A normal incidence X-ray telescope sounding rocket payload

Launch preparation, flight, and payload recovery, prefilter performance analysis, and corrective actions were discussed

The roots of coronal structure in the Sun's surface

We have compared the structures seen on X-ray images obtained by a flight of the NIXT sounding rocket payload on July 11, 1991 with near-simultaneous photospheric and chromospheric structures and magnetic fields observed at Big Bear. The X-ray images reflect emission of both MgX and FeXVI, formed at 1 × 10⁶ K and 3 × 10⁶ K, respectively. The brightest Hα sources correspond to a dying sub-flare and other active region components, all of which reveal coronal enhancements situated spatially well above the Hα emission. The largest set of X-ray arches connected plages of opposite polarity in a large bipolar active region. The arches appear to lie in a small range of angle in the meridian plane connecting their footpoints. Sunspots are dark on the surface and in the corona. For the first time we see an emerging flux region in X-rays and find the emission extends twice as high as the Hα arches. Many features which we believe to correspond to ‘X-ray bright points’ (XBPs) were observed. Whether by resolution or spectral band, the number detected greatly exceeds that from previous work. All of the brighter XBPs correspond to bipolar Hα features, while unipolar Hα bright points are the base of more diffuse comet-like coronal arches, generally vertical. These diverge from individual features by less than 30°, and give a good measure of what the ‘canopies’ must do. The Hα data shows that all the Hα features were present the entire day, so they are not clearly disappearing or reappearing. We find a new class of XBPs which we call ‘satellite points’, elements of opposite polarity linked to nearby umbrae by invisible field lines. The satellite points change rapidly in X-ray brightness during the flight. An M1.9 flare occurred four hours after the flight; examination of the pre-flare structures reveals nothing unusual

Structure and dynamics of coronal plasmas

Progress for the period July 1995 - June 1996 included work on the differential magnetic field shear in an active region; observations and modeling of the solar chromosphere seen in soft X-ray absorption by NIXT; and modeling magnetic flux emergence. These were the subjects of three papers. The plans for the current year include projects on a converging flux model for point-like brightenings around sunspots, and difficulties in observing coronal structure

Structure and dynamics of coronal plasmas

The Normal Incidence X-ray Telescope (NIXT) obtained a unique set of high resolution full disk solar images which were exposed simultaneously by X-rays in a passband at 63.5 A and by visible light. The perfect alignment of a photospheric visible light image with a coronal X-ray image enables us to present observations of X-ray intensity vs an accurately determined height above the visible limb. The height at which the observed X-ray intensity peak varies from 4000 km in active regions to 9000 km in quiet regions of the sun. The interpretation of the observations stems from the previously established fact that, for the coronal loops, emission in the NIXT bandpass peaks sharply just above the footpoints. Because there is not a sharp peak in the observed X-ray intensity vs off limb height, we conclude that the loop footpoints, when viewed at the limb, are obscured by absorption in chromospheric material along the line of sight. We calculate the X-ray intensity vs height predicted by a number of different idealizations of the solar atmosphere, and we compare these calculations with the observed X-ray intensity vs height. The calculations use existing coronal and chromospheric models. In order for the calculations to reproduce the observed off limb X-ray intensities, we are forced to assume an atmosphere in which the footpoints of coronal loops are interspersed along the line of sight with cooler chromospheric material extending to heights well above the loop footpoints. We argue that the absorption coefficient for NIXT X-rays by chromospheric material is roughly proportional to the neutral hydrogen density, and we estimate an average neutral hydrogen density and scale height implied by the data

A Normal Incidence X-ray Telescope (NIXT) sounding rocket payload

Work on the High Resolution X-ray (HRX) Detector Program is described. In the laboratory and flight programs, multiple copies of a general purpose set of electronics which control the camera, signal processing and data acquisition, were constructed. A typical system consists of a phosphor convertor, image intensifier, a fiber optics coupler, a charge coupled device (CCD) readout, and a set of camera, signal processing and memory electronics. An initial rocket detector prototype camera was tested in flight and performed perfectly. An advanced prototype detector system was incorporated on another rocket flight, in which a high resolution heterojunction vidicon tube was used as the readout device for the H(alpha) telescope. The camera electronics for this tube were built in-house and included in the flight electronics. Performance of this detector system was 100 percent satisfactory. The laboratory X-ray system for operation on the ground is also described

Solar and stellar coronal plasmas

Progress in observational, theoretical, and radio studies of coronal plasmas is summarized. Specifically work completed in the area of solar and stellar magnetic fields, related photospheric phenomena and the relationships between magnetism, rotation, coronal and chromospheric emission in solar-like stars is described. Also outlined are theoretical studies carried out in the following areas, among others: (1) neutral beams as the dominant energy transport mechanism in two ribbon-flares; (2) magneto hydrodynamic and circuit models for filament eruptions; and (3) studies of radio emission mechanisms in transient events. Finally, radio observations designed for coronal activity studies of the sun and of solar-type coronae are described. A bibliography of publications and talks is provided along with reprints of selected articles

Structure and Dynamics of Coronal Plasmas

During the past year this grant has funded research in the interaction between magnetic fields and the hot plasma in the solar outer atmosphere. The following is a brief summary of the published papers, abstracts and talks which have been supported. The paper 'Coronal Structures Observed in X-rays and H-alpha Structures' was published in the Kofu Symposium proceedings. The study analyzes cool and hot behavior of two x-ray events, a small flare and a surge. We find that a large H-alpha surge appears in x-rays as a very weak event, while a weak H-alpha feature corresponds to the brightest x-ray emission on the disk at the time of the observation. Calculations of the heating necessary to produce these signatures, and implications for the driving and heating mechanisms of flares vs. surges are presented. A copy of the paper is appended to this report. The paper 'Differential Magnetic Field Shear in an Active Region' has been published in The Astrophysical Journal. We have compared the 3D extrapolation of magnetic fields with the observed coronal structure in an active region. Based on the fit between observed coronal structure throughout the volume of the region and the calculated magnetic field configurations, we propose a differential magnetic field shear model for this active region. The decreasing field shear in the outer portions of the AR may indicate a continual relaxation of the magnetic field with time, corresponding to a net transport of helicity outward. The paper 'Difficulties in Observing Coronal Structure' has been accepted for publication in the journal Solar Physics. In this paper we discuss the evidence that the temperature and density structure of the corona are far more complicated than had previously been thought. The discussion is based on five studies carried out by our group on coronal plasma properties, showing that any one x-ray instrument does see all of the plasma present in the corona, that hot and cool material may appear to be co-spatial at a given location in the corona, and that simple magnetic field extrapolations provide only a poor fit to the observed structure. A copy of the paper is appended to this report

A Multiwavelength Study of Coronal Structure: A Simultaneous Observation from NIXT and YOHKOH

Solar soft X-ray images taken simultaneously by the Yohkoh and the Normal Incidence X-ray Telescope (NIXT) reveal significantly different coronal structures. Coronal loops are more clearly seen in the Yohkoh images, and the isolated island-like structures seen in the NIXT image have been found to correspond to the footpoints of the Yohkoh loops. The difference is due to the difference in the temperature response of the telescopes: NIXT is sensitive to temperatures ranging from 0.9 to 3 MK, while Yohkoh is more sensitive to temperatures above 2.5 MK. The morphological differences reflect the multi-temperature (1-5 MK) nature of the solar coronal plasmas

A Normal Incidence X-ray Telescope (NIXT) Sounding Rocket Payload

The solar corona, and the coronae of solar-type stars, consist of a low-density magnetized plasma at temperatures exceeding 10(exp 6) K. The primary coronal emission is therefore in the UV and soft X-ray range. The observed close connection between solar magnetic fields and the physical parameters of the corona implies a fundamental role for the magnetic field in coronal structuring and dynamics. Variability of the corona occurs on all temporal and spatial scales - at one extreme, as the result of plasma instabilities, and at the other extreme driven by the global magnetic flux emergence patterns of the solar cycle