectrometer Slitjaw Imager Implementation and Performance

The Marshall Grazing Incidence X-ray Spectrometer (MaGIXS) is a slit spectrograph designed to fly on a sounding-rocket and to observe the Sun in soft X-rays (SXRs) to determine the frequency of coronal heating events. The MaGIXS wavelength range (≈ 0.6 – 2.5 nm) has a significant number of diagnostic lines formed at coronal temperatures, but developing SXR instrumentation presents several challenges, including how to efficiently perform context imaging. A slitjaw image is required for pointing the instrument during flight and for co-alignment with coordinated data sets after flight, but operating in the SXR regime implies that a simple normal-incidence optical system could not be employed to image the same wavelength range as the spectrograph. Therefore, to avoid the complexity of additional grazing-incidence optics, the MaGIXS slitjaw system is designed to image in the extreme ultraviolet (EUV) between roughly 20 – 80 nm. The temperature sensitivity of this EUV bandpass will observe complementary features visible to the MaGIXS instrument. The image on the slitjaw is then converted, via a phosphor coating, to readily detectable visible light. Presented here is the design, implementation, and characterization of the MaGIXS slitjaw imaging system. The slitjaw instrument is equipped with an entrance filter that passes EUV light, along with X-rays, onto the slit, exciting a fluorescent coating and causing it to emit in the visible. This visible light can then be imaged by a simple implementation of commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) optics and low-light camera. Such a design greatly reduces the complexity of implementing and testing the slitjaw imager for an X-ray instrument system and will accomplish the pointing and co-alignment requirements for MaGIXS

Global Non-Potential Magnetic Models of the Solar Corona During the March 2015 Eclipse

Seven different models are applied to the same problem of simulating the Sun’s coronal magnetic field during the solar eclipse on 2015 March 20. All of the models are non-potential, allowing for free magnetic energy, but the associated electric currents are developed in significantly different ways. This is not a direct comparison of the coronal modelling techniques, in that the different models also use different photospheric boundary conditions, reflecting the range of approaches currently used in the community. Despite the significant differences, the results show broad agreement in the overall magnetic topology. Among those models with significant volume currents in much of the corona, there is general agreement that the ratio of total to potential magnetic energy should be approximately 1.4. However, there are significant differences in the electric current distributions; while static extrapolations are best able to reproduce active regions, they are unable to recover sheared magnetic fields in filament channels using currently available vector magnetogram data. By contrast, time-evolving simulations can recover the filament channel fields at the expense of not matching the observed vector magnetic fields within active regions. We suggest that, at present, the best approach may be a hybrid model using static extrapolations but with additional energization informed by simplified evolution models. This is demonstrated by one of the models