The Chinese Hα Solar Explorer(CHASE), dubbed “Xihe”—Goddess of the Sun, was launched on October 14, 2021 as the first solar space mission of China National Space Administration(CNSA). The CHASE mission is designed...The Chinese Hα Solar Explorer(CHASE), dubbed “Xihe”—Goddess of the Sun, was launched on October 14, 2021 as the first solar space mission of China National Space Administration(CNSA). The CHASE mission is designed to test a newly developed satellite platform and to acquire the spectroscopic observations in the Hα waveband. The Hα Imaging Spectrograph(HIS)is the scientific payload of the CHASE satellite. It consists of two observational modes: raster scanning mode and continuum imaging mode. The raster scanning mode obtains full-Sun or region-of-interest spectral images from 6559.7 to 6565.9 ? and from 6567.8 to 6570.6 ? with 0.024 ? pixel spectral resolution and 1 min temporal resolution. The continuum imaging mode obtains photospheric images in continuum around 6689 ? with the full width at half maximum of 13.4 ?. The CHASE mission will advance our understanding of the dynamics of solar activity in the photosphere and chromosphere. In this paper, we present an overview of the CHASE mission including the scientific objectives, HIS instrument overview, data calibration flow, and first results of on-orbit observations.展开更多
Solar ultraviolet（UV） bursts are small-scale compact brightenings in transition region images. The spectral profiles of transition region lines in these bursts are significantly enhanced and broadened, often with ch...Solar ultraviolet（UV） bursts are small-scale compact brightenings in transition region images. The spectral profiles of transition region lines in these bursts are significantly enhanced and broadened, often with chromospheric absorption lines such as Ni ii 1335.203 and 1393.330 ? superimposed. We investigate the properties of several UV bursts using a coordinated observation of the Interface Region Imaging Spectrograph（IRIS）, Solar Dynamics Observatory（SDO）, and Hinode on February 7, 2015. We have identified 12 UV bursts, and 11 of them reveal small blueshifts of the Ni ii absorption lines. However, the Ni ii lines in one UV burst exhibit obvious redshifts of ～20 km s-1, which appear to be related to the cold plasma downflows observed in the IRIS slit-jaw images. We also examine the three-dimensional magnetic field topology using a magnetohydrostatic model, and find that some UV bursts are associated with magnetic null points or bald patches. In addition, we find that these UV bursts reveal no obvious coronal signatures from the observations of the Atmospheric Imaging Assembly（AIA） on board SDO and the EUV Imaging Spectrometer（EIS） on board Hinode.展开更多
Observations indicate that Ellerman bombs （EBs） and chromospheric microflares both occur in the lower solar atmosphere,and share many common features,such as temperature enhancements,accompanying jet-like mass motio...Observations indicate that Ellerman bombs （EBs） and chromospheric microflares both occur in the lower solar atmosphere,and share many common features,such as temperature enhancements,accompanying jet-like mass motions,short life-time,and so on.These strongly suggest that EBs and chromospheric microflares could both probably be induced by magnetic reconnection in the lower solar atmosphere.With gravity,ionization and radiation considered,we perform two-dimensional numerical simulations of magnetic reconnection in the lower solar atmosphere.The influence of different parameters,such as intensity of the magnetic field and anomalous resistivity,on the results are investigated.Our result demonstrates that the temperature increases are mainly due to the joule dissipation caused by magnetic reconnection.The spectral profiles of EBs and chromospheric microflares are calculated with the non-LTE radiative transfer theory and compared with observations.It is found that the typical features of the two phenomena can be qualitatively reproduced.展开更多
The characteristics of magnetohydrodynamic fast wave propagation in the solar stratified atmosphere are studied by the ray tracing method. The propagation behaviour of the wavefronts is described in detail. A magnetic...The characteristics of magnetohydrodynamic fast wave propagation in the solar stratified atmosphere are studied by the ray tracing method. The propagation behaviour of the wavefronts is described in detail. A magnetic field incorporating the characteristics field spreading expected in flux tubes is used, which represents the main feature of an active region. Partly ionization is considered beside the stratified solar atmosphere consisting chromosphere, transition region and corona. The study may explain the characteristics in observations of Moreton and extraultraviolet image telescope （EIT） waves. The wavefront incurred by the disturbance initialized at the base of the transition region propagates fast initially due to strong magnetic field, and it slows down when arriving beyond the region of flux-tube. Meanwhile, the wave propagates in the corona with a more consistent speed, as seen in the observation of EIT waves. The speeds and propagated characteristics in chromosphere and corona of the wavefronts are in agreement with those observed in H~ Moreton and EIT waves, respectively.展开更多
High-resolution Stokes spectral data of Hα, Ca Ⅱ 8542A, and Fe 16302.5A lines for a two-ribbon microflare （TRMF） were simultaneously obtained by the THEMIS telescope on 2002 September 5. We derive the intensity, v...High-resolution Stokes spectral data of Hα, Ca Ⅱ 8542A, and Fe 16302.5A lines for a two-ribbon microflare （TRMF） were simultaneously obtained by the THEMIS telescope on 2002 September 5. We derive the intensity, velocity, and longitudinal magnetic field maps. The hard X-ray emission observed by RHESSI provides evidence of nonthermal particle acceleration in the TRMF. Using Ha and Ca Ⅱ 8542A line profiles and a non-LTE calculation, we obtain semi-empirical atmospheric models for the two brightest kernels of the TRME Our result indicates that the temperature enhancement in the chromosphere is more than 2500 K. The kinetic and radiative energies at the kernels are also estimated, resulting in an estimate of the total energy of the TRMF of about 2.4×10^29 erg. Observations indicate that the TRMF results from the low coronal magnetic reconnection following the eruption of a small fila- ment. However, the local temperature ＂bump＂ in the chromosphere presents a puzzle for such a standard flare model. A possible solution to this is discussed.展开更多
The Hα line is an important optical line in solar observations containing the information from the photosphere to the chromosphere. To study the mechanisms of solar eruptions and the plasma dynamics in the lower atmo...The Hα line is an important optical line in solar observations containing the information from the photosphere to the chromosphere. To study the mechanisms of solar eruptions and the plasma dynamics in the lower atmosphere, the Chinese Hα Solar Explorer(CHASE) was launched into a Sun-synchronous orbit on October 14, 2021. The scientific payload of the CHASE satellite is the Hα Imaging Spectrograph(HIS). The CHASE/HIS acquires, for the first time, seeing-free Hα spectroscopic observations with high spectral and temporal resolutions. It consists of two observational modes. The raster scanning mode provides full-Sun or region-of-interest spectra at Hα(6559.7-6565.9 ?) and Fe I(6567.8-6570.6 ?) wavebands. The continuum imaging mode obtains full-Sun photospheric images at around 6689 ?. In this paper, we present detailed calibration procedures for the CHASE/HIS science data, including the dark-field and flat-field correction, slit image curvature correction, wavelength and intensity calibration, and coordinate transformation. The higher-level data products can be directly used for scientific research.展开更多
The emission sources of umbral flashes （UFs） are believed to be closely related to running umbral and penumbral waves, and are concluded to be associated with umbral dots in the solar photosphere. Accurate identific...The emission sources of umbral flashes （UFs） are believed to be closely related to running umbral and penumbral waves, and are concluded to be associated with umbral dots in the solar photosphere. Accurate identification of emission sources of UFs is crucial for investigating these physical phenomena and their inherent relationships. A relatively novel model of shape perception, namely phase congruency （PC）, uses phase information in the Fourier domain to identify the geometrical shape of the region of interest in different intensity levels, rather than intensity or gradient. Previous studies indicate that the model is suitable for identifying features with low contrast and low luminance. In the present paper, we applied the PC model to identify the emission sources of UFs and to locate their positions. For illustrating the high performance of our proposed method, two time sequences of Ca n H images derived from the Hinode/SOT on 2010 August 10 and 2013 August 20 were used. Furthermore, we also compared these results with the analysis results that are identified by the traditional/classical identification methods, including the gray-scale adjusted technique and the running difference technique. The result of our analysis demonstrates that our proposed method is more accurate and effective than the traditional identification methods when applied to identifying the emission sources of UFs and to locating their positions.展开更多
Using the multi-wavelength data from the Atmospheric Imaging Assembly （AIA） onboard the Solar Dynamics Observatory （SDO） spacecraft, we study a jet occurring in a coronal hole near the northern pole of the Sun. Th...Using the multi-wavelength data from the Atmospheric Imaging Assembly （AIA） onboard the Solar Dynamics Observatory （SDO） spacecraft, we study a jet occurring in a coronal hole near the northern pole of the Sun. The jet presented distinct upward helical motion during ejection. By tracking six identified moving features （MFs） in the jet, we found that the plasma moved at an approximately constant speed along the jet＇s axis. Meanwhile, the MFs made a circular motion in the plane transverse to the axis. Inferred from linear and trigonometric fittings to the axial and transverse heights of the six tracks, the mean values of the axial velocities, transverse velocities, angular speeds, rotation periods, and rotation radii of the jet are 114 km s-1, 136 km s-1, 0.81° s-1, 452 s and 9.8 × 10^3 km respectively. As the MFs rose, the jet width at the corresponding height increased. For the first time, we derived the height variation of the longitudinal magnetic field strength in the jet from the assumption of magnetic flux conservation. Our results indicate that at heights of 1 × 10^4 -7 × 10^4 km from the base of the jet, the flux density in the jet decreases from about 15 to 3 G as a function of B = 0.5（R/R） - 1）-0.84 （G）. A comparison was made with other results in previous studies.展开更多
Ellerman bombs （EBs） are small brightening events in the solar lower atmosphere. By their original definition, the main characteristic of EBs is the two emission bumps in both wings of chro- mospheric lines, such a...Ellerman bombs （EBs） are small brightening events in the solar lower atmosphere. By their original definition, the main characteristic of EBs is the two emission bumps in both wings of chro- mospheric lines, such as Hα and Ca II 8542A lines. Up to now, most authors have found that the temperature increase of EBs around the temperature minimum region is in the range of 600-3000 K. However, with recent IRIS observations, some authors proposed that the temperature increase of EBs could be more than 10 000 K. Using non-LTE semi-empirical modeling, we investigate the line profiles, continuum emission and radiative losses for EB models with different temperature increases, and com- pare them with observations. Our result indicates that if the EB maximum temperature reaches more than 10000K around the temperature minimum region, then the resulting Hα and Call 8542A line profiles and the continuum emission would be much stronger than those of EB observations. Moreover, due to the high radiative losses, a high temperature EB compatible with observations. Thus, our study does not higher than 10 000 K. would have a very short lifetime, which is not support the proposal that EB temperatures are higher than 10 000 K.展开更多
The distribution or wavelength-dependence of the formation regions of frequently used solar lines, Hα, Hβ, CaIIH and Car18542, in quiet Sun, faint and bright flares is explored in the unpolarized case. We stress fou...The distribution or wavelength-dependence of the formation regions of frequently used solar lines, Hα, Hβ, CaIIH and Car18542, in quiet Sun, faint and bright flares is explored in the unpolarized case. We stress four aspects characterising the property of line formation process: 1) width of line formation core; 2) line formation region; 3) influence of the temperature minimum region; and 4) wavelength ranges within which one can obtain pure chromospheric and photospheric filtergrams. It is shown that the above four aspects depend strongly on the atmospheric physical condition and the lines used. The formation regions of all the wavelength points within a line may be continuously distributed over one depth domain or discretely distributed because of no contribution coming from the temperature minimum region, an important domain in the solar atmosphere that determines the distribution pattern of escape photons. Cm the other hand, the formation region of one wavelength point may cover only one heigh t range or spread over two domains which are separated again by the temperature minimum region. Different lines may form in different regions in the quiet Sun. However, these line formation regions become closer in solar flaring regions. Finally, though the stratification of line-of-sight velocity can alter the position of the line formation core within the line band and result in the asymmetry of the line formation core about the shifted line center, it can only lead to negligible changes in the line formation region or the line formation core width. All these results can be instructive to solar filtering observations.展开更多
We examine chromospheric oscillations in both a coronal hole (CH) and a quiet Sun (QS) region, by employing Transition Region and Coronal Explorer (TRACE) and Big Bear Solar Observatory (BBSO) data on September 14 and...We examine chromospheric oscillations in both a coronal hole (CH) and a quiet Sun (QS) region, by employing Transition Region and Coronal Explorer (TRACE) and Big Bear Solar Observatory (BBSO) data on September 14 and 16, 2004. For the CH, the average oscillation periods of network magnetic field and non-magnetic field (NMF) regions are 257 and 222 s, respectively, and the average period of network field is longer than that of NMF region by 15.8%. In the QS, the average oscillation period is the 225 s for network field and 212 s for the NMF region. The average period of the network field is also longer than that of the NMF region by 6.1%. For the network region, we find that the average period in the CH is longer than that in the QS by 14.2%. This difference between CH and QS is possibly caused by different magnetic configurations i.e. the open magnetic field in the CH and the close field in the QS.展开更多
Radio stars have attracted astronomers＇ attention for several decades. To better understand the physics behind stellar radio emissions, it is important to study their optical behaviors. The LAMOST survey provides a l...Radio stars have attracted astronomers＇ attention for several decades. To better understand the physics behind stellar radio emissions, it is important to study their optical behaviors. The LAMOST survey provides a large database for researching stellar spectroscopic properties of radio stars. In this work, we concentrate on their spectroscopic properties and infer physical properties from their spectra, such as stellar activity and variability. We mined big data from the LAMOST spectral survey Data Release 2 （DR2）, published on 2016 June 30, by cross-matching them with radio stars from FIRST and other surveys. We obtained 783 good stellar spectra with high signal to noise ratio for 659 stars. The criteria for selection were positional coincidence within 1.5＂ and LAMOST objects classified as stars. We calculated the equivalent widths （EWs） of the Ca II H＆K, HS, H＇7, H/3, Ha and Ca II IRT lines by integrating the line profiles. Using the EWs of the Ha line, we detected 147 active stellar spectra of 89 objects having emissions above the Ha continuum. There were also 36 objects with repeated spectra, 28 of which showed chromospheric activity variability. Furthermore, we found 14 radio stars emitting noticeably in the Ca II IRT lines. The low value of the EWs542/EWsags ratio for these 14 radio stars possibly alludes to chromospheric plage regions.展开更多
We present properties of intensity oscillations of a sunspot in the photo- sphere and chromosphere using G band and Ca u H filtergrams from Hinode. Intensity power maps as function of magnetic field strength and frequ...We present properties of intensity oscillations of a sunspot in the photo- sphere and chromosphere using G band and Ca u H filtergrams from Hinode. Intensity power maps as function of magnetic field strength and frequency reveal reduction of power in the G band with an increase in photospheric magnetic field strength at all frequencies. In Ca II H, however, stronger fields exhibit more power at high frequen- cies, particularly in the 4.5-8.0 mHz band. Power distributions in different locations of the active region show that the oscillations in Ca II H exhibit more power compared to that of the G band. We also relate the power in intensity oscillations with differ- ent components of the photospheric vector magnetic field using near simultaneous spectro-polarimetric observations of the sunspot from the Hinode spectropolarime- ter. The photospheric umbral power is strongly anti-correlated with the magnetic field strength and its line-of-sight component but there is a good correlation with the trans- verse component. A reversal of this trend is observed in the chromosphere except at low frequencies （V≤ 1.5 mHz）. The power in sunspot penumbrae is anti-correlated with the magnetic field parameters at all frequencies （1.0 ≤ v ≤ 8.0 mHz） in both the photosphere and chromosphere, except that the chromospheric power shows a strong correlation in the frequency range 3-3.5 mHz.展开更多
We attempt to propose a method for automatically detecting the solar filament chirality and barb beating. We first introduce the concept of an unweighted undirected graph and adopt the Dijkstra shortest path algorithm...We attempt to propose a method for automatically detecting the solar filament chirality and barb beating. We first introduce the concept of an unweighted undirected graph and adopt the Dijkstra shortest path algorithm to recognize the filament spine. Then, we use the polarity inversion line （PIL） shift method for measuring the polarities on both sides of the filament, and employ the connected components labeling method to identify the barbs and calculate the angle between each barb and the spine to determine the bearing of the barbs, i.e., left or right. We test the automatic detection method with Ha filtergrams from the Big Bear Solar Observatory （BBSO） Ha archive and magnetograms observed with the Helioseismic and Magnetic Imager （HMI） on board the Solar Dynamics Observatory （SDO）. Four filaments are automatically detected and illustrated to show the results. The barbs in different parts of a filament may have opposite bearings. The filaments in the southern hemisphere （northern hemisphere） mainly have left-bearing （fight- bearing） barbs and positive （negative） magnetic helicity, respectively. The tested results demonstrate that our method is efficient and effective in detecting the bearing of filament barbs. It is demonstrated that the conventionally believed one-to-one correspondence between filament chirality and barb bearing is not valid. The correct detection of the filament axis chirality should be done by combining both imaging morphology and magnetic field observations.展开更多
Ellerman bombs （EBs） are tiny brightenings often observed near sunspots. The most impressive characteristic of EB spectra is the two emission bumps in both wings of the Hα and Ca II 8542 A lines. High-resolution sp...Ellerman bombs （EBs） are tiny brightenings often observed near sunspots. The most impressive characteristic of EB spectra is the two emission bumps in both wings of the Hα and Ca II 8542 A lines. High-resolution spectral data of three small EBs were obtained on 2013 June 6 with the largest solar telescope, the 1.6 m New Solar Telescope at the Big Bear Solar Observatory. The characteristics of these EBs are analyzed. The sizes of the EBs are in the range of 0.3＂ - 0.8＂ and their durations are only 3-5 min. Our semi-empirical atmospheric models indicate that the heating occurs around the temperature minimum region with a temperature increase of 2700- 3000 K, which is surprisingly higher than previously thought. The radiative and kinetic energies are estimated to be as high as 5 × 1025 - 3.0 × 10^26 erg despite the small size of these EBs. Observations of the magnetic field show that the EBs just appeared in a parasitic region with mixed polarities and were accompanied by mass motions. Nonlinear force-free field extrapolation reveals that the three EBs are connected with a series of magnetic field lines associated with bald patches, which strongly implies that these EBs should be produced by magnetic reconnection in the solar lower atmosphere. According to the lightcurves and the estimated magnetic reconnection rate, we propose that there is a three phase process in EBs： pre-heating, flaring and cooling phases.展开更多
Chromospheric lines, including Ha, Lya, Lyβ and CaⅡ K, CaⅡ 8542, are systemically and quantitatively investigated with respect to the non-thermal excitation and ionization due to particle beam bombardment for a ser...Chromospheric lines, including Ha, Lya, Lyβ and CaⅡ K, CaⅡ 8542, are systemically and quantitatively investigated with respect to the non-thermal excitation and ionization due to particle beam bombardment for a series of solar semi-empirical atmospheric models. As a result we propose to use the contrast in the integrated intensity of hydrogen lines to estimate the total energy flux of the bombarding beam during the solar flare impulsive phase. Partial frequency redistribution is considered in the Lyα line calculation and a smaller intensity en- hancement in the Hα line-centers is found than in the previous results of Fang et al.展开更多
We analyze oscillation behaviours in chromospheric internetwork regions using spectral observations of the C<SUB>II</SUB> 1334 ? line obtained with the Solar Ultraviolet Measurements of Emitted Radiation s...We analyze oscillation behaviours in chromospheric internetwork regions using spectral observations of the C<SUB>II</SUB> 1334 ? line obtained with the Solar Ultraviolet Measurements of Emitted Radiation spectrograph (SUMER) aboard Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO). Three areas, 26×120arcsec<SUP>2</SUP> each, at the various latitudes from the disk center to the north polar coronal hole, were rastered with a cadence of about 40–60 s in the solar minimum year. We obtained the time evolution of two-dimensional (2D) line intensity, continuum and line core shift. The continuum and the line shift show ~3 min chromospheric oscillations in the internetwork regions underlying the coronal hole as well as at the disk center. We find that the C<SUB>II</SUB> 1334 ? line shift oscillates with an average speed of ~1.7km<SUP>-1</SUP>, independent of the latitude, while its coherent scale decreases with latitude. On the other hand, the oscillation amplitude of the continuum around the 1334 ? and the phase delay between the Doppler shift and continuum slightly increase with latitude.展开更多
The Ca II K filtergrams from Kodaikanal Solar Observatory have been used to study solar activity. The images are dominated by the chromospheric network and plages. Programs have been developed to obtain the network an...The Ca II K filtergrams from Kodaikanal Solar Observatory have been used to study solar activity. The images are dominated by the chromospheric network and plages. Programs have been developed to obtain the network and plage indices from the daily images as functions of solar latitude and time. Preliminary results from the analysis are reported here. The network and plage indices were found to follow the sunspot cycle. A secondary peak is found during the period of declining activity in both the indices. A comparison of network indices from the northern and the southern hemispheres shows that the former is more active than the latter. However such an asymmetry is not clearly seen in the plage index.展开更多
基金supported by China National Space Administration(CNSA)。
文摘The Chinese Hα Solar Explorer(CHASE), dubbed “Xihe”—Goddess of the Sun, was launched on October 14, 2021 as the first solar space mission of China National Space Administration(CNSA). The CHASE mission is designed to test a newly developed satellite platform and to acquire the spectroscopic observations in the Hα waveband. The Hα Imaging Spectrograph(HIS)is the scientific payload of the CHASE satellite. It consists of two observational modes: raster scanning mode and continuum imaging mode. The raster scanning mode obtains full-Sun or region-of-interest spectral images from 6559.7 to 6565.9 ? and from 6567.8 to 6570.6 ? with 0.024 ? pixel spectral resolution and 1 min temporal resolution. The continuum imaging mode obtains photospheric images in continuum around 6689 ? with the full width at half maximum of 13.4 ?. The CHASE mission will advance our understanding of the dynamics of solar activity in the photosphere and chromosphere. In this paper, we present an overview of the CHASE mission including the scientific objectives, HIS instrument overview, data calibration flow, and first results of on-orbit observations.
基金supported by the Strategic Priority Research Program of Chinese Academy of Sciences(Grant No.XDA17040507)the National Natural Science Foundation of China(Grant Nos.11825301,11790304(11790300),41774183&41861134033)the Strategic Pioneer Program on Space Science of Chinese Academy of Sciences(Grant Nos.XDA15011000&XDA15010900)
文摘Solar ultraviolet（UV） bursts are small-scale compact brightenings in transition region images. The spectral profiles of transition region lines in these bursts are significantly enhanced and broadened, often with chromospheric absorption lines such as Ni ii 1335.203 and 1393.330 ? superimposed. We investigate the properties of several UV bursts using a coordinated observation of the Interface Region Imaging Spectrograph（IRIS）, Solar Dynamics Observatory（SDO）, and Hinode on February 7, 2015. We have identified 12 UV bursts, and 11 of them reveal small blueshifts of the Ni ii absorption lines. However, the Ni ii lines in one UV burst exhibit obvious redshifts of ～20 km s-1, which appear to be related to the cold plasma downflows observed in the IRIS slit-jaw images. We also examine the three-dimensional magnetic field topology using a magnetohydrostatic model, and find that some UV bursts are associated with magnetic null points or bald patches. In addition, we find that these UV bursts reveal no obvious coronal signatures from the observations of the Atmospheric Imaging Assembly（AIA） on board SDO and the EUV Imaging Spectrometer（EIS） on board Hinode.
基金supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 10221001,10333040,10403003,10620150099,10610099 and 10673004)by the Major State Basic Research Development Program (973 project 2006CB806302)
文摘Observations indicate that Ellerman bombs （EBs） and chromospheric microflares both occur in the lower solar atmosphere,and share many common features,such as temperature enhancements,accompanying jet-like mass motions,short life-time,and so on.These strongly suggest that EBs and chromospheric microflares could both probably be induced by magnetic reconnection in the lower solar atmosphere.With gravity,ionization and radiation considered,we perform two-dimensional numerical simulations of magnetic reconnection in the lower solar atmosphere.The influence of different parameters,such as intensity of the magnetic field and anomalous resistivity,on the results are investigated.Our result demonstrates that the temperature increases are mainly due to the joule dissipation caused by magnetic reconnection.The spectral profiles of EBs and chromospheric microflares are calculated with the non-LTE radiative transfer theory and compared with observations.It is found that the typical features of the two phenomena can be qualitatively reproduced.
基金Supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China under Grant Nos 40274050 and 40336052, and the National Key Basic Research Special Foundation of China under Grant No G2000078405.
文摘The characteristics of magnetohydrodynamic fast wave propagation in the solar stratified atmosphere are studied by the ray tracing method. The propagation behaviour of the wavefronts is described in detail. A magnetic field incorporating the characteristics field spreading expected in flux tubes is used, which represents the main feature of an active region. Partly ionization is considered beside the stratified solar atmosphere consisting chromosphere, transition region and corona. The study may explain the characteristics in observations of Moreton and extraultraviolet image telescope （EIT） waves. The wavefront incurred by the disturbance initialized at the base of the transition region propagates fast initially due to strong magnetic field, and it slows down when arriving beyond the region of flux-tube. Meanwhile, the wave propagates in the corona with a more consistent speed, as seen in the observation of EIT waves. The speeds and propagated characteristics in chromosphere and corona of the wavefronts are in agreement with those observed in H~ Moreton and EIT waves, respectively.
基金Supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China(NSFC) (Grant Nos. 10221001, 10878002, 10403003, 10620150099,10610099, 10933003 and 10673004)a grant form the 973 project 2006CB806302
文摘High-resolution Stokes spectral data of Hα, Ca Ⅱ 8542A, and Fe 16302.5A lines for a two-ribbon microflare （TRMF） were simultaneously obtained by the THEMIS telescope on 2002 September 5. We derive the intensity, velocity, and longitudinal magnetic field maps. The hard X-ray emission observed by RHESSI provides evidence of nonthermal particle acceleration in the TRMF. Using Ha and Ca Ⅱ 8542A line profiles and a non-LTE calculation, we obtain semi-empirical atmospheric models for the two brightest kernels of the TRME Our result indicates that the temperature enhancement in the chromosphere is more than 2500 K. The kinetic and radiative energies at the kernels are also estimated, resulting in an estimate of the total energy of the TRMF of about 2.4×10^29 erg. Observations indicate that the TRMF results from the low coronal magnetic reconnection following the eruption of a small fila- ment. However, the local temperature ＂bump＂ in the chromosphere presents a puzzle for such a standard flare model. A possible solution to this is discussed.
基金supported by China National Space Administration。
文摘The Hα line is an important optical line in solar observations containing the information from the photosphere to the chromosphere. To study the mechanisms of solar eruptions and the plasma dynamics in the lower atmosphere, the Chinese Hα Solar Explorer(CHASE) was launched into a Sun-synchronous orbit on October 14, 2021. The scientific payload of the CHASE satellite is the Hα Imaging Spectrograph(HIS). The CHASE/HIS acquires, for the first time, seeing-free Hα spectroscopic observations with high spectral and temporal resolutions. It consists of two observational modes. The raster scanning mode provides full-Sun or region-of-interest spectra at Hα(6559.7-6565.9 ?) and Fe I(6567.8-6570.6 ?) wavebands. The continuum imaging mode obtains full-Sun photospheric images at around 6689 ?. In this paper, we present detailed calibration procedures for the CHASE/HIS science data, including the dark-field and flat-field correction, slit image curvature correction, wavelength and intensity calibration, and coordinate transformation. The higher-level data products can be directly used for scientific research.
基金supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Nos. U1231205,11163004,11263004 and 11303011)the Open Research Program of Key Laboratory of Solar Activity of Chinese Academy of Sciences (No. KLSA201309)supported by the Opening Project of Key Laboratory of Astronomical Optics&Technology,Nanjing Institute of Astronomical Optics & Technology,Chinese Academy of Sciences (No. CAS-KLAOT-KF201306)
文摘The emission sources of umbral flashes （UFs） are believed to be closely related to running umbral and penumbral waves, and are concluded to be associated with umbral dots in the solar photosphere. Accurate identification of emission sources of UFs is crucial for investigating these physical phenomena and their inherent relationships. A relatively novel model of shape perception, namely phase congruency （PC）, uses phase information in the Fourier domain to identify the geometrical shape of the region of interest in different intensity levels, rather than intensity or gradient. Previous studies indicate that the model is suitable for identifying features with low contrast and low luminance. In the present paper, we applied the PC model to identify the emission sources of UFs and to locate their positions. For illustrating the high performance of our proposed method, two time sequences of Ca n H images derived from the Hinode/SOT on 2010 August 10 and 2013 August 20 were used. Furthermore, we also compared these results with the analysis results that are identified by the traditional/classical identification methods, including the gray-scale adjusted technique and the running difference technique. The result of our analysis demonstrates that our proposed method is more accurate and effective than the traditional identification methods when applied to identifying the emission sources of UFs and to locating their positions.
基金supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China(Grant Nos.11103090,11025315,40890161,10921303,40825014, and 40890162)the CAS project KJCX2-YW-T04,the National Basic Research Program of China (973 Program,No.2011CB811403)the Shandong Provincial Natural Science Foundation, China(ZR 2011AQ009)
文摘Using the multi-wavelength data from the Atmospheric Imaging Assembly （AIA） onboard the Solar Dynamics Observatory （SDO） spacecraft, we study a jet occurring in a coronal hole near the northern pole of the Sun. The jet presented distinct upward helical motion during ejection. By tracking six identified moving features （MFs） in the jet, we found that the plasma moved at an approximately constant speed along the jet＇s axis. Meanwhile, the MFs made a circular motion in the plane transverse to the axis. Inferred from linear and trigonometric fittings to the axial and transverse heights of the six tracks, the mean values of the axial velocities, transverse velocities, angular speeds, rotation periods, and rotation radii of the jet are 114 km s-1, 136 km s-1, 0.81° s-1, 452 s and 9.8 × 10^3 km respectively. As the MFs rose, the jet width at the corresponding height increased. For the first time, we derived the height variation of the longitudinal magnetic field strength in the jet from the assumption of magnetic flux conservation. Our results indicate that at heights of 1 × 10^4 -7 × 10^4 km from the base of the jet, the flux density in the jet decreases from about 15 to 3 G as a function of B = 0.5（R/R） - 1）-0.84 （G）. A comparison was made with other results in previous studies.
基金supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China(NSFC,Grant Nos.11533005,11025314,13001003,11203014 and 11103075)NKBRSF(Grant 2014CB744203)
文摘Ellerman bombs （EBs） are small brightening events in the solar lower atmosphere. By their original definition, the main characteristic of EBs is the two emission bumps in both wings of chro- mospheric lines, such as Hα and Ca II 8542A lines. Up to now, most authors have found that the temperature increase of EBs around the temperature minimum region is in the range of 600-3000 K. However, with recent IRIS observations, some authors proposed that the temperature increase of EBs could be more than 10 000 K. Using non-LTE semi-empirical modeling, we investigate the line profiles, continuum emission and radiative losses for EB models with different temperature increases, and com- pare them with observations. Our result indicates that if the EB maximum temperature reaches more than 10000K around the temperature minimum region, then the resulting Hα and Call 8542A line profiles and the continuum emission would be much stronger than those of EB observations. Moreover, due to the high radiative losses, a high temperature EB compatible with observations. Thus, our study does not higher than 10 000 K. would have a very short lifetime, which is not support the proposal that EB temperatures are higher than 10 000 K.
基金Item 199730l6 of National Science Founda-tion of China and National Major Project 973 under the grant G2000078401. The authors
文摘The distribution or wavelength-dependence of the formation regions of frequently used solar lines, Hα, Hβ, CaIIH and Car18542, in quiet Sun, faint and bright flares is explored in the unpolarized case. We stress four aspects characterising the property of line formation process: 1) width of line formation core; 2) line formation region; 3) influence of the temperature minimum region; and 4) wavelength ranges within which one can obtain pure chromospheric and photospheric filtergrams. It is shown that the above four aspects depend strongly on the atmospheric physical condition and the lines used. The formation regions of all the wavelength points within a line may be continuously distributed over one depth domain or discretely distributed because of no contribution coming from the temperature minimum region, an important domain in the solar atmosphere that determines the distribution pattern of escape photons. Cm the other hand, the formation region of one wavelength point may cover only one heigh t range or spread over two domains which are separated again by the temperature minimum region. Different lines may form in different regions in the quiet Sun. However, these line formation regions become closer in solar flaring regions. Finally, though the stratification of line-of-sight velocity can alter the position of the line formation core within the line band and result in the asymmetry of the line formation core about the shifted line center, it can only lead to negligible changes in the line formation region or the line formation core width. All these results can be instructive to solar filtering observations.
基金Supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. G10873020, 10603008, 40890161, 10703020, 40674081, and10703007)the CAS Project (Grant No. KJCX2-YW-T04)the National Basic Research Program of China (Grant No. G2006CB806303)
文摘We examine chromospheric oscillations in both a coronal hole (CH) and a quiet Sun (QS) region, by employing Transition Region and Coronal Explorer (TRACE) and Big Bear Solar Observatory (BBSO) data on September 14 and 16, 2004. For the CH, the average oscillation periods of network magnetic field and non-magnetic field (NMF) regions are 257 and 222 s, respectively, and the average period of network field is longer than that of NMF region by 15.8%. In the QS, the average oscillation period is the 225 s for network field and 212 s for the NMF region. The average period of the network field is also longer than that of the NMF region by 6.1%. For the network region, we find that the average period in the CH is longer than that in the QS by 14.2%. This difference between CH and QS is possibly caused by different magnetic configurations i.e. the open magnetic field in the CH and the close field in the QS.
基金supported by the Joint Research Fund in Astronomy (U1631236, U1431114, U1631109 and 11263001)funded by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration and the National Science FoundationNational Major Scientific Project built by CAS
文摘Radio stars have attracted astronomers＇ attention for several decades. To better understand the physics behind stellar radio emissions, it is important to study their optical behaviors. The LAMOST survey provides a large database for researching stellar spectroscopic properties of radio stars. In this work, we concentrate on their spectroscopic properties and infer physical properties from their spectra, such as stellar activity and variability. We mined big data from the LAMOST spectral survey Data Release 2 （DR2）, published on 2016 June 30, by cross-matching them with radio stars from FIRST and other surveys. We obtained 783 good stellar spectra with high signal to noise ratio for 659 stars. The criteria for selection were positional coincidence within 1.5＂ and LAMOST objects classified as stars. We calculated the equivalent widths （EWs） of the Ca II H＆K, HS, H＇7, H/3, Ha and Ca II IRT lines by integrating the line profiles. Using the EWs of the Ha line, we detected 147 active stellar spectra of 89 objects having emissions above the Ha continuum. There were also 36 objects with repeated spectra, 28 of which showed chromospheric activity variability. Furthermore, we found 14 radio stars emitting noticeably in the Ca II IRT lines. The low value of the EWs542/EWsags ratio for these 14 radio stars possibly alludes to chromospheric plage regions.
基金Support for the post-launch operation is provided by JAXA and NAOJ (Japan), STFC (UK), NASA (USA), ESA and NSC (Norway)financial the German Science Foundation (DFG) under grant DE 787/3-1
文摘We present properties of intensity oscillations of a sunspot in the photo- sphere and chromosphere using G band and Ca u H filtergrams from Hinode. Intensity power maps as function of magnetic field strength and frequency reveal reduction of power in the G band with an increase in photospheric magnetic field strength at all frequencies. In Ca II H, however, stronger fields exhibit more power at high frequen- cies, particularly in the 4.5-8.0 mHz band. Power distributions in different locations of the active region show that the oscillations in Ca II H exhibit more power compared to that of the G band. We also relate the power in intensity oscillations with differ- ent components of the photospheric vector magnetic field using near simultaneous spectro-polarimetric observations of the sunspot from the Hinode spectropolarime- ter. The photospheric umbral power is strongly anti-correlated with the magnetic field strength and its line-of-sight component but there is a good correlation with the trans- verse component. A reversal of this trend is observed in the chromosphere except at low frequencies （V≤ 1.5 mHz）. The power in sunspot penumbrae is anti-correlated with the magnetic field parameters at all frequencies （1.0 ≤ v ≤ 8.0 mHz） in both the photosphere and chromosphere, except that the chromospheric power shows a strong correlation in the frequency range 3-3.5 mHz.
基金supported by NKBRSF (Grant Nos.2011CB811402 and 2014CB744203)the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos.11203014,11533005 and 11025314)the grants from CSC201306190046 and CXZZ130041
文摘We attempt to propose a method for automatically detecting the solar filament chirality and barb beating. We first introduce the concept of an unweighted undirected graph and adopt the Dijkstra shortest path algorithm to recognize the filament spine. Then, we use the polarity inversion line （PIL） shift method for measuring the polarities on both sides of the filament, and employ the connected components labeling method to identify the barbs and calculate the angle between each barb and the spine to determine the bearing of the barbs, i.e., left or right. We test the automatic detection method with Ha filtergrams from the Big Bear Solar Observatory （BBSO） Ha archive and magnetograms observed with the Helioseismic and Magnetic Imager （HMI） on board the Solar Dynamics Observatory （SDO）. Four filaments are automatically detected and illustrated to show the results. The barbs in different parts of a filament may have opposite bearings. The filaments in the southern hemisphere （northern hemisphere） mainly have left-bearing （fight- bearing） barbs and positive （negative） magnetic helicity, respectively. The tested results demonstrate that our method is efficient and effective in detecting the bearing of filament barbs. It is demonstrated that the conventionally believed one-to-one correspondence between filament chirality and barb bearing is not valid. The correct detection of the filament axis chirality should be done by combining both imaging morphology and magnetic field observations.
基金supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC, Grants 10878002, 10933003, 11025314, 10673004, 11203014 and 11103075)NKBRSF (Grant Nos. 2011CB811402 and 2014CB744203)+1 种基金the support of the US NSF (AGS0847126 and AGS-1250818)NASA (NNX13AG14G)
文摘Ellerman bombs （EBs） are tiny brightenings often observed near sunspots. The most impressive characteristic of EB spectra is the two emission bumps in both wings of the Hα and Ca II 8542 A lines. High-resolution spectral data of three small EBs were obtained on 2013 June 6 with the largest solar telescope, the 1.6 m New Solar Telescope at the Big Bear Solar Observatory. The characteristics of these EBs are analyzed. The sizes of the EBs are in the range of 0.3＂ - 0.8＂ and their durations are only 3-5 min. Our semi-empirical atmospheric models indicate that the heating occurs around the temperature minimum region with a temperature increase of 2700- 3000 K, which is surprisingly higher than previously thought. The radiative and kinetic energies are estimated to be as high as 5 × 1025 - 3.0 × 10^26 erg despite the small size of these EBs. Observations of the magnetic field show that the EBs just appeared in a parasitic region with mixed polarities and were accompanied by mass motions. Nonlinear force-free field extrapolation reveals that the three EBs are connected with a series of magnetic field lines associated with bald patches, which strongly implies that these EBs should be produced by magnetic reconnection in the solar lower atmosphere. According to the lightcurves and the estimated magnetic reconnection rate, we propose that there is a three phase process in EBs： pre-heating, flaring and cooling phases.
基金Supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China.
文摘Chromospheric lines, including Ha, Lya, Lyβ and CaⅡ K, CaⅡ 8542, are systemically and quantitatively investigated with respect to the non-thermal excitation and ionization due to particle beam bombardment for a series of solar semi-empirical atmospheric models. As a result we propose to use the contrast in the integrated intensity of hydrogen lines to estimate the total energy flux of the bombarding beam during the solar flare impulsive phase. Partial frequency redistribution is considered in the Lyα line calculation and a smaller intensity en- hancement in the Hα line-centers is found than in the previous results of Fang et al.
基金Supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China.
文摘We analyze oscillation behaviours in chromospheric internetwork regions using spectral observations of the C<SUB>II</SUB> 1334 ? line obtained with the Solar Ultraviolet Measurements of Emitted Radiation spectrograph (SUMER) aboard Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO). Three areas, 26×120arcsec<SUP>2</SUP> each, at the various latitudes from the disk center to the north polar coronal hole, were rastered with a cadence of about 40–60 s in the solar minimum year. We obtained the time evolution of two-dimensional (2D) line intensity, continuum and line core shift. The continuum and the line shift show ~3 min chromospheric oscillations in the internetwork regions underlying the coronal hole as well as at the disk center. We find that the C<SUB>II</SUB> 1334 ? line shift oscillates with an average speed of ~1.7km<SUP>-1</SUP>, independent of the latitude, while its coherent scale decreases with latitude. On the other hand, the oscillation amplitude of the continuum around the 1334 ? and the phase delay between the Doppler shift and continuum slightly increase with latitude.
基金funded by the Department of Science and Technology,Government of India
文摘The Ca II K filtergrams from Kodaikanal Solar Observatory have been used to study solar activity. The images are dominated by the chromospheric network and plages. Programs have been developed to obtain the network and plage indices from the daily images as functions of solar latitude and time. Preliminary results from the analysis are reported here. The network and plage indices were found to follow the sunspot cycle. A secondary peak is found during the period of declining activity in both the indices. A comparison of network indices from the northern and the southern hemispheres shows that the former is more active than the latter. However such an asymmetry is not clearly seen in the plage index.
