Solar microflares: a case study on temperatures and the Fe XVIII emission

In this paper, we discuss the temperature distribution and evolution of a microflare, simultaneously observed by Hinode XRT, EIS, and SDO AIA. We find using EIS lines that during peak emission the distribution is nearly isothermal and peaked around 4.5 MK. This temperature is in good agreement with that obtained from the XRT filter ratio, validating the use of XRT to study these small events, invisible by full-Sun X-ray monitors such as GOES. The increase in the estimated Fe XVIII emission in the AIA 94 {\AA} band can mostly be explained with the small temperature increase from the background temperatures. The presence of Fe XVIII emission does not guarantee that temperatures of 7 MK are reached, as is often assumed. We also revisit with new atomic data the temperatures measured by a SoHO SUMER observation of an active region which produced microflares, also finding low temperatures (3 - 4 MK) from an Fe XVIII / Ca XIV ratio.Comment: 12-13 pages, 17 figures (22 eps-files), 4 tables, accepted by Astronomy and Astrophysic

Extreme Ultraviolet Spectroscopy of the Solar Corona

New Extreme Ultra-Violet (EUV) observations of the solar corona, obtained by the Coronal Diagnostic Spectrometer (CDS) instrument on board the NASA/ESA Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) are presented. The CDS instrument for the first time has provided the opportunity of observing a large number of emission lines from a wide range of ions of different elements. The spectral and spatial resolution of the CDS instrument has allowed the simultaneous application of a wide range of spectroscopic diagnostic techniques to determine the temperature distribution, densities and elemental abundances in the solar plasma. A differential emission measure (DEM) diagnostic technique has been used to infer the temperature structure and the element abundances. The importance of including DEM effects in the element abundance analysis is demonstrated. A complete in-flight cross-calibration between all the CDS detectors (NIS and €115, 150-785 A), is presented here for the first time. The level of accuracy and completeness of the CHIANTI atomic database, used throughout this thesis, has allowed the identification of the many hundreds of spectral lines observed in the CDS spectra, resulting in several new line identifications. An assessment of the €115 solar spectra is presented, showing that, in spite of complexities, €115 spectra are useful for diagnostic analyses. Many discrepancies (in particular with the Li-like ions) between theory and CDS observations are highlighted. It is shown that some of these may be explained by inaccurate ionization equilibrium calculations. Coronal hole densities, temperatures, DEMs, and relative element abundances from both off-limb (plume and inter-plume regions) and on-disc observations are derived and compared with quiet sun values. These included (August 1996) a large equatorial hole, the Elephant's Trunk, probably the best example of a coronal hole observed by SOHO. Coronal hole densities in both coronal (N 1x10 8 cm 3 ) and transition region (Ne = lxlO'° cm 3 ) plasma were found to be about a factor of 2 lower than in the quiet sun, with much lower emission measures at temperatures above 106 K. Moreover, in the transition region, the cell-centres in both coronal holes and quiet sun regions show consistently higher densities (factor of 2) compared to those in the network. Relative element abundances show approximately photospheric values for the coronal holes, with an indication of element abundance variation .(neon in particular) with the supergranular structure. On-disc EUV observations of coronal hole plumes have been performed. This allowed a spectroscopic characterisation of plumes to be obtained for the first time, leading to the first identification of a low-latitude plume near sun-centre. Plumes are shown to be quasi-isothermal structures, with temperatures T 7 - 8x10 5 K. Abundance analyses (using transition region lines) reveal a small FIP effect in these plumes, together with a decreased Ne/O abundance ratio (compared to photospheric)

Atomic Data for Plasma Spectroscopy: The CHIANTI Database, Improvements and Challenges

CHIANTI is an atomic database and software package for modeling emission lines and continua from hot astrophysical plasmas. It is freely available to all researchers and has been widely used in the Heliophysics and Astrophysics communities for almost 25 years. In this review, we summarize the properties of the current version of the database and give an overview of the relevant atomic processes. We also discuss progress towards a complete implementation of collisional-radiative modeling, simultaneously solving for atomic level and ion populations for individual elements

CHIANTI -- an atomic database for emission lines -- Paper XVII: Version 10.1, revised ionization and recombination rates and other updates

The CHIANTI atomic database provides sets of assessed data used for simulating spectral observations of astrophysical plasmas. This article describes updates that will be released as version~10.1 of the database. A key component of CHIANTI is the provision of ionization and recombination rates that are used to compute the ionization balance of a plasma over a range of temperatures. Parameters for calculating the ionization rates of all stages of ions from H through Zn were compiled and inserted into the CHIANTI database in 2009. These were based on all measurements that were available at the time and supplemented with distorted wave calculations. Since then, there have been a number of new laboratory measurements for ions that produce spectral lines that are commonly observed. Parameters have been fit to these new measurements to provide improved ability to reproduce the ionization cross sections and rate coefficients, and these are added to the database. CHIANTI 10.1 also includes new recombination rates for the phosphorus isoelectronic sequence, and the updated ionization and recombination rates have been used to calculate a new ionization equilibrium file. In addition, CHIANTI 10.1 has new electron collision and radiative datasets for eight ions in the nitrogen and oxygen isoelectronic sequences, and updated energy level and wavelength data for seven other ions.Comment: 24 pages, 18 figures, submitted to The Astrophysical Journal Supplement Serie