Ellerman Bombs - Evidence for Magnetic Reconnection in the Lower Solar Atmosphere

The presence of photospheric magnetic reconnection has long been thought to give rise to short and impulsive events, such as Ellerman bombs (EBs) and Type II spicules. In this article, we combine high-resolution, high-cadence observations from the Interferometric BIdimensional Spectrometer and Rapid Oscillations in the Solar Atmosphere instruments at the Dunn Solar Telescope, National Solar Observatory, New Mexico, with co-aligned Solar Dynamics Observatory Atmospheric Imaging Assembly and Hinode Solar Optical Telescope (SOT) data to observe small-scale events situated within an active region. These data are then compared with state-of-the-art numerical simulations of the lower atmosphere made using the MURaM code. It is found that brightenings, in both the observations and the simulations, of the wings of the Hα line profile, interpreted as EBs, are often spatially correlated with increases in the intensity of the Fe I λ6302.5 line core. Bipolar regions inferred from Hinode/SOT magnetic field data show evidence of flux cancellation associated, co-spatially, with these EBs, suggesting that magnetic reconnection could be a driver of these high-energy events. Through the analysis of similar events in the simulated lower atmosphere, we are able to infer that line profiles analogous to the observations occur co-spatially with regions of strong opposite-polarity magnetic flux. These observed events and their simulated counterparts are interpreted as evidence of photospheric magnetic reconnection at scales observable using current observational instrumentation.

The influence of the magnetic field on running penumbral waves in the solar chromosphere

We use images of high spatial and temporal resolution, obtained using both ground- and space-based instrumentation, to investigate the role magnetic field inclination angles play in the propagation characteristics of running penumbral waves in the solar chromosphere. Analysis of a near-circular sunspot, close to the center of the solar disk, reveals a smooth rise in oscillatory period as a function of distance from the umbral barycenter. However, in one directional quadrant, corresponding to the north direction, a pronounced kink in the period-distance diagram is found. Utilizing a combination of the inversion of magnetic Stokes vectors and force-free field extrapolations, we attribute this behavior to the cut-off frequency imposed by the magnetic field geometry in this location. A rapid, localized inclination of the magnetic field lines in the north direction results in a faster increase in the dominant periodicity due to an accelerated reduction in the cut-off frequency. For the first time, we reveal how the spatial distribution of dominant wave periods, obtained with one of the highest resolution solar instruments currently available, directly reflects the magnetic geometry of the underlying sunspot, thus opening up a wealth of possibilities in future magnetohydrodynamic seismology studies. In addition, the intrinsic relationships we find between the underlying magnetic field geometries connecting the photosphere to the chromosphere, and the characteristics of running penumbral waves observed in the upper chromosphere, directly supports the interpretation that running penumbral wave phenomena are the chromospheric signature of upwardly propagating magneto-acoustic waves generated in the photosphere.

Tracking magnetic bright point motions through the solar atmosphere

High-cadence, multiwavelength observations and simulations are employed for the analysis of solar photospheric magnetic bright points (MBPs) in the quiet Sun. The observations were obtained with the Rapid Oscillations in the Solar Atmosphere (ROSA) imager and the Interferometric Bidimensional Spectrometer at the Dunn Solar Telescope. Our analysis reveals that photospheric MBPs have an average transverse velocity of approximately 1 km s-1, whereas their chromospheric counterparts have a slightly higher average velocity of 1.4 km s-1. Additionally, chromospheric MBPs were found to be around 63 per cent larger than the equivalent photospheric MBPs. These velocity values were compared with the output of numerical simulations generated using the muram code. The simulated results were similar, but slightly elevated, when compared to the observed data. An average velocity of 1.3 km s-1 was found in the simulated G-band images and an average of 1.8 km s-1 seen in the velocity domain at a height of 500 km above the continuum formation layer. Delays in the change of velocities were also analysed. Average delays of ˜4 s between layers of the simulated data set were established and values of ˜29 s observed between G-band and Ca ii K ROSA observations. The delays in the simulations are likely to be the result of oblique granular shock waves, whereas those found in the observations are possibly the result of a semi-rigid flux tube.

Alfvén Waves in the Solar Atmosphere: From Theory to Observations

Alfvén waves are considered to be viable transporters of the non-thermal energy required to heat the Sun's quiescent atmosphere. An abundance of recent observations, from state-of-the-art facilities, have reported the existence of Alfvén waves in a range of chromospheric and coronal structures. Here, we review the progress made in disentangling the characteristics of transverse kink and torsional linear magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) waves. We outline the simple, yet powerful theory describing their basic properties in (non-)uniform magnetic structures, which closely resemble the building blocks of the real solar atmosphere.

Nanoflare Activity In the Solar Chromosphere

We use ground-based images of high spatial and temporal resolution to search for evidence of nanoflare activity in the solar chromosphere. Through close examination of more than 1 x 10(9) pixels in the immediate vicinity of an active region, we show that the distributions of observed intensity fluctuations have subtle asymmetries. A negative excess in the intensity fluctuations indicates that more pixels have fainter-than-average intensities compared with those that appear brighter than average. By employing Monte Carlo simulations, we reveal how the negative excess can be explained by a series of impulsive events, coupled with exponential decays, that are fractionally below the current resolving limits of low-noise equipment on high-resolution ground-based observatories. Importantly, our Monte Carlo simulations provide clear evidence that the intensity asymmetries cannot be explained by photon-counting statistics alone. A comparison to the coronal work of Terzo et al. suggests that nanoflare activity in the chromosphere is more readily occurring, with an impulsive event occurring every similar to 360 s in a 10,000 km(2) area of the chromosphere, some 50 times more events than a comparably sized region of the corona. As a result, nanoflare activity in the chromosphere is likely to play an important role in providing heat energy to this layer of the solar atmosphere.

The radiated energy budget of Chromospheric Plasma in a major solar flare deduced from multi-wavelength observations

This paper presents measurements of the energy radiated by the lower solar atmosphere, at optical, UV, and EUV wavelengths, during an X-class solar flare (SOL2011-02-15T01:56) in response to an injection of energy assumed to be in the form of nonthermal electrons. Hard X-ray observations from RHESSI were used to track the evolution of the parameters of the nonthermal electron distribution to reveal the total power contained in flare accelerated electrons. By integrating over the duration of the impulsive phase, the total energy contained in the nonthermal electrons was found to be >2 × 1031 erg. The response of the lower solar atmosphere was measured in the free–bound EUV continua of H i (Lyman), He i, and He ii, plus the emission lines of He ii at 304 Å and H i (Lyα) at 1216 Å by SDO/EVE, the UV continua at 1600 Å and 1700 Å by SDO/AIA, and the white light continuum at 4504 Å, 5550 Å, and 6684 Å, along with the Ca ii H line at 3968 Å using Hinode/SOT. The summed energy detected by these instruments amounted to ~3 × 1030 erg; about 15% of the total nonthermal energy. The Lyα line was found to dominate the measured radiative losses. Parameters of both the driving electron distribution and the resulting chromospheric response are presented in detail to encourage the numerical modeling of flare heating for this event, to determine the depth of the solar atmosphere at which these line and continuum processes originate, and the mechanism(s) responsible for their generation.

Multiwavelength studies of MHD waves in the solar chromosphere: An Overview of recent results

The chromosphere is a thin layer of the solar atmosphere that bridges the relatively cool photosphere and the intensely heated transition region and corona. Compressible and incompressible waves propagating through the chromosphere can supply significant amounts of energy to the interface region and corona. In recent years an abundance of high-resolution observations from state-of-the-art facilities have provided new and exciting ways of disentangling the characteristics of oscillatory phenomena propagating through the dynamic chromosphere. Coupled with rapid advancements in magnetohydrodynamic wave theory, we are now in an ideal position to thoroughly investigate the role waves play in supplying energy to sustain chromospheric and coronal heating. Here, we review the recent progress made in characterising, categorising and interpreting oscillations manifesting in the solar chromosphere, with an impetus placed on their intrinsic energetics.

The Application of Semiconductor Photocatalysis for the Removal of Cyanotoxins from Water and Design Concepts for Solar Photocatalytic Reactors for Large Scale Water Treatment

There has been a significant increase in the occurrence of cyanobacterial blooms in freshwaters over the past few decades due to escalating nutrient levels. These cyanobacteria release a range of toxins, for example microcystins which are chemically very stable. Many cyanotoxins are consequently very difficult to remove from water using existing treatment technologies. Semiconductor photocatalysis, however, has proven to be a very effective process for the removal of these compounds from water. In this chapter we consider the application of this highly versatile and exciting technology for the decomposition of cyanotoxins. Furthermore design concepts for solar photocatalytic reactors that could be utilized for the removal of these toxins are also considered

The Dynamics of Rapid Redshifted and Blueshifted Excursions in the Solar Hα Line

We analyze high temporal and spatial resolution time-series of spectralscans of the Hα line obtained with the CRisp Imaging SpectroPolarimeter instrument mounted on the Swedish Solar Telescope.The data reveal highly dynamic, dark, short-lived structures known asRapid Redshifted and Blueshifted Excursions (RREs, RBEs) that areon-disk absorption features observed in the red and blue wings ofspectral lines formed in the chromosphere. We study the dynamics of RREsand RBEs by tracking their evolution in space and time, measuring thespeed of the apparent motion, line of sight (LOS) Doppler velocity, andtransverse velocity of individual structures. A statistical study oftheir measured properties shows that RREs and RBEs have similaroccurrence rates, lifetimes, lengths, and widths. They also displaynon-periodic, nonlinear transverse motions perpendicular to their axesat speeds of 4-31 km s-1. Furthermore, both typesof structures either appear as high speed jets and blobs that aredirected outwardly from a magnetic bright point with speeds of50-150 km s-1, or emerge within a few seconds. Astudy of the different velocity components suggests that the transversemotions along the LOS of the chromospheric flux tubes are responsiblefor the formation and appearance of these redshifted/blueshiftedstructures. The short lifetime and fast disappearance of the RREs/RBEssuggests that, similar to type II spicules, they are rapidly heated totransition region or even coronal temperatures. We speculate that theKelvin-Helmholtz instability triggered by observed transversemotions of these structures may be a viable mechanism for their heating.

Intensity Enhancement of O VI Ultraviolet Emission Lines in Solar Spectra due to Opacity

Opacity is a property of many plasmas. It is normally expected that if an emission line in a plasma becomes optically thick, then its intensity ratio to that of another transition that remains optically thin should decrease. However, radiative transfer calculations undertaken both by ourselves and others predict that under certain conditions the intensity ratio of an optically thick to an optically thin line can show an increase over the optically thin value, indicating an enhancement in the former. These conditions include the geometry of the emitting plasma and its orientation to the observer. A similar effect can take place between lines of differing optical depths. While previous observational studies have focused on stellar point sources, here we investigate the spatially resolved solar atmosphere using measurements of the I(1032 Å)/I(1038 Å) intensity ratio of O VI in several regions obtained with the Solar Ultraviolet Measurements of Emitted Radiation instrument on board the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory satellite. We find several I(1032 Å)/I(1038 Å) ratios observed on the disk to be significantly larger than the optically thin value of 2.0, providing the first detection (to our knowledge) of intensity enhancement in the ratio arising from opacity effects in the solar atmosphere. The agreement between observation and theory is excellent and confirms that the O VI emission originates from a slab-like geometry in the solar atmosphere, rather than from cylindrical structures.

Solar Flare Impulsive Phase Emission Observed with SDO/EVE

Differential emission measures (DEMs) during the impulsive phase of solar flares were constructed using observations from the EUV Variability Experiment (EVE) and the Markov-Chain Monte Carlo method. Emission lines from ions formed over the temperature range log Te = 5.8-7.2 allow the evolution of the DEM to be studied over a wide temperature range at 10 s cadence. The technique was applied to several M- and X-class flares, where impulsive phase EUV emission is observable in the disk-integrated EVE spectra from emission lines formed up to 3-4 MK and we use spatially unresolved EVE observations to infer the thermal structure of the emitting region. For the nine events studied, the DEMs exhibited a two-component distribution during the impulsive phase, a low-temperature component with peak temperature of 1-2 MK, and a broad high-temperature component from 7 to 30 MK. A bimodal high-temperature component is also found for several events, with peaks at 8 and 25 MK during the impulsive phase. The origin of the emission was verified using Atmospheric Imaging Assembly images to be the flare ribbons and footpoints, indicating that the constructed DEMs represent the spatially average thermal structure of the chromospheric flare emission during the impulsive phase.

Solar phase functions of cometary nuclei

Relatively few measurements of the solar phase function of cometary nuclei exist, despite the importance of this parameter in determining accurate sizes and its use in modeling surface properties. We make use of robotic telescopes and servicemode observing to monitor cometary nuclei over months at a time, combining intensive observations at a single epoch with regular short light-curve segments to efficiently account for brightness changes due to both nucleus rotation and changing solar phase angle. We present our latest results on comets 8P/Tuttle, 14P/Wolf, 67P/Churyumov- Gerasimenko and 110P/Hartley 3.

Development of a Polymer-carbon Nanotubes based Economic Solar Collector

A low cost solar collector was developed by using polymeric components as opposed to metal and glass components of traditional solar collectors. In order to utilize polymers for the absorber of the solar collector, Carbon Nanotubes (CNT) has been added as a filler to improve the thermal conductivity and the solar absorptivity of polymers. The solar collector was designed as a multi-layer construction with considering the economic manufacturing. Through the mathematical heat transfer analysis, the performance and characteristics of the designed solar collector have been estimated. Furthermore, the prototypes of the proposed system were built and tested at a state-of-the-art solar simulator facility to evaluate the actual performance of the developed solar collector. The cost-effective polymer-CNT solar collector, which achieved efficiency as much as that of a conventional glazed flat plate solar panel, has been successfully developed.

Comet C/2012 S1 (ISON): Observations of the Dust Grains from SOFIA and of the Atomic Gas from NSO Dunn and McMath-Pierce Solar Telescopes (Invited)

Comet C/2012 S1 (ISON) is unique in that it is a dynamically new comet derived from the Oort cloud reservoir of comets with a sun-grazing orbit. Infrared (IR) and visible wavelength observing campaigns were planned on NASA's Stratospheric Observatory For Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA) and on National Solar Observatory Dunn (DST) and McMath-Pierce Solar Telescopes, respectively. We highlight our early results. SOFIA (+FORCAST [1]) mid- to far-IR images and spectroscopy (~5-35 μm) of the dust in the coma of ISON are to be obtained by the ISON-SOFIA Team during a flight window 2013 Oct 21-23 UT (r_h≈1.18 AU). Dust characteristics, identified through the 10 μm silicate emission feature and its strength [2], as well as spectral features from cometary crystalline silicates (Forsterite) at 11.05-11.2 μm, and near 16, 19, 23.5, 27.5, and 33 μm are compared with other Oort cloud comets that span the range of small and/or highly porous grains (e.g., C/1995 O1 (Hale-Bopp) [3,4,5] and C/2001 Q4 (NEAT) [6]) to large and/or compact grains (e.g., C/2007 N4 (Lulin) [7] and C/2006 P1 (McNaught) [8]). Measurement of the crystalline peaks in contrast to the broad 10 and 20 μm amorphous silicate features yields the cometary silicate crystalline mass fraction [9], which is a benchmark for radial transport in our protoplanetary disk [10]. The central wavelength positions, relative intensities, and feature asymmetries for the crystalline peaks may constrain the shapes of the crystals [11]. Only SOFIA can look for cometary organics in the 5-8 μm region. Spatially resolved measurements of atoms and simple molecules from when comet ISON is near the Sun (r_h<0.4 AU, near Nov-20--Dec-03 UT) were proposed for by the ISON-DST Team. Comet ISON is the first comet since comet Ikeya-Seki (1965f) [12,13] suitable for studying the alkalai metals Na and K and the atoms specifically attributed to dust grains including Mg, Si, Fe, as well as Ca. DST's Horizontal Grating Spectrometer (HGS) measures 4 settings: Na I, K, C2 to sample cometary organics (along with Mg I), and [O I] as a proxy for activity from water [14] (along with Si I and Fe I). State-of-the-art instruments that will also be employed include IBIS [15], which is a Fabry-Perot spectral imaging system that concurrently measures lines of Na, K, Ca II, or Fe, and ROSA (CSUN/QUB) [16], which is a rapid imager that simultaneously monitors Ca II or CN. From McMath-Pierce, the Solar-Stellar Spectrograph also will target ISON (320-900 nm, R~21,000, r_h

Turbulent Fluctuations in G-band and K-line Intensities Observed with the Rapid Oscillations in the Solar Atmosphere (ROSA) Instrument

Using the Rapid Oscillation in the Solar Atmosphere (ROSA) instrument at the Dunn Solar Telescope we have found that the spectra of fluctuations of the G-band (cadence 1.05 s) and Ca II K-line (cadence 4.2 s) intensities show correlated fluctuations above white noise out to frequencies beyond 300 mHz and up to 70 mHz, respectively. The noise-corrected G-band spectrum presents a scaling range (Ultra High Frequency “UHF”) for f = 25-100 mHz, with an exponent consistent with the presence of turbulent motions. The UHF power, is concentrated at the locations of magnetic bright points in the intergranular lanes, it is highly intermittent in time and characterized by a positive kurtosis κ. Combining values of G-band and K-line intensities, the UHF power, and κ, reveals two distinct “states” of the internetwork solar atmosphere. State 1, with κ ≍ 6, which includes almost all the data, is characterized by low intensities and low UHF power. State 2, with κ ≍ 3, including a very small fraction of the data, is characterized by high intensities and high UHF power. Superposed epoch analysis shows that for State 1, the K-line intensity presents 3.5 min chromospheric oscillations with maxima occurring 21 s after G-band intensity maxima implying a 150-210 km effective height difference. For State 2, the G-band and K-line intensity maxima are simultaneous, suggesting that in the highly magnetized environment sites of G-band and K-line emission may be spatially close together. Analysis of observations obtained with Hinode/SOT confirm a scaling range in the G-band spectrum up to 53 mHz also consistent with turbulent motions as well as the identification of two distinct states in terms of the H-line intensity and G-band power as functions of G-band intensity.