Astronomy and Astrophysics – Astronomy
Scientific paper
May 2009
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2009spd....40.2602m&link_type=abstract
American Astronomical Society, SPD meeting #40, #26.02; Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society, Vol. 41, p.862
Astronomy and Astrophysics
Astronomy
Scientific paper
The Sun's atmosphere or corona is millions of degrees hotter than its 5,000 K surface or photosphere. This heating enigma is typically addressed by invoking the deposition at coronal heights of non-thermal energy generated by the interplay between convection and magnetic field near the photosphere. However, it remains unclear how and where coronal heating occurs and how the corona is filled with hot plasma. Here, we show that energy deposition at coronal heights cannot be the only source of coronal heating, by revealing a significant coronal mass supply mechanism that is driven from below, in the chromosphere, the interface between photosphere and corona. We quantify the asymmetry of spectral lines observed with Hinode and SOHO and identify faint but ubiquitous upflows with velocities that are similar (50-100 km/s) across a wide range of magnetic field configurations and for temperatures from 100,000 to several million degrees. These upflows are correlated with and have similar upward velocities as the very fine and dynamic chromospheric jets, or spicules, discovered by Hinode. As these phenomena are incompatible with models of coronal loops that only include nanoflare heating at coronal heights, we conclude that a significant fraction of the energy needed to heat coronal plasma is deposited at chromospheric heights in association with spicular jets driven from below.
de Pontieu Bart
Hansteen Viggo
McIntosh Scott W.
Schrijver Carolus J.
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