Sunspot light bridges (LBs) exhibit a wide range of short-lived phenomena in the chromosphere and transition region. In contrast, we use here data from the Multi-Application Solar Telescope (MAST), the Interface Region Imaging Spectrograph (IRIS), Hinode, the Atmospheric Imaging Assembly (AIA), and the Helioseismic and Magnetic Imager (HMI) to analyze the sustained heating over days in an LB in a regular sunspot. Chromospheric temperatures were retrieved from the MAST Ca
Doppler shift oscillations of a sunspot detected by CYRA and IRIS
Context. The carbon monoxide (CO) molecular line at around 46655 Å in solar infrared spectra is often used to investigate the dynamic behavior of the cold heart of the solar atmosphere, i.e., sunspot oscillation, especially at the sunspot umbra. Aims. We investigated sunspot oscillation at Doppler velocities of the CO 7-6 R67 and 3-2 R14 lines that were measured by the Cryogenic Infrared Spectrograph (CYRA), as well as the line profile of Mg II k line that was detected by the Interface Region Imaging Spectrograph (IRIS). Methods. A single Gaussian function is applied to each CO line profile to extract the line shift, while the moment analysis method is used for the Mg II k line. Then the sunspot oscillation can be found in the time–distance image of Doppler velocities, and the quasi-periodicity at the sunspot umbra are determined from the wavelet power spectrum. Finally, the cross-correlation method is used to analyze the phase relation between different atmospheric levels. Results. At the sunspot umbra, a periodicity of roughly 5 min is detected at the Doppler velocity range of the CO 7-6 R67 line that formed in the photosphere, while a periodicity of around 3 min is discovered at the Doppler velocities of CO 3-2 R14 and Mg II k lines that formed in the upper photosphere or the temperature minimum region and the chromosphere. A time delay of about 2 min is measured between the strong CO 3-2 R14 line and the Mg II k line. Conclusions. Based on the spectroscopic observations from the CYRA and IRIS, the 3 min sunspot oscillation can be spatially resolved in the Doppler shifts. It may come from the upper photosphere or the temperature minimum region and then propagate to the chromosphere, which might be regarded as a propagating slow magnetoacoustic wave.
more »
« less
- Award ID(s):
- 1821294
- NSF-PAR ID:
- 10218216
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- Astronomy & Astrophysics
- Volume:
- 642
- ISSN:
- 0004-6361
- Page Range / eLocation ID:
- A231
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
More Like this
-
more » « less
Abstract ii and IRIS Mgii lines by nonlocal thermodynamic equilibrium inversions. Line widths, Doppler shifts, and intensities were derived from the IRIS lines using Gaussian fits. Coronal temperatures were estimated through the differential emission measure, while the coronal magnetic field was obtained from an extrapolation of the HMI vector field. At the photosphere, the LB exhibits a granular morphology with field strengths of about 400 G and no significant electric currents. The sunspot does not fragment, and the LB remains stable for several days. The chromospheric temperature, IRIS line intensities and widths, and AIA 171 and 211 Å intensities are all enhanced in the LB with temperatures from 8000 K to 2.5 MK. Photospheric plasma motions remain small, while the chromosphere and transition region indicate predominantly redshifts of 5–20 km s−1with occasional supersonic downflows exceeding 100 km s−1. The excess thermal energy over the LB is about 3.2 × 1026erg and matches the radiative losses. It could be supplied by magnetic flux loss of the sunspot (7.5 × 1027erg), kinetic energy from the increase in the LB width (4 × 1028erg), or freefall of mass along the coronal loops (6.3 × 1026erg). -
Context. Resistive Ohmic dissipation has been suggested as a mechanism for heating the solar chromosphere, but few studies have established this association. Aims. We aim to determine how Ohmic dissipation by electric currents can heat the solar chromosphere. Methods. We combine high-resolution spectroscopic Ca II data from the Dunn Solar Telescope and vector magnetic field observations from the Helioseismic and Magnetic Imager (HMI) to investigate thermal enhancements in a sunspot light bridge. The photospheric magnetic field from HMI was extrapolated to the corona using a non-force-free field technique that provided the three-dimensional distribution of electric currents, while an inversion of the chromospheric Ca II line with a local thermodynamic equilibrium and a nonlocal thermodynamic equilibrium spectral archive delivered the temperature stratifications from the photosphere to the chromosphere. Results. We find that the light bridge is a site of strong electric currents, of about 0.3 A m −2 at the bottom boundary, which extend to about 0.7 Mm while decreasing monotonically with height. These currents produce a chromospheric temperature excess of about 600−800 K relative to the umbra. Only the light bridge, where relatively weak and highly inclined magnetic fields emerge over a duration of 13 h, shows a spatial coincidence of thermal enhancements and electric currents. The temperature enhancements and the Cowling heating are primarily confined to a height range of 0.4−0.7 Mm above the light bridge. The corresponding increase in internal energy of 200 J m −3 can be supplied by the heating in about 10 min. Conclusions. Our results provide direct evidence for currents heating the lower solar chromosphere through Ohmic dissipation.more » « less
-
null (Ed.)The solar chromosphere can be observed well through strong absorption lines. We infer the physical parameters of chromospheric plasmas from these lines using a multilayer spectral inversion. This is a new technique of spectral inversion. We assume that the atmosphere consists of a finite number of layers. In each layer the absorption profile is constant and the source function varies with optical depth with a constant gradient. Specifically, we consider a three-layer model of radiative transfer where the lowest layer is identified with the photosphere and the two upper layers are identified with the chromosphere. The absorption profile in the photosphere is described by a Voigt function, and the profile in the chromosphere by a Gaussian function. This three-layer model is fully specified by 13 parameters. Four parameters can be fixed to prescribed values, and one parameter can be determined from the analysis of a satellite photospheric line. The remaining 8 parameters are determined from a constrained least-squares fitting. We applied the multilayer spectral inversion to the spectral data of the H α and the Ca II 854.21 nm lines taken in a quiet region by the Fast Imaging Solar Spectrograph (FISS) of the Goode Solar Telescope (GST). We find that our model successfully fits most of the observed profiles and produces regular maps of the model parameters. The combination of the inferred Doppler widths of the two lines yields reasonable estimates of temperature and nonthermal speed in the chromosphere. We conclude that our multilayer inversion is useful to infer chromospheric plasma parameters on the Sun.more » « less
-
It is not yet fully understood how magnetohydrodynamic waves in the interior and atmosphere of the Sun are excited. Traditionally, turbulent convection in the interior is considered to be the source of wave excitation in the quiet Sun. Over the last few decades, acoustic events observed in the intergranular lanes in the photosphere have emerged as a strong candidate for a wave excitation source. Here we report our observations of wave excitation by a new type of event: rapidly changing granules. Our observations were carried out with the Fast Imaging Solar Spectrograph in the H α and Ca II 8542 Å lines and the TiO 7057 Å broadband filter imager of the 1.6 m Goode Solar Telescope at the Big Bear Solar Observatory. We identify granules in the internetwork region that undergo rapid dynamic changes such as collapse (event 1), fragmentation (event 2), or submergence (event 3). In the photospheric images, these granules become significantly darker than neighboring granules. Following the granules’ rapid changes, transient oscillations are detected in the photospheric and chromospheric layers. In the case of event 1, the dominant period of the oscillations is close to 4.2 min in the photosphere and 3.8 min in the chromosphere. Moreover, in the Ca II –0.5 Å raster image, we observe repetitive brightenings in the location of the rapidly changing granules that are considered the manifestation of shock waves. Based on our results, we suggest that dynamic changes of granules can generate upward-propagating acoustic waves in the quiet Sun that ultimately develop into shocks.more » « less
-
Abstract Recent observations provided evidence that the solar chromosphere of sunspot regions is pervaded by Alfvénic waves—transverse magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) waves (Alfvén waves or kink waves). In order to systematically investigate the physical characteristics of Alfvénic waves over a wide range of periods, we analyzed the time series of line-of-sight velocity maps constructed from the H α spectral data of a small sunspot region taken by the Fast Imaging Solar Spectrograph of the Goode Solar Telescope at Big Bear. We identified each Alfvénic wave packet by examining the cross-correlation of band-filtered velocity between two points that are located a little apart presumably on the same magnetic field line. As result, we detected a total of 279 wave packets in the superpenumbral region around the sunspot and obtained their statistics of period, velocity amplitude, and propagation speed. An important finding of ours is that the detected Alfvénic waves are clearly separated into two groups: 3-minute period (<7 minutes) waves and 10-minute period (>7 minutes) waves. We propose two tales on the origin of Alfvénic waves in the chromosphere; the 3-minute Alfvénic waves are excited by the upward-propagating slow waves in the chromosphere through the slow-to-Alfvénic mode conversion, and the 10-minute Alfvénic waves represent the chromospheric manifestation of the kink waves driven by convective motions in the photosphere.more » « less
- Free Publicly Accessible Full Text
-
Accepted Manuscript1.0
- Journal Article:
- https://doi.org/10.1051/0004-6361/202039007
