Kinematics of coronal rain in a transversely oscillating loop : ponderomotive force and rain-excited oscillations

E.V. acknowledges support from the Warwick STFC Consolidated Grant ST/L000733/I. P.A. acknowledges support from the EU Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation programme (grant agreement No. 647214). P.K. acknowledges support from a UK STFC PhD studentship. T.N. acknowledges support from the St Andrews STFC Consolidated Grant SN/N000609/1.Context. Coronal rain are cool dense blobs that form in solar coronal loops and are a manifestation of catastrophic cooling linked to thermal instability. Once formed, rain falls towards the solar surface at sub-ballistic speeds, which is not well-understood. Pressure forces seem to be the prime candidate to explain this. In many observations rain is accompanied by transverse oscillations and the interaction between the two needs to be explored. Aims. Therefore, an alternative kinematic model for coronal rain kinematics in transversely oscillating loops is developed to understand the physical nature of the observed sub-ballistic falling motion of rain. It explicitly explores the role of the ponderomotive force arising from the transverse oscillation on the rain motion as well as the capacity of rain to excite wave motion. Methods. An analytical model is presented that describes a rain blob guided by the coronal magnetic field supporting a one dimensional shear Alfvén wave as a point mass on an oscillating string. The model includes gravity and the ponderomotive force from the oscillation acting on the mass, as well as the inertia of the mass acting on the oscillation. Results. The kinematics of rain in the limit of negligible rain mass are explored and falling and trapped regimes are found, depending on wave amplitude. In the trapped regime for the fundamental mode, the rain blob bounces back and forth around the loop top at a long period inversely proportional to the oscillation amplitude. The model is compared with several observational rain studies, including one in-depth comparison with an observation that shows rain with up-and down bobbing motion. The role of rain inertia in exciting transverse oscillations is explored in inclined loops. Conclusions. It is found that the model requires displacement amplitudes of the transverse oscillation that are typically an order of magnitude larger than observed to explain the measured sub-ballistic motion of the rain. Therefore, it is concluded that the ponderomotive force is not the primary reason for understanding sub-ballistic motion, but it plays a role in cases of large loop oscillations.The appearance of rain causes the excitation of small-amplitude transverse oscillations that may explain observed events and provide a seismological tool to measure rain mass.Publisher PDFPeer reviewe

Self-consistent 3D radiative MHD simulations of coronal rain formation and evolution

Context. Coronal rain consists of cool and dense plasma condensations formed in coronal loops as a result of thermal instability. Aims. Previous numerical simulations of thermal instability and coronal rain formation have relied on the practice of artificially adding a coronal heating term to the energy equation. To reproduce large-scale characteristics of the corona, the use of more realistic coronal heating prescription is necessary. Methods. We analysed coronal rain formation and evolution in a three-dimensional radiative magnetohydrodynamic simulation spanning from convection zone to corona which is self-consistently heated by magnetic field braiding as a result of convective motions. Results. We investigate the spatial and temporal evolution of energy dissipation along coronal loops which become thermally unstable. Ohmic dissipation in the model leads to the heating events capable of inducing sufficient chromospheric evaporation into the loop to trigger thermal instability and condensation formation. The cooling of the thermally unstable plasma occurs on timescales that are comparable to the duration of the individual impulsive heating events. The impulsive heating has sufficient duration to trigger thermal instability in the loop but does not last long enough to lead to coronal rain limit cycles. We show that condensations can either survive and fall into the chromosphere or be destroyed by strong bursts of Joule heating associated with a magnetic reconnection events. In addition, we find that condensations can also form along open magnetic field lines. Conclusions. We modelled, for the first time, coronal rain formation in a self-consistent 3D radiative magnetohydrodynamic simulation, in which the heating occurs mainly through the braiding and subsequent Ohmic dissipation of the magnetic field. The heating is stratified enough and lasts for long enough along specific field lines to produce the necessary chromospheric evaporation that triggers thermal instability in the corona

Using gradient boosting regression to improve ambient solar wind model predictions

Studying the ambient solar wind, a continuous pressure‐driven plasma flow emanating from our Sun, is an important component of space weather research. The ambient solar wind flows in interplanetary space determine how solar storms evolve through the heliosphere before reaching Earth, and especially during solar minimum are themselves a driver of activity in the Earth’s magnetic field. Accurately forecasting the ambient solar wind flow is therefore imperative to space weather awareness. Here we present a machine learning approach in which solutions from magnetic models of the solar corona are used to output the solar wind conditions near the Earth. The results are compared to observations and existing models in a comprehensive validation analysis, and the new model outperforms existing models in almost all measures. In addition, this approach offers a new perspective to discuss the role of different input data to ambient solar wind modeling, and what this tells us about the underlying physical processes. The final model discussed here represents an extremely fast, well‐validated and open‐source approach to the forecasting of ambient solar wind at Earth

Dynamics of plasma condensations in a gravitationally stratified coronal loop

Context. Coronal rain composed of cool plasma condensations falling from coronal heights is a phenomenon occurring in footpoint-heated coronal loops as a result of thermal instability. High-resolution coronal rain observations suggest that condensations move with less than free-fall speed and can sometimes undergo longitudinal oscillations. Aims. We investigate the evolution and dynamics of plasma condensations in a gravitationally stratified coronal loop. Methods. We carried out 2.5 dimensional magnetohydrodynamic simulations of a cool plasma condensation in a gravitationally stratified coronal loop and analysed its evolution, kinematics, and the evolution of the forces acting on the condensation. We further propose a one-dimensional analytical model of the condensation dynamics. Results. The motion of plasma condensations is found to be strongly affected by the pressure of the coronal loop plasma. Maximum downward velocities are in agreement with recent coronal rain observations. A high coronal magnetic field or low condensation mass can lead to damped oscillatory motion of the condensations that are caused by the pressure gradient force and magnetic tension force that results from bending of the magnetic field in the lower part of the coronal loop. Period and damping scaling time of the oscillatory motion seen in the simulations are consistent with values predicted by the model. Conclusions. The combined effect of pressure gradients in the coronal loop plasma and magnetic tension force that results from changes in magnetic field geometry can explain observed sub-ballistic motion and longitudinal oscillations of coronal rain

Excitation and evolution of coronal oscillations in self-consistent 3D radiative MHD simulations of the solar atmosphere

Context. Solar coronal loops are commonly subject to oscillations. Observations of coronal oscillations are used to infer physical properties of the coronal plasma using coronal seismology. Aims. Excitation and evolution of oscillations in coronal loops is typically studied using highly idealised models of magnetic flux tubes. In order to improve our understanding of coronal oscillations, it is necessary to consider the effect of realistic magnetic field topology and evolution. Methods. We study excitation and evolution of coronal oscillations in three-dimensional (3D) self-consistent simulations of solar atmosphere spanning from the convection zone to the solar corona using the radiation-magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) code Bifrost. We use forward-modelled extreme-ultraviolet emission and 3D tracing of magnetic field to analyse the oscillatory behaviour of individual magnetic loops. We further analyse the evolution of individual plasma velocity components along the loops using wavelet power spectra to capture changes in the oscillation periods. Results. Various types of oscillations commonly observed in the corona are present in the simulation. We detect standing oscillations in both transverse and longitudinal velocity components, including higher-order oscillation harmonics. We also show that self-consistent simulations reproduce the existence of two distinct regimes of transverse coronal oscillations: rapidly decaying oscillations triggered by impulsive events and sustained small-scale oscillations showing no observable damping. No harmonic drivers are detected at the footpoints of oscillating loops. Conclusions. Coronal loop oscillations are abundant in self-consistent 3D MHD simulations of the solar atmosphere. The dynamic evolution and variability of individual magnetic loops suggest that we need to re-evaluate our models of monolithic and static coronal loops with constant lengths in favour of more realistic models

Damping of coronal oscillations in self-consistent 3D radiative magnetohydrodynamics simulations of the solar atmosphere

Context. Oscillations are abundant in the solar corona. Coronal loop oscillations are typically studied using highly idealised models of magnetic flux tubes. In order to improve our understanding of coronal oscillations, it is necessary to consider the effect of a realistic magnetic field topology and the density structuring. Aims. We analyse the damping of coronal oscillations using a self-consistent 3D radiation-magnetohydrodynamics simulation of the solar atmosphere spanning from the convection zone into the corona, the associated oscillation dissipation and heating, and finally, the physical processes that cause the damping and dissipation. The simulated corona that forms in this model does not depend on any prior assumptions about the shape of the coronal loops. Methods. We analysed the evolution of a bundle of magnetic loops by tracing the magnetic field. Results. We find that the bundle of magnetic loops shows damped transverse oscillations in response to perturbations in two separate instances, with oscillation periods of 177 s and 191 s, velocity amplitudes of 10 km s−1 and 16 km s−1, and damping times of 176 s and 198 s. The coronal oscillations lead to the development of velocity shear in the simulated corona, which results in the formation of vortices seen in the velocity field that are caused by the Kelvin-Helmholtz instability. This contributes to the damping and dissipation of the transverse oscillations. Conclusions. The oscillation parameters and evolution we observed are in line with the values that are typically seen in observations of coronal loop oscillations. The dynamic evolution of the coronal loop bundle suggests that the models of monolithic and static coronal loops with constant lengths might need to be re-evaluated by relaxing the assumption of highly idealised wave guides

Multi-scale observations of thermal non-equilibrium cycles in coronal loops

International audienceContext. Thermal non-equilibrium (TNE) is a phenomenon that can occur in solar coronal loops when the heating is quasi-constant and highly-stratified. Under such heating conditions, coronal loops undergo cycles of evaporation and condensation. The recent observations of ubiquitous long-period intensity pulsations in coronal loops and their relationship with coronal rain have demonstrated that understanding the characteristics of TNE cycles is an essential step in constraining the circulation of mass and energy in the corona. Aims. We report unique observations with the Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) and the Swedish 1-m Solar Telescope (SST) that link the captured thermal properties across the extreme spatiotemporal scales covered by TNE processes. Methods. Within the same coronal loop bundle, we captured 6 h period coronal intensity pulsations in SDO/AIA and coronal rain observed off-limb in the chromospheric H alpha and CaII K spectral lines with SST/CRISP and SST/CHROMIS. We combined a multi-thermal analysis of the cycles with AIA and an extensive spectral characterisation of the rain clumps with the SST. Results. We find clear evidence of evaporation-condensation cycles in the corona which are linked with periodic coronal rain showers. The high-resolution spectroscopic instruments at the SST reveal the fine-structured rain strands and allow us to probe the cooling phase of one of the cycles down to chromospheric temperatures. Conclusions. These observations reinforce the link between long-period intensity pulsations and coronal rain. They also demonstrate the capability of TNE to shape the dynamics of active regions on the large scales as well as on the smallest scales currently resolvable