Mapping solar magnetic fields from the photosphere to the base of the corona.

Routine ultraviolet imaging of the Sun's upper atmosphere shows the spectacular manifestation of solar activity; yet, we remain blind to its main driver, the magnetic field. Here, we report unprecedented spectropolarimetric observations of an active region plage and its surrounding enhanced network, showing circular polarization in ultraviolet (Mg ii h & k and Mn i) and visible (Fe i) lines. We infer the longitudinal magnetic field from the photosphere to the very upper chromosphere. At the top of the plage chromosphere, the field strengths reach more than 300 G, strongly correlated with the Mg ii k line core intensity and the electron pressure. This unique mapping shows how the magnetic field couples the different atmospheric layers and reveals the magnetic origin of the heating in the plage chromosphere.

An on Orbit Determination of Point Spread Functions for the Interface Region Imaging Spectrograph.

Using the 2016 Mercury transit of the Sun, we characterize on orbit spatial point spread functions (PSFs) for the Near- (NUV) and Far- (FUV) Ultra-Violet spectrograph channels of NASA's Interface Region Imaging Spectrograph (IRIS). A semi-blind Richardson-Lucy deconvolution method is used to estimate PSFs for each channel. Corresponding estimates of Modulation Transfer Functions (MTFs) indicate resolution of 2.47 cycles/arcsec in the NUV channel near 2796 Å and 2.55 cycles/arcsec near 2814 Å. In the short ( ≈ 1336 Å ) and long ( ≈ 1394 Å ) wavelength FUV channels, our MTFs show pixel-limited resolution (3.0 cycles/arcsec). The PSF estimates perform well under deconvolution, removing or significantly reducing instrument artifacts in the Mercury transit spectra. The usefulness of the PSFs is demonstrated in a case study of an isolated explosive event. PSF estimates and deconvolution routines are provided through a SolarSoft module.

The role of partial ionization effects in the chromosphere.

The energy for the coronal heating must be provided from the convection zone. However, the amount and the method by which this energy is transferred into the corona depend on the properties of the lower atmosphere and the corona itself. We review: (i) how the energy could be built in the lower solar atmosphere, (ii) how this energy is transferred through the solar atmosphere, and (iii) how the energy is finally dissipated in the chromosphere and/or corona. Any mechanism of energy transport has to deal with the various physical processes in the lower atmosphere. We will focus on a physical process that seems to be highly important in the chromosphere and not deeply studied until recently: the ion-neutral interaction effects in the chromosphere. We review the relevance and the role of the partial ionization in the chromosphere and show that this process actually impacts considerably the outer solar atmosphere. We include analysis of our 2.5D radiative magnetohydrodynamic simulations with the Bifrost code (Gudiksen et al. 2011 Astron. Astrophys. 531, A154 (doi:10.1051/0004-6361/201116520)) including the partial ionization effects on the chromosphere and corona and thermal conduction along magnetic field lines. The photosphere, chromosphere and transition region are partially ionized and the interaction between ionized particles and neutral particles has important consequences on the magneto-thermodynamics of these layers. The partial ionization effects are treated using generalized Ohm's law, i.e. we consider the Hall term and the ambipolar diffusion (Pedersen dissipation) in the induction equation. The interaction between the different species affects the modelled atmosphere as follows: (i) the ambipolar diffusion dissipates magnetic energy and increases the minimum temperature in the chromosphere and (ii) the upper chromosphere may get heated and expanded over a greater range of heights. These processes reveal appreciable differences between the modelled atmospheres of simulations with and without ion-neutral interaction effects.

Alfvénic waves with sufficient energy to power the quiet solar corona and fast solar wind.

Energy is required to heat the outer solar atmosphere to millions of degrees (refs 1, 2) and to accelerate the solar wind to hundreds of kilometres per second (refs 2-6). Alfvén waves (travelling oscillations of ions and magnetic field) have been invoked as a possible mechanism to transport magneto-convective energy upwards along the Sun's magnetic field lines into the corona. Previous observations of Alfvénic waves in the corona revealed amplitudes far too small (0.5 km s(-1)) to supply the energy flux (100-200 W m(-2)) required to drive the fast solar wind or balance the radiative losses of the quiet corona. Here we report observations of the transition region (between the chromosphere and the corona) and of the corona that reveal how Alfvénic motions permeate the dynamic and finely structured outer solar atmosphere. The ubiquitous outward-propagating Alfvénic motions observed have amplitudes of the order of 20 km s(-1) and periods of the order of 100-500 s throughout the quiescent atmosphere (compatible with recent investigations), and are energetic enough to accelerate the fast solar wind and heat the quiet corona.

Solar chromospheric spicules from the leakage of photospheric oscillations and flows.

Spicules are dynamic jets propelled upwards (at speeds of approximately 20 km s(-1)) from the solar 'surface' (photosphere) into the magnetized low atmosphere of the Sun. They carry a mass flux of 100 times that of the solar wind into the low solar corona. With diameters close to observational limits (< 500 km), spicules have been largely unexplained since their discovery in 1877: none of the existing models can account simultaneously for their ubiquity, evolution, energetics and recently discovered periodicity. Here we report a synthesis of modelling and high-spatial-resolution observations in which numerical simulations driven by observed photospheric velocities directly reproduce the observed occurrence and properties of individual spicules. Photospheric velocities are dominated by convective granulation (which has been considered before for spicule formation) and by p-modes (which are solar global resonant acoustic oscillations visible in the photosphere as quasi-sinusoidal velocity and intensity pulsations). We show that the previously ignored p-modes are crucial: on inclined magnetic flux tubes, the p-modes leak sufficient energy from the global resonant cavity into the chromosphere to power shocks that drive upward flows and form spicules.