132 research outputs found
Magnetic Connectivity between Active Regions 10987, 10988, and 10989 by Means of Nonlinear Force-Free Field Extrapolation
Extrapolation codes for modelling the magnetic field in the corona in
cartesian geometry do not take the curvature of the Sun's surface into account
and can only be applied to relatively small areas, \textit{e.g.}, a single
active region. We apply a method for nonlinear force-free coronal magnetic
field modelling of photospheric vector magnetograms in spherical geometry which
allows us to study the connectivity between multi-active regions. We use vector
magnetograph data from the Synoptic Optical Long-term Investigations of the Sun
survey (SOLIS)/Vector Spectromagnetograph(VSM) to model the coronal magnetic
field, where we study three neighbouring magnetically connected active regions
(ARs: 10987, 10988, 10989) observed on 28, 29, and 30 March 2008, respectively.
We compare the magnetic field topologies and the magnetic energy densities and
study the connectivities between the active regions(ARs). We have studied the
time evolution of magnetic field over the period of three days and found no
major changes in topologies as there was no major eruption event. From this
study we have concluded that active regions are much more connected
magnetically than the electric current.Comment: Solar Physic
Volume 15. Article 1. Oceanography of Long Island Sound, 1952–1954.
https://elischolar.library.yale.edu/bulletin_yale_bingham_oceanographic_collection/1154/thumbnail.jp
Nonlinear force-free and potential field models of active-region and global coronal fields during the Whole Heliospheric Interval
Between 2008/3/24 and 2008/4/2, the three active regions NOAA active regions
10987, 10988 and 10989 were observed daily by the Synoptic Optical Long-term
Investigations of the Sun (SOLIS) Vector Spectro-Magnetograph (VSM) while they
traversed the solar disk. We use these measurements and the nonlinear
force-free magnetic field code XTRAPOL to reconstruct the coronal magnetic
field for each active region and compare model field lines with images from the
Solar Terrestrial RElations Observatory (STEREO) and Hinode X-ray Telescope
(XRT) telescopes. Synoptic maps made from continuous, round-the-clock Global
Oscillations Network Group (GONG) magnetograms provide information on the
global photospheric field and potential-field source-surface models based on
these maps describe the global coronal field during the Whole Heliospheric
Interval (WHI) and its neighboring rotations. Features of the modeled global
field, such as the coronal holes and streamer belt locations, are discussed in
comparison with extreme ultra-violet and coronagraph observations from STEREO.
The global field is found to be far from a minimum, dipolar state. From the
nonlinear models we compute physical quantities for the active regions such as
the photospheric magnetic and electric current fluxes, the free magnetic energy
and the relative helicity for each region each day where observations permit.
The interconnectivity of the three regions is addressed in the context of the
potential-field source-surface model. Using local and global quantities derived
from the models, we briefly discuss the different observed activity levels of
the regions.Comment: Accepted for publication in the Solar Physics Whole Heliospheric
Interval (WHI) topical issue. We had difficulty squeezing this paper into
arXiv's 15 Mb limit. The full paper is available here
ftp://gong2.nso.edu/dsds_user/petrie/PetrieCanouAmari.pd
Coronal Magnetic Field Structure and Evolution for Flaring AR 11117 and its Surroundings
In this study, photospheric vector magnetograms obtained with the Synoptic
Optical Long-term Investigations of the Sun survey (SOLIS), are used as
boundary conditions to model the three-dimensional nonlinear force-free (NLFF)
coronal magnetic fields as a sequence of nonlinear force-free equilibria in
spherical geometry. We study the coronal magnetic field structure inside active
regions and its temporal evolution. We compare the magnetic field configuration
obtained from NLFF extrapolation before and after flaring event in active
region (AR) 11117 and its surroundings observed on 27 October 2010. We compare
the magnetic field topologies and the magnetic energy densities and study the
connectivities between AR 11117 and its surroundings. During the investigated
time period, we estimate the change in free magnetic energy from before to
after the flare to be 1.74x10^{32}erg which represents about 13.5% of nonlinear
force-free magnetic energy before the flare. In this study, we find that
electric currents from AR 11117 to its surroundings were disrupted after the
flare.Comment: 14 pages, 14 figures, Accepted by Solar Physics Journa
The effect of thresholding on temporal avalanche statistics
We discuss intermittent time series consisting of discrete bursts or
avalanches separated by waiting or silent times. The short time correlations
can be understood to follow from the properties of individual avalanches, while
longer time correlations often present in such signals reflect correlations
between triggerings of different avalanches. As one possible source of the
latter kind of correlations in experimental time series, we consider the effect
of a finite detection threshold, due to e.g. experimental noise that needs to
be removed. To this end, we study a simple toy model of an avalanche, a random
walk returning to the origin or a Brownian bridge, in the presence and absence
of superimposed delta-correlated noise. We discuss the properties after
thresholding of artificial timeseries obtained by mixing toy avalanches and
waiting times from a Poisson process. Most of the resulting scalings for
individual avalanches and the composite timeseries can be understood via random
walk theory, except for the waiting time distributions when strong additional
noise is added. Then, to compare with a more complicated case we study the
Manna sandpile model of self-organized criticality, where some further
complications appear.Comment: 15 pages, 12 figures, submitted to J. Stat. Mech., special issue of
the UPoN2008 conferenc
Solar Flares as Cascades of Reconnecting Magnetic Loops
A model for the solar coronal magnetic field is proposed where multiple
directed loops evolve in space and time. Loops injected at small scales are
anchored by footpoints of opposite polarity moving randomly on a surface.
Nearby footpoints of the same polarity aggregate, and loops can reconnect when
they collide. This may trigger a cascade of further reconnection, representing
a solar flare. Numerical simulations show that a power law distribution of
flare energies emerges, associated with a scale free network of loops,
indicating self-organized criticality.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figures, To be published in Phys. Rev. Let
How to use magnetic field information for coronal loop identification?
The structure of the solar corona is dominated by the magnetic field because
the magnetic pressure is about four orders of magnitude higher than the plasma
pressure. Due to the high conductivity the emitting coronal plasma (visible
e.g. in SOHO/EIT) outlines the magnetic field lines. The gradient of the
emitting plasma structures is significantly lower parallel to the magnetic
field lines than in the perpendicular direction. Consequently information
regarding the coronal magnetic field can be used for the interpretation of
coronal plasma structures. We extrapolate the coronal magnetic field from
photospheric magnetic field measurements into the corona. The extrapolation
method depends on assumptions regarding coronal currents, e.g. potential fields
(current free) or force-free fields (current parallel to magnetic field). As a
next step we project the reconstructed 3D magnetic field lines on an EIT-image
and compare with the emitting plasma structures. Coronal loops are identified
as closed magnetic field lines with a high emissivity in EIT and a small
gradient of the emissivity along the magnetic field.Comment: 14 pages, 3 figure
The phase relation between sunspot numbers and soft X-ray flares
To better understand long-term flare activity, we present a statistical study
on soft X-ray flares from May 1976 to May 2008. It is found that the smoothed
monthly peak fluxes of C-class, M-class, and X-class flares have a very
noticeable time lag of 13, 8, and 8 months in cycle 21 respectively with
respect to the smoothed monthly sunspot numbers. There is no time lag between
the sunspot numbers and M-class flares in cycle 22. However, there is a
one-month time lag for C-class flares and a one-month time lead for X-class
flares with regard to sunspot numbers in cycle 22. For cycle 23, the smoothed
monthly peak fluxes of C-class, M-class, and X-class flares have a very
noticeable time lag of one month, 5 months, and 21 months respectively with
respect to sunspot numbers. If we take the three types of flares together, the
smoothed monthly peak fluxes of soft X-ray flares have a time lag of 9 months
in cycle 21, no time lag in cycle 22 and a characteristic time lag of 5 months
in cycle 23 with respect to the smoothed monthly sunspot numbers. Furthermore,
the correlation coefficients of the smoothed monthly peak fluxes of M-class and
X-class flares and the smoothed monthly sunspot numbers are higher in cycle 22
than those in cycles 21 and 23. The correlation coefficients between the three
kinds of soft X-ray flares in cycle 22 are higher than those in cycles 21 and
23. These findings may be instructive in predicting C-class, M-class, and
X-class flares regarding sunspot numbers in the next cycle and the physical
processes of energy storage and dissipation in the corona.Comment: 8 pages, 3 figures, Accepted for publication in Astrophysics & Space
Scienc
Sunquake generation by coronal magnetic restructuring
Sunquakes are the surface signatures of acoustic waves in the Sun's interior
that are produced by some but not all flares and coronal mass ejections (CMEs).
This paper explores a mechanism for sunquake generation by the magnetic field
changes that occur during flares and CMEs, using MHD simulations with a
semiempirical FAL-C atmosphere to demonstrate the generation of acoustic waves
in the interior in response to changing magnetic tilt in the corona. We find
that Alfven-sound resonance combined with the ponderomotive force produces
acoustic waves in the interior with sufficient energy to match sunquake
observations when the magnetic field angle changes by the order of 10 degrees
in a region where the coronal field strength is a few hundred gauss or more.
The most energetic sunquakes are produced when the coronal field is strong,
while the variation of magnetic field strength with height and the time scale
of the tilt change are of secondary importance.Comment: 6 pages, 3 figures; accepted to Ap
Comparing magnetic field extrapolations with measurements of magnetic loops
We compare magnetic field extrapolations from a photospheric magnetogram with
the observationally inferred structure of magnetic loops in a newly developed
active region. This is the first time that the reconstructed 3D-topology of the
magnetic field is available to test the extrapolations. We compare the
observations with potential fields, linear force-free fields and non-linear
force-free fields. This comparison reveals that a potential field extrapolation
is not suitable for a reconstruction of the magnetic field in this young,
developing active region. The inclusion of field-line-parallel electric
currents, the so called force-free approach, gives much better results.
Furthermore, a non-linear force-free computation reproduces the observations
better than the linear force-free approximation, although no free parameters
are available in the former case.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figure
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