92 research outputs found
Solar Polar Fields During Cycles 21 --- 23: Correlation with Meridional Flows
We have examined polar magnetic fields for the last three solar cycles,
{}, cycles 21, 22 and 23 using NSO Kitt Peak synoptic magnetograms.
In addition, we have used SoHO/MDI magnetograms to derive the polar fields
during cycle 23. Both Kitt Peak and MDI data at high latitudes
(78--90) in both solar hemispheres show a significant
drop in the absolute value of polar fields from the late declining phase of the
solar cycle 22 to the maximum of the solar cycle 23. We find that long term
changes in the absolute value of the polar field, in cycle 23, is well
correlated with changes in meridional flow speeds that have been reported
recently. We discuss the implication of this in influencing the extremely
prolonged minimum experienced at the start of the current cycle 24 and in
forecasting the behaviour of future solar cycles.Comment: 4 Figures 11 pages; Revised version under review in Solar Physic
Automated Detection of EUV Polar Coronal Holes During Solar Cycle 23
A new method for automated detection of polar coronal holes is presented.
This method, called perimeter tracing, uses a series of 171, 195, and 304 \AA\
full disk images from the Extreme ultraviolet Imaging Telescope (EIT) on SOHO
over solar cycle 23 to measure the perimeter of polar coronal holes as they
appear on the limbs. Perimeter tracing minimizes line-of-sight obscurations
caused by the emitting plasma of the various wavelengths by taking measurements
at the solar limb. Perimeter tracing also allows for the polar rotation period
to emerge organically from the data as 33 days. We have called this the Harvey
rotation rate and count Harvey rotations starting 4 January 1900. From the
measured perimeter, we are then able to fit a curve to the data and derive an
area within the line of best fit. We observe the area of the northern polar
hole area in 1996, at the beginning of solar cycle 23, to be about 4.2% of the
total solar surface area and about 3.6% in 2007. The area of the southern polar
hole is observed to be about 4.0% in 1996 and about 3.4% in 2007. Thus, both
the north and south polar hole areas are no more than 15% smaller now than they
were at the beginning of cycle 23. This compares to the polar magnetic field
measured to be about 40% less now than it was a cycle ago.Comment: 18 pagers, 7 figures, accepted to Solar Physic
The RHESSI Microflare Height Distribution
We present the first in-depth statistical survey of flare source heights
observed by RHESSI. Flares were found using a flare-finding algorithm designed
to search the 6-10 keV count-rate when RHESSI's full sensitivity was available
in order to find the smallest events (Christe et al., 2008). Between March 2002
and March 2007, a total of 25,006 events were found. Source locations were
determined in the 4-10 keV, 10-15 keV, and 15-30 keV energy ranges for each
event. In order to extract the height distribution from the observed projected
source positions, a forward-fit model was developed with an assumed source
height distribution where height is measured from the photosphere. We find that
the best flare height distribution is given by g(h) \propto exp(-h/{\lambda})
where {\lambda} = 6.1\pm0.3 Mm is the scale height. A power-law height
distribution with a negative power-law index, {\gamma} = 3.1 \pm 0.1 is also
consistent with the data. Interpreted as thermal loop top sources, these
heights are compared to loops generated by a potential field model (PFSS). The
measured flare heights distribution are found to be much steeper than the
potential field loop height distribution which may be a signature of the flare
energization process
Nonlinear force-free reconstruction of the global solar magnetic field: methodology
We present a novel numerical method that allows the calculation of nonlinear
force-free magnetostatic solutions above a boundary surface on which only the
distribution of the normal magnetic field component is given. The method relies
on the theory of force-free electrodynamics and applies directly to the
reconstruction of the solar coronal magnetic field for a given distribution of
the photospheric radial field component. The method works as follows: we start
with any initial magnetostatic global field configuration (e.g. zero, dipole),
and along the boundary surface we create an evolving distribution of tangential
(horizontal) electric fields that, via Faraday's equation, give rise to a
respective normal field distribution approaching asymptotically the target
distribution. At the same time, these electric fields are used as boundary
condition to numerically evolve the resulting electromagnetic field above the
boundary surface, modelled as a thin ideal plasma with non-reflecting,
perfectly absorbing outer boundaries. The simulation relaxes to a nonlinear
force-free configuration that satisfies the given normal field distribution on
the boundary. This is different from existing methods relying on a fixed
boundary condition - the boundary evolves toward the a priori given one, at the
same time evolving the three-dimensional field solution above it. Moreover,
this is the first time a nonlinear force-free solution is reached by using only
the normal field component on the boundary. This solution is not unique, but
depends on the initial magnetic field configuration and on the evolutionary
course along the boundary surface. To our knowledge, this is the first time
that the formalism of force-free electrodynamics, used very successfully in
other astrophysical contexts, is applied to the global solar magnetic field.Comment: 18 pages, 5 figures, Solar Physic
The Magnetic Field of the Solar Corona from Pulsar Observations
We present a novel experiment with the capacity to independently measure both
the electron density and the magnetic field of the solar corona. We achieve
this through measurement of the excess Faraday rotation due to propagation of
the polarised emission from a number of pulsars through the magnetic field of
the solar corona. This method yields independent measures of the integrated
electron density, via dispersion of the pulsed signal and the magnetic field,
via the amount of Faraday rotation. In principle this allows the determination
of the integrated magnetic field through the solar corona along many lines of
sight without any assumptions regarding the electron density distribution. We
present a detection of an increase in the rotation measure of the pulsar
J18012304 of approximately 160 \rad at an elongation of 0.95 from
the centre of the solar disk. This corresponds to a lower limit of the magnetic
field strength along this line of sight of . The lack of
precision in the integrated electron density measurement restricts this result
to a limit, but application of coronal plasma models can further constrain this
to approximately 20mG, along a path passing 2.5 solar radii from the solar
limb. Which is consistent with predictions obtained using extensions to the
Source Surface models published by Wilcox Solar ObservatoryComment: 16 pages, 4 figures (1 colour): Submitted to Solar Physic
Streamer Wave Events Observed in Solar Cycle 23
In this paper we conduct a data survey searching for well-defined streamer
wave events observed by the Large Angle and Spectrometric Coronagraph (LASCO)
on-board the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) throughout Solar Cycle
23. As a result, 8 candidate events are found and presented here. We compare
different events and find that in most of them the driving CMEs ejecta are
characterized by a high speed and a wide angular span, and the CME-streamer
interactions occur generally along the flank of the streamer structure at an
altitude no higher than the bottom of the field of view of LASCO C2. In
addition, all front-side CMEs have accompanying flares. These common
observational features shed light on the excitation conditions of streamer wave
events.
We also conduct a further analysis on one specific streamer wave event on 5
June 2003. The heliocentric distances of 4 wave troughs/crests at various
exposure times are determined; they are then used to deduce the wave properties
like period, wavelength, and phase speeds. It is found that both the period and
wavelength increase gradually with the wave propagation along the streamer
plasma sheet, and the phase speed of the preceding wave is generally faster
than that of the trailing ones. The associated coronal seismological study
yields the radial profiles of the Alfv\'en speed and magnetic field strength in
the region surrounding the streamer plasma sheet. Both quantities show a
general declining trend with time. This is interpreted as an observational
manifestation of the recovering process of the CME-disturbed corona. It is also
found that the Alfv\'enic critical point is at about 10 R where the
flow speed, which equals the Alfv\'en speed, is 200 km s
Multiwavelength Study on Solar and Interplanetary Origins of the Strongest Geomagnetic Storm of Solar Cycle 23
We study the solar sources of an intense geomagnetic storm of solar cycle 23
that occurred on 20 November 2003, based on ground- and space-based
multiwavelength observations. The coronal mass ejections (CMEs) responsible for
the above geomagnetic storm originated from the super-active region NOAA 10501.
We investigate the H-alpha observations of the flare events made with a 15 cm
solar tower telescope at ARIES, Nainital, India. The propagation
characteristics of the CMEs have been derived from the three-dimensional images
of the solar wind (i.e., density and speed) obtained from the interplanetary
scintillation data, supplemented with other ground- and space-based
measurements. The TRACE, SXI and H-alpha observations revealed two successive
ejections (of speeds ~350 and ~100 km/s), originating from the same filament
channel, which were associated with two high speed CMEs (~1223 and ~1660 km/s,
respectively). These two ejections generated propagating fast shock waves
(i.e., fast drifting type II radio bursts) in the corona. The interaction of
these CMEs along the Sun-Earth line has led to the severity of the storm.
According to our investigation, the interplanetary medium consisted of two
merging magnetic clouds (MCs) that preserved their identity during their
propagation. These magnetic clouds made the interplanetary magnetic field (IMF)
southward for a long time, which reconnected with the geomagnetic field,
resulting the super-storm (Dst_peak=-472 nT) on the Earth.Comment: 24 pages, 16 figures, Accepted for publication in Solar Physic
Multiwavelength Study of M8.9/3B Solar Flare from AR NOAA 10960
We present a multi-wavelength analysis of a long duration white-light solar
flare (M8.9/3B) event that occurred on 4 June 2007 from NOAA AR 10960. The
flare was observed by several spaceborne instruments, namely SOHO/MDI,
Hinode/SOT, TRACE and STEREO/SECCHI. The flare was initiated near a small,
positive-polarity, satellite sunspot at the centre of the AR, surrounded by
opposite-polarity field regions. MDI images of the AR show considerable amount
of changes in a small positive-polarity sunspot of delta configuration during
the flare event. SOT/G-band (4305 A) images of the sunspot also suggest the
rapid evolution of the positive-polarity sunspot with highly twisted penumbral
filaments before the flare event, which were oriented in the counterclockwise
direction. It shows the change in orientation and also remarkable disappearance
of twisted penumbral filaments (~35-40%) and enhancement in umbral area
(~45-50%) during the decay phase of the flare. TRACE and SECCHI observations
reveal the successive activations of two helical twisted structures associated
with this sunspot, and the corresponding brightening in the chromosphere as
observed by the time-sequence images of SOT/Ca II H line (3968 A). The
secondary-helical twisted structure is found to be associated with the M8.9
flare event. The brightening starts 6-7 min prior to the flare maximum with the
appearance of secondary helical-twisted structure. The flare intensity
maximizes as this structure moves away from the AR. This twisted flux-tube
associated with the flare triggering, is found to be failed in eruption. The
location of the flare is found to coincide with the activation site of the
helical twisted structures. We conclude that the activations of successive
helical twists in the magnetic flux tubes/ropes plays a crucial role in the
energy build-up process and triggering of M-class solar flare without a CME.Comment: 22 pages, 12 figures, Accepted for Publication in Solar Physic
Deflection and Rotation of CMEs from Active Region 11158
Between the 13 and 16 of February 2011 a series of coronal mass ejections
(CMEs) erupted from multiple polarity inversion lines within active region
11158. For seven of these CMEs we use the Graduated Cylindrical Shell (GCS)
flux rope model to determine the CME trajectory using both Solar Terrestrial
Relations Observatory (STEREO) extreme ultraviolet (EUV) and coronagraph
images. We then use the Forecasting a CME's Altered Trajectory (ForeCAT) model
for nonradial CME dynamics driven by magnetic forces, to simulate the
deflection and rotation of the seven CMEs. We find good agreement between the
ForeCAT results and the reconstructed CME positions and orientations. The CME
deflections range in magnitude between 10 degrees and 30 degrees. All CMEs
deflect to the north but we find variations in the direction of the
longitudinal deflection. The rotations range between 5\mydeg and 50\mydeg with
both clockwise and counterclockwise rotations occurring. Three of the CMEs
begin with initial positions within 2 degrees of one another. These three CMEs
all deflect primarily northward, with some minor eastward deflection, and
rotate counterclockwise. Their final positions and orientations, however,
respectively differ by 20 degrees and 30 degrees. This variation in deflection
and rotation results from differences in the CME expansion and radial
propagation close to the Sun, as well as the CME mass. Ultimately, only one of
these seven CMEs yielded discernible in situ signatures near Earth, despite the
active region facing near Earth throughout the eruptions. We suggest that the
differences in the deflection and rotation of the CMEs can explain whether each
CME impacted or missed the Earth.Comment: 18 pages, 6 figures, accepted in Solar Physic
Predicting the Amplitude of a Solar Cycle Using the North-South Asymmetry in the Previous Cycle: II. An Improved Prediction for Solar Cycle~24
Recently, using Greenwich and Solar Optical Observing Network sunspot group
data during the period 1874-2006, (Javaraiah, MNRAS, 377, L34, 2007: Paper I),
has found that: (1) the sum of the areas of the sunspot groups in 0-10 deg
latitude interval of the Sun's northern hemisphere and in the time-interval of
-1.35 year to +2.15 year from the time of the preceding minimum of a solar
cycle n correlates well (corr. coeff. r=0.947) with the amplitude (maximum of
the smoothed monthly sunspot number) of the next cycle n+1. (2) The sum of the
areas of the spot groups in 0-10 deg latitude interval of the southern
hemisphere and in the time-interval of 1.0 year to 1.75 year just after the
time of the maximum of the cycle n correlates very well (r=0.966) with the
amplitude of cycle n+1. Using these relations, (1) and (2), the values 112 + or
- 13 and 74 + or -10, respectively, were predicted in Paper I for the amplitude
of the upcoming cycle 24. Here we found that in case of (1), the north-south
asymmetry in the area sum of a cycle n also has a relationship, say (3), with
the amplitude of cycle n+1, which is similar to (1) but more statistically
significant (r=0.968) like (2). By using (3) it is possible to predict the
amplitude of a cycle with a better accuracy by about 13 years in advance, and
we get 103 + or -10 for the amplitude of the upcoming cycle 24. However, we
found a similar but a more statistically significant (r=0.983) relationship,
say (4), by using the sum of the area sum used in (2) and the north-south
difference used in (3). By using (4) it is possible to predict the amplitude of
a cycle by about 9 years in advance with a high accuracy and we get 87 + or - 7
for the amplitude of cycle 24.Comment: 21 pages, 7 figures, Published in Solar Physics 252, 419-439 (2008
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