Coronal hole boundaries evolution at small scales: I. EIT 195 A and TRACE 171 A view

We aim at studying the small-scale evolution at the boundaries of an equatorial coronal hole connected with a channel of open magnetic flux with the polar region and an `isolated' one in the extreme-ultraviolet spectral range. We intend to determine the spatial and temporal scale of these changes. Imager data from TRACE in the Fe IX/X 171 A passband and EIT on-board Solar and Heliospheric Observatory in the Fe XII 195 A passband were analysed. We found that small-scale loops known as bright points play an essential role in coronal holes boundaries evolution at small scales. Their emergence and disappearance continuously expand or contract coronal holes. The changes appear to be random on a time scale comparable with the lifetime of the loops seen at these temperatures. No signature was found for a major energy release during the evolution of the loops. Although coronal holes seem to maintain their general shape during a few solar rotations, a closer look at their day-by-day and even hour-by-hour evolution demonstrates a significant dynamics. The small-scale loops (10" - 40" and smaller) which are abundant along coronal hole boundaries have a contribution to the small-scale evolution of coronal holes. Continuous magnetic reconnection of the open magnetic field lines of the coronal hole and the closed field lines of the loops in the quiet Sun is more likely to take place.Comment: 7 pages, 6 figures. in press in A&

Coronal hole boundaries at small scales: III. EIS and SUMER views

We report on the plasma properties of small-scale transient events identified in the quiet Sun, coronal holes and their boundaries. We use spectroscopic co-observations from SUMER/SoHO and EIS/Hinode combined with high cadence imaging data from XRT/Hinode. We measure Doppler shifts using single and multiple Gauss fits of transition region and coronal lines as well as electron densities and temperatures. We combine co-temporal imaging and spectroscopy to separate brightening expansions from plasma flows. The transient brightening events in coronal holes and their boundaries were found to be very dynamical producing high density outflows at large speeds. Most of these events represent X-ray jets from pre-existing or newly emerging coronal bright points at X-ray temperatures. The average electron density of the jets is logNe ~ 8.76 cm^-3 while in the flaring site it is logNe ~ 9.51 cm^-3. The jet temperatures reach a maximum of 2.5 MK but in the majority of the cases the temperatures do not exceed 1.6 MK. The footpoints of jets have temperatures of a maximum of 2.5 MK though in a single event scanned a minute after the flaring the measured temperature was 12 MK. The jets are produced by multiple microflaring in the transition region and corona. Chromospheric emission was only detected in their footpoints and was only associated with downflows. The Doppler shift measurements in the quiet Sun transient brightenings confirmed that these events do not produce jet-like phenomena. The plasma flows in these phenomena remain trapped in closed loops.Comment: 16 pages, accepted for publication in A&

Chromospheric Magnetic Reconnection caused by Photospheric Flux Emergence: Implications for Jet-like Events Formation

Magnetic reconnection in the low atmosphere, e.g. chromosphere, is investigated in various physical environments. Its implications for the origination of explosive events (small--scale jets) are discussed. A 2.5-dimensional resistive magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) model in Cartesian coordinates is used. It is found that the temperature and velocity of the outflow jets as a result of magnetic reconnection are strongly dependent on the physical environments, e.g. the magnitude of the magnetic field strength and the plasma density. If the magnetic field strength is weak and the density is high, the temperature of the jets is very low (~10,000 K) as well as its velocity (~40 km/s). However, if environments with stronger magnetic field strength (20 G) and smaller density (electron density Ne=2x10^{10} cm^{-3}) are considered, the outflow jets reach higher temperatures of up to 600,000 K and a line-of-sight velocity of up to 130 km/s which is comparable with the observational values of jet-like events.Comment: 9 pages, 8 figures, 1 table, submitted to A&

Can coronal hole spicules reach coronal temperatures?

We aim with the present study to provide observational evidences on whether coronal hole spicules reach coronal temperatures. We combine multi-instrument co-observations obtained with the SUMER/SoHO and with the EIS/SOT/XRT/Hinode. The analysed three large spicules were found to be comprised of numerous thin spicules which rise, rotate and descend simultaneously forming a bush-like feature. Their rotation resembles the untwisting of a large flux rope. They show velocities ranging from 50 to 250 km/s. We clearly associated the red- and blue-shifted emissions in transition region lines with rotating but also with rising and descending plasmas, respectively. Our main result is that these spicules although very large and dynamic, show no presence in spectral lines formed at temperatures above 300 000 K. The present paper brings out the analysis of three Ca II H large spicules which are composed of numerous dynamic thin spicules but appear as macrospicules in EUV lower resolution images. We found no coronal counterpart of these and smaller spicules. We believe that the identification of phenomena which have very different origins as macrospicules is due to the interpretation of the transition region emission, and especially the He II emission, wherein both chromospheric large spicules and coronal X-ray jets are present. We suggest that the recent observation of spicules in the coronal AIA/SDO 171 A and 211 A channels is probably due to the existence of transition region emission there.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figures, accepted for publication in A&

A coronal wave and an asymmetric eruptive filament in SUMER, CDS, EIT, and TRACE co-observations

The objectives of the present study is to provide a better physical understanding of the complex inter-relation and evolution of several solar coronal features comprising a double-peak flare, a coronal dimming caused by a CME, a CME-driven compression, and a fast-mode wave. For the first time, the evolution of an asymmetric eruptive filament is analysed in simultaneous SUMER spectroscopic and TRACE and EIT imaging data. We use imaging observations from EIT and TRACE in the 195A channel and spectroscopic observations from the CDS in a rastering and SUMER in a sit-and-stare observing mode. The SUMER spectra cover spectral lines with formation temperatures from logT(K) ~ 4.0 to 6.1. Although the event was already analysed in two previous studies, our analysis brings a wealth of new information on the dynamics and physical properties of the observed phenomena. We found that the dynamic event is related to a complex flare with two distinct impulsive peaks, one according to the GOES classification as C1.1 and the second - C1.9. The first energy release triggers a fast-mode wave and a CME with a clear CME driven compression ahead of it. This activity is related to, or possibly caused, by an asymmetric filament eruption. The filament is observed to rise with its leading edge moving at a speed of ~300 km/s detected both in the SUMER and CDS data. The rest of the filament body moves at only ~150 km/s while untwisting. No signature is found of the fast-mode wave in the SUMER data, suggesting that the plasma disturbed by the wave had temperatures above 600 000 K. The erupting filament material is found to emit only in spectral lines at transition region temperatures. Earlier identification of a coronal response detected in the Mg X 609.79 A line is found to be caused by a blend from the O IV 609.83 A line.Comment: 10 pages, 8 figures, A&A, in pres

What is the true nature of blinkers?

Aims. The aim of this work is to identify the true nature of the transient EUV brightenings, called blinkers. Methods. Co-spatial and co-temporal multi-instrument data, including imaging (EUVI/STEREO, XRT and SOT/Hinode), spectroscopic (CDS/SoHO and EIS/Hinode) and magnetogram (SOT/Hinode) data, of an isolated equatorial coronal hole were used. An automatic program for identifying transient brightenings in CDS O v 629 Å, EUVI 171 Å and XRT was applied. Results. We identified 28 blinker groups in the CDS O v 629 Å raster images. All CDS O v 629 Å blinkers showed counterparts in EUVI 171 Å and 304 Å images. We classified these blinkers into two categories, one associated with coronal counterparts and other with no coronal counterparts as seen in XRT images and EIS Fe xii 195.12 Å raster images. Around two-thirds of the blinkers show coronal counterparts and correspond to various events like EUV/X-ray jets, brightenings in coronal bright points or foot-point brightenings of larger loops. These brightenings occur repetitively and have a lifetime of around 40 min at transition region temperatures. The remaining blinker groups with no coronal counterpart in XRT and EIS Fe xii 195.12 Å appear as point-like brightenings and have chromospheric/transition region origin. They take place only once and have a lifetime of around 20 min. In general, lifetimes of blinkers are different at different wavelengths, i.e. different temperatures, decreasing from the chromosphere to the corona. Conclusions. This work shows that the term blinker covers a range of phenomena. Blinkers are the EUV response of various transient events originating at coronal, transition region and chromospheric heights. Hence, events associated with blinkers contribute to the formation and maintenance of the temperature gradient in the transition region and the corona

Jets or high velocity flows revealed in high-cadence spectrometer and imager co-observations?

We report on active region EUV dynamic events observed simultaneously at high-cadence with SUMER/SoHO and TRACE. Although the features appear in the TRACE Fe ix/x 171A images as jets seen in projection on the solar disk, the SUMER spectral line profiles suggest that the plasma has been driven along a curved large scale magnetic structure, a pre-existing loop. The SUMER observations were carried out in spectral lines covering a large temperature range from 10^4 K to 10^6 K. The spectral analysis revealed that a sudden heating from an energy deposition is followed by a high velocity plasma flow. The Doppler velocities were found to be in the range from 90 to 160 km/s. The heating process has a duration which is below the SUMER exposure time of 25 s while the lifetime of the events is from 5 to 15 min. The additional check on soft X-ray Yohkoh images shows that the features most probably reach 3 MK (X-ray) temperatures. The spectroscopic analysis showed no existence of cold material during the events

Diagnosing transient ionization in dynamic events

The present study aims to provide a diagnostic line ratio that will enable the observer to determine whether a plasma is in a state of transient ionization. We use the Atomic Data and Analysis Structure (ADAS) to calculate line contribution functions for two lines, Si IV 1394 A and O IV 1401 A, formed in the solar transition region. The generalized collisional-radiative theory is used. It includes all radiative and electron collisional processes, except for photon-induced processes. State-resolved direct ionization and recombination to and from the next ionization stage are also taken into account. For dynamic bursts with a decay time of a few seconds, the Si IV 1394 A line can be enhanced by a factor of 2-4 in the first fraction of a second with the peak in the line contribution function occurring initially at a higher electron temperature due to transient ionization compared to ionization equilibrium conditions. On the other hand, the O IV 1401 A does not show such any enhancement. Thus the ratio of these two lines, which can be observed with the Interface Region Imaging Spectrograph, can be used as a diagnostic of transient ionization. We show that simultaneous high-cadence observations of two lines formed in the solar transition region may be used as a direct diagnostic of whether the observed plasma is in transient ionization. The ratio of these two lines can change by a factor of four in a few seconds owing to transient ionization alone.Comment: 3 pages, in press A&

Coronal hole boundaries at small scales: IV. SOT view Magnetic field properties of small-scale transient brightenings in coronal holes

We study the magnetic properties of small-scale transients in coronal hole. We found all brightening events are associated with bipolar regions and caused by magnetic flux emergence followed by cancellation with the pre-existing and newly emerging magnetic flux. In the coronal hole, 19 of 22 events have a single stable polarity which does not change its position in time. In eleven cases this is the dominant polarity. The dominant flux of the coronal hole form the largest concentration of magnetic flux in terms of size while the opposite polarity is distributed in small concentrations. In the coronal hole the number of magnetic elements of the dominant polarity is four times higher than the non-dominant one. The supergranulation configuration appears to preserve its general shape during approximately nine hours of observations although the large concentrations in the network did evolve and were slightly displaced, and their strength either increased or decreased. The emission fluctuations seen in the X-ray bright points are associated with reoccurring magnetic cancellation in the footpoints. Unique observations of an X-ray jet reveal similar magnetic behaviour in the footpoints, i.e. cancellation of the opposite polarity magnetic flux. We found that the magnetic flux cancellation rate during the jet is much higher than in bright points. Not all magnetic cancellations result in an X-ray enhancement, suggesting that there is a threshold of the amount of magnetic flux involved in a cancellation above which brightening would occur at X-ray temperatures. Our study demonstrates that the magnetic flux in coronal holes is continuously recycled through magnetic reconnection which is responsible for the formation of numerous small-scale transient events. The open magnetic flux forming the coronal-hole phenomenon is largely involved in these transient features.Comment: 19 pages, 18 figures, A&A in pres