Observing the Roots of Coronal Heating - in the Chromosphere

Details Observing the Roots of Coronal Heating - in the Chromosphere Observing the Roots of Coronal Heating - in the Chromosphere

Dec 2009

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2009agufmsh44a..01m&link_type=abstract

American Geophysical Union, Fall Meeting 2009, abstract #SH44A-01

Astronomy and Astrophysics

Astrophysics

[7500] Solar Physics, Astrophysics, And Astronomy, [7507] Solar Physics, Astrophysics, And Astronomy / Chromosphere, [7509] Solar Physics, Astrophysics, And Astronomy / Corona, [7546] Solar Physics, Astrophysics, And Astronomy / Transition Region

Scientific paper

I will discuss recent results using Hinode/SOT-EIS-XRT, SOHO/SUMER, CRISP (at the Swedish Solar Telescope) and TRACE that provide a direct connection between coronal dynamics and those of the lower atmosphere. We use chromospheric measurements (H-alpha and Ca II 8542 spectral imaging, and Ca II H images), as well as UV spectra (EIS and SUMER), and EUV/X-ray images (XRT and TRACE) to show that faint, high-speed upflows at velocities of 50-100 km/s across a wide range of temperatures from chromospheric (10,000 K), through lower and upper transition region (0.1 to 0.7 MK) and coronal temperatures (2 MK) are associated with significant mass-loading of the corona with hot plasma. Our observations are incompatible with current models in which coronal heating occurs as a result of nanoflares at coronal heights. Instead we suggest that a significant fraction of heating of plasma to coronal temperatures may occur at chromospheric heights in association with jets driven from below (the recently discovered type II spicules). Illustrating the mass and energy transport between the chromosphere, transition region and corona, as deduced from Hinode observations. Convective flows and oscillations in the convection zone and photosphere of the Sun buffet the magnetic field of the Sun. This leads to at least two different kinds of jets in the chromosphere: Type I, and II spicules. Type II spicules drive matter upward violently and likely form when magnetic field reconnects because of stresses introduced by convective flows. A significant fraction of the plasma in type II spicules is heated to coronal temperatures (>1MK), providing the corona with hot plasma. The correlation between the chromospheric and coronal parts of the spicules depends greatly on the viewing angle between the line-of-sight and the direction of the upward flows. Order of magnitude estimates indicate that the mass supplied by type II spicules plays a significant role in supplying the corona with hot plasma.

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