Hinode Solar Optical Telescope Observations of the Source Regions and Evolution of "Type II" Spicules at the Solar Polar Limb

Details Hinode Solar Optical Telescope Observations of the Source Regions and Evolution of "Type II" Spicules at the Solar Polar Limb Hinode Solar Optical Telescope Observations of the Source Regions and Evolution of "Type II" Spicules at the Solar Polar Limb

May 2010

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2010apj...714l...1s&link_type=abstract

The Astrophysical Journal Letters, Volume 714, Issue 1, pp. L1-L6 (2010).

Astronomy and Astrophysics

Astronomy

8

Sun: Atmosphere, Sun: Chromosphere, Sun: Magnetic Topology, Sun: Photosphere

Scientific paper

We examine solar spicules using high-cadence Ca II data of the north pole coronal hole region, using the Solar Optical Telescope (SOT) on the Hinode spacecraft. The features we observe are referred to as "Type II" spicules by De Pontieu et al. in 2007. By convolving the images with the inverse-point-spread function for the SOT Ca II filter, we are able to investigate the roots of some spicules on the solar disk, and the evolution of some spicules after they are ejected from the solar surface. We find that the source regions of at least some of the spicules correspond to locations of apparent-fast-moving (~few × 10 km s-1), transient (few 100 s), Ca II brightenings on the disk. Frequently the spicules occur when these brightenings appear to collide and disappear. After ejection, when seen above the limb, many of the spicules fade by expanding laterally (i.e., roughly transverse to their motion away from the solar surface), splitting into two or more spicule "strands," and the spicules then fade without showing any downward motion. Photospheric/chromospheric acoustic shocks alone likely cannot explain the high velocities (~100 km s-1) of the spicules. If the Ca II brightenings represent magnetic elements, then reconnection among those elements may be a candidate to explain the spicules. Alternatively, many of the spicules could be small-scale magnetic eruptions, analogous to coronal mass ejections, and the apparent fast motions of the Ca II brightenings could be analogs of flare loops heated by magnetic reconnection in these eruptions.

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