On the detection of subphotospheric convective velocities and temperature fluctuations

A procedure is outlined for estimating the influence of large-scale convective eddies on the wave patterns of five-minute oscillations of high degree. The method is applied to adiabatic oscillations, with frequency ω and wave number k, of a plane-parallel polytropic layer upon which is imposed a low-amplitude convective flow. The distortion to the k - ω relation has two constituents: one depends on the horizontal component of the convective velocity and has a sign which depends on the sign of ω/k; the other depends on temperature fluctuations and is independent of the sign of ω/k. The magnitude of the distortion is just at the limit of present observational sensitivity. Thus there is reasonable hope that it will be possible to reveal some aspects of the large-scale flow in the solar convection zone.     

Forbidden Ca ii in the Sun unmasked by way of Venus

Eleven high-dispersion spectra of Venus, taken with blue Doppler shifts have enabled us to unmask the 7323.88 Å forbidden line of Ca ii from terrestrial absorption. We obtain an equivalent width of 7.4±0.4 mÅ for this line in integrated sunlight. Our value of W _λ is smaller than previous values and much more accurate. The HSRA solar model gives a solar calcium abundance of A _Ca = 6.21.     

Photospheric and Chromospheric Oscillations in Solar Faculae

The differences between physical conditions in solar faculae and those in sunspots and quiet photosphere (increased temperature and different magnetic field topology) suggest that oscillation characteristics in facula areas may also have different properties. The analysis of 28 time series of simultaneous spectropolarimetric observations in facula photosphere (Fe?i 6569 Å, 8538 Å) and chromosphere (Hα, Ca?ii 8542 Å) yields the following results. The amplitude of five-minute oscillations of line-of-sight (LOS) velocity decreases by 20?–?40% in facula photosphere. There are only some cases revealing the inverse effect. The amplitude of four- to five-minute LOS velocity oscillations increases significantly in the chromosphere above faculae, and power spectra fairly often show pronounced peaks in a frequency range of 1.3?–?2.5 mHz. Evidence of propagating oscillations can be seen from space?–?time diagrams. We have found oscillations of the longitudinal magnetic field (1.5?–?2 mHz and 5.2 mHz) inside faculae.     

Oscillations in Solar Faculae. III. The Phase Relations Between Chromospheric and Photospheric Line-of-Sight Velocities

An analysis of line-of-sight velocity oscillation in nine solar faculae was undertaken with the aim of studying phase relations between chromospheric (He?i 10830?Å line) and photospheric (Si?i 10827 Å line) five-minute oscillations. We found that the time lag of the chromospheric signal relative to photospheric one varies from ?12 to 100 seconds and is about 50 seconds on average. We assume that the small observed lag can have three possible explanations: i) convergence of formation levels of He?i 10830?Å and Si?i 10827?Å in faculae; ii) significant increase of five-minute oscillation propagation velocity above faculae; iii) simultaneous presence of standing and travelling waves.     

Direct Measurement Results of the Time Lag of LOS-Velocity Oscillations Between Two Heights in Solar Faculae and Sunspots

We present an investigation of line-of-sight (LOS) velocity oscillations in solar faculae and sunspots. To study the phase relations between chromospheric and photospheric oscillations of the LOS velocity, we measured the time lag of the chromospheric signal relative to the photospheric one for several faculae and sunspots in a set of spectral line pairs. The measured time lags are different for different objects. The mean measured delay between the oscillations in the five-minute band in faculae is 50?s for the Si?i 10?827?Å?–?He?i 10?830?Å pair; for the pair Fe?i 6569?Å?–?Hα 6563?Å the mean delay is 20?s; for the pair Fe?i 4551?Å?–?Ba?ii 4554?Å the mean delay is 7?s; for the pair Si?i 8536?Å?–?Ca?ii 8542?Å the mean delay is 20?s. For the oscillations in the three-minute band in sunspot umbrae the mean delay is 55?s for the Si?i 10?827?Å?–?He?i 10?830?Å pair; for the Fe?i 6569?Å?–?Hα 6563?Å pair it was not possible to determine the delay; for the Fe?i 4551?Å?–?Ba?ii 4554?Å pair the mean delay is 6?s; for the Si?i 8536?Å?–?Ca?ii 8542?Å pair the mean delay is 21?s. Measured delays correspond to the wave propagation speed, which significantly exceeds the generally adopted speed of sound in the photosphere. This raises the question of the origin of these oscillations. The possibility that we deal with slow MHD waves is not ruled out.     

Physical properties of solar chromospheric plages

We propose chromospheric models of plages to explain profiles of the Ca ii H, K, λl8498, λ8542, and λ8662 lines described in Paper I. These models are consistent with boundary conditions imposed by the photosphere and the Lyman continuum. We find that increasing emission in these lines is consistent with a picture of increasing temperature gradient in the low chromosphere and the resulting increase in pressure and electron density at similar line optical depths. With this picture we suggest how to empirically determine the distribution of chromospheric parameters across the solar disk directly from Ca ii filtergrams. We also propose that the high density aspects of solar activity are produced by steep temperature gradients in the low chromosphere and thus by the enhanced heating mechanisms that steepen these gradients.     

On the influence of nonlinearities on the eigenfrequencies of five-minute oscillations of the Sun

Fitting the results of linear normal-mode analysis of the solar five-minute oscillations to the observed k - ω diagram selects a class of models of the Sun's envelope. It is a property of all the models in this class that their convection zones are too deep to permit substantial transmission of internal g modes of degree 20 or more. This is in apparent conflict with Hill and Caudell's (1979) claim to have detected such modes in the photosphere. A proposal to resolve the conflict was made by Rosenwald and Hill (1980). They pointed out that despite the impressive agreement between linearized theory and observation, nonlinear phenomena in the solar atmosphere might influence the eigenfrequencies considerably. In particular, they suggested that a correct nonlinear analysis could predict a shallow convection zone. This paper is an enquiry into whether their hypothesis is plausible. We construct k - ω diagrams assuming that the modes suffer local nonlinear distortions in the atmosphere that are insensitive to the amplitude of oscillation over the range of amplitudes that are observed. The effect of the nonlinearities on the eigenfrequencies is parameterized in a simple way. Taking a class of simple analytical models of the Sun's envelope, we compute the linear eigenfrequencies of one model and show that no other model can be found whose nonlinear eigenfrequencies agree with them. We show also that the nonlinear eigenfrequencies of a particular solar model with a shallow convective zone, computed with more realistic physics, cannot be made to agree with observation. We conclude, therefore, that the hypothesis of Rosenwald and Hill is unlikely to be correct.     

Ultraviolet solar identifications based on extended absorption series observed in the laboratory spectrum of Sii

The absorption spectrum of Sii in the wavelength region 1500–1900 Å has been photographed at high resolution. The silicon vapour was produced in a 122 cm long King furnace at 1800–2300°C. Forty-two Rydberg series have been observed from the ground state terms 3p ^{2 3} P and¹ D to terms associated with the 3pns and 3pnd configurations. All of the series from these configurations withJ<4 have been extended with the 3pnd ³ D ₃ ^o levels reachingn=56. Numerous perturbations have been observed. This laboratory work has provided the basis for extending the identification of silicon lines in the solar spectrum. Nearly all lines found in the laboratory spectrum are also found in rocket spectrograms of the solar chromosphere. More than 300 lines have been attributed to Sii. The excellent correlation between laboratory and solar Sii lines will be illustrated.     

An evaluation of the possibility of studying flare plasma turbulence using the satellites of Hei line forbidden components

Using the Baranger-Mozer method, we explore the possibility of diagnosing the flare plasma of forbidden Hei lines, that permits the determination of the plasma oscillation frequency and noise level. Examination of the Hei lines observed in solar flare has led us to conclude that:

1. the appearance of satellites of forbidden components in the flares spectrum, due to turbulent electric fields, is the most probable for Hei 3819.606 Å lines;
2. the Baranger-Mozer method is more sensitive to the high-frequency component of turbulent fields than to the low-frequency ones;
3. the upper limit of the turbulent oscillation level in flares is evaluated.

In the spectrum of the solar flare of 26 September, 1963 we detected satellites of the forbidden component of the 3820 Å line and used its relative intensity to derive the level of low-frequency oscillations (～1.5 kVcm^-1).     

Darkening and visibility functions for the global five-minute oscillations

A theory for the brightness fluctuations of the Sun as a star under the effect of its global oscillations has been developed. Formulas for the darkening and visibility of p-modes are derived and their calculations are performed in the local approximation for adiabatic oscillations. Observational data from the DIFOS multichannel photometer onboard the CORONAS-F satellite are used to solve the inverse problem of determining the amplitude of the five-minute temperature fluctuations in the solar photosphere as a function of the height. Analysis of the solution and comparison with the results of other authors suggest that the predicted temperature waves resulting from a linear transformation of p-modes in the photosphere exist in the photosphere. The wavelength and phase velocity of the temperature waves are considerably smaller than those of acoustic waves. It turns out that the solar brightness fluctuations should be produced mainly by the temperature waves in the photosphere, not by the p-modes themselves. The darkening function for the brightness fluctuations is oscillatory in behavior, while the visibility function can differ markedly from that for the Doppler shifts of spectral lines produced by p-modes. These properties are important for interpreting the observations of stellar oscillations based on stellar brightness fluctuations.     

Remarks concerning Ward's ‘the latitudinal motion of sunspots and solar meridional circulations’

Oscillator strengths are calculated for 259 lines of Ti i by taking configuration interaction into account in a somewhat simplified treatment. Radial integrals are obtained by an adaptation of the scaled Thomas-Fermi method. The great majority of selected lines originate from slightly perturbed terms. From a satisfactory comparison of our g \({\text{f}}\) -values with recent experimental data and with solar results in the visible region, we have been able to extend the work for some infrared lines. Very few transition probabilities were known for Ti i in that spectral range. On the basis of our oscillator strengths, a mean value logN _ti = 4.88 ± 0.12 (in the usual scale), is proposed for the solar photospheric abundance, in agreement with the meteoritic value.     

Lifetimes of some excited states in the rare earths: La ii,Ce ii,Pr ii,Nd ii,Sm ii,Yb i,Yb ii,and Lu ii

Radiative lifetimes for excited states in La ii, Ce ii, Pr ii, Nd ii, Sm ii, Yb i, Yb ii, and Lu ii have been determined by means of the beam-foil technique or the zero-field level-crossing method. The lifetimes for La, Ce, Pr, Nd, Sm, and Yb are shorter than those computed by summing the transition probabilities of Corliss and Bozman by a factor of up to ~5. The large discrepancies between the abundance of La, Ce, Pr, Nd, and Sm in the solar photosphere and in meteorites are eliminated or greatly reduced if the abundance determinations of the solar photosphere are based upon the gf values of Corliss and Bozman, corrected for by the present lifetimes.     

Doppler Shifts of the Hα Line and the Ca ii 854.2 nm Line in a Quiet Region of the Sun Observed with the FISS/NST

The characteristics of Doppler shifts in a quiet region of the Sun are compared between the Hα line and the Ca?ii infrared line at 854.2 nm. A small area of 16″×40″ was observed for about half an hour with the Fast Imaging Solar Spectrograph (FISS) of the 1.6 meter New Solar Telescope (NST) at Big Bear Solar Observatory. The observed area contains a network region and an internetwork region, and identified in the network region are fibrils and bright points. We infer Doppler velocity v _m from each line profile at each individual point with the lambdameter method as a function of half wavelength separation Δλ. It is confirmed that the bisector of the spatially averaged Ca?ii line profile has an inverse C-shape with a significant peak redshift of +?1.8 km?s^?1. In contrast, the bisector of the spatially averaged Hα line profile has a C-shape with a small peak blueshift of ??0.5 km?s^?1. In both lines, the bisectors of bright network points are significantly redshifted not only at the line centers, but also at the wings. The Ca?ii Doppler shifts are found to be correlated with the Hα ones with the strongest correlation occurring in the internetwork region. Moreover, we find that here the Doppler shifts in the two lines are essentially in phase. We discuss the physical implications of our results in view of the formation of the Hα line and Ca?ii 854.2 nm line in the quiet region chromosphere.     

Variability of Solar Five-Minute Oscillations in the Corona as Observed by the Extreme Ultraviolet Spectrophotometer (ESP) on the Solar Dynamics Observatory/Extreme Ultraviolet Variability Experiment (SDO/EVE)

Solar five-minute oscillations have been detected in the power spectra of two six-day time intervals from soft X-ray measurements of the Sun observed as a star using the Extreme Ultraviolet Spectrophotometer (ESP) onboard the Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO)/Extreme Ultraviolet Variability Experiment (EVE). The frequencies of the largest amplitude peaks were found to match the known low-degree (?=0?–?3) modes of global acoustic oscillations within 3.7 μHz and can be explained by a leakage of the global modes into the corona. Due to the strong variability of the solar atmosphere between the photosphere and the corona, the frequencies and amplitudes of the coronal oscillations are likely to vary with time. We investigated the variations in the power spectra for individual days and their association with changes of solar activity, e.g. with the mean level of the EUV irradiance, and its short-term variations caused by evolving active regions. Our analysis of samples of one-day oscillation power spectra for a 49-day period of low and intermediate solar activity showed little correlation with the mean EUV irradiance and the short-term variability of the irradiance. We suggest that some other changes in the solar atmosphere, e.g., magnetic fields and/or inter-network configuration may affect the mode leakage to the corona.     

Small-scale motions over concentrated magnetic regions of the quiet Sun

We have used a 5.5 min time-sequence of spectra in the Fe i lines λ5576 (magnetically insensitive), λ6301.5 and λ6302.5 (magnetically sensitive) to study the association of concentrated magnetic regions and velocity in the quiet Sun. After the elimination of photospheric oscillations we found downflows of 100–300 m s ^?1, displaced by about 2″ from the peaks of the magnetic field; this velocity is comparable to downflow velocity associated with the granulation and of the same order or smaller than the oscillation amplitude. Quasi-periodic time variations of the vertical component of the magnetic field up to ± 40% were also found with a period near 250 s, close to the values found for the velocity field. Finally we report a possible association of intensity maxima at the line center with peaks of the oscillation amplitude.     

The work of the diode array: He 10 830 observations of spicules and subflares

At a spatial resolution of 1″ and with spectral passbands of 0.25–0.47 Å, the chromospheric fine structure was studied with an array of 512 silicon photodiodes. The high quantum efficiency of the diodes in the near infrared allowed low noise spectroheliograms to be constructed from observations in the lines of H i, Ca ii, and He i. Magnetograms of the underlying photosphere were obtained simultaneously. Tachograms in the He 10830 Å line revealed 1″ points and elongated features that are interpreted as spicules seen against the disk. Active regions and filaments at 10830 are compared with Hα and Ca ii (8542 Å) features. Filament contrast increases with the proximity of bright plage. Twelve subflares were studied and in eight cases, 3–5″ kernels of He I emission appeared over small, growing pores or over 5″ patches of magnetic field emerging through the photosphere. All the subflares showed 10830 emission, contrary to established belief that the 10830 line goes into emission only in the largest flares. All the subflares included at least one emission kernel over regions where the photospheric magnetic field, as seen with a resolution of 1–2″, broke down into a mosaic of both polarities with 3–5″ diam. elements.     

Solar oscillations observed in the total irradiance

The total solar irradiance measurements obtained by the active-cavity radiometer on board the Solar Maximum Mission have been analyzed for evidence of global oscillations. We find that the most energetic low-degree p-mode oscillations in the five-minute band have amplitudes of a few parts per million of the total irradiance, and we positively detect modes with l = 0, 1, and 2. The distribution in l differs from that of the velocity spectrum, with relatively more power at lower l values. The individual modes have narrow line widths, corresponding to values of Q greater than a few thousand, or lifetimes of at least a week. We do not detect the 160-min oscillation in the power spectrum, and place an upper limit of 5 parts per million (99.9% confidence) on its amplitude.     

Measurements of the oscillatory and slowly-varying components of the solar velocity field

Spectroheliograms with high spatial resolution are presented to illustrate the decomposition of the solar velocity field into its oscillatory and slowly-varying components. An analysis of data obtained in the lines Fei λ 5434 and Feii λ 4924 yield essentially the same principal results:

1. Spectroheliograms of the oscillatory component have a mottled appearance of rising and falling elements ranging from 2000 km to 3000 km in size. These elements oscillate vertically with a period in the range 275–300 s and an amplitude of 0.5 km/s. Although most oscillations last two cycles some have been observed for as many as four cycles.
2. Spectroheliograms of the slowly-varying component show a velocity granulation pattern whose spatial properties correspond closely to those of the photospheric granulation visible on direct photographs of the Sun. The velocity granules are approximately 1000 km in diameter and rise relative to their intergranular spaces with speeds that are typically 0.6 km/s, but which may occasionally be as large as 0.9 km/s. Most velocity granules seem to live for at least 10 min with many lasting 10–30 min, and a few of the biggest and fastest moving lasting 30 min to 1 hr.

It is concluded that Spectroheliograms of the slowly-varying component represent the velocity field of the photospheric granulation.     

Analysis of the Helioseismic Power-Spectrum Diagram of a Sunspot

The continuous high spatial resolution Doppler observation of the Sun by the Solar Dynamics Observatory/Helioseismic and Magnetic Imager allows us to compute a helioseismic k–ω power-spectrum diagram using only oscillations inside a sunspot. Individual modal ridges can be clearly seen with reduced power in the k–ω diagram that is constructed from a 40-hour observation of a stable and round sunspot. Comparing this with the k–ω diagram obtained from a quiet-Sun region, one sees that inside the sunspot the f-mode ridge is more reduced in power than the p-mode ridges, especially at high wavenumbers. The p-mode ridges all shift toward lower wavenumber (or higher frequency) for a given frequency (or wavenumber), implying an increase of phase velocity beneath the sunspot. This is probably because the acoustic waves travel across the inclined magnetic field of the sunspot penumbra. Line-profile asymmetries exhibited in the p-mode ridges are more significant in the sunspot than in the quiet Sun. Convection inside the sunspot is also highly suppressed, and its characteristic spatial scale is substantially larger than the typical convection scale of the quiet Sun. These observational facts demand a better understanding of magnetoconvection and interactions of helioseismic waves with magnetic field.     

On the Formation Height of the SDO/HMI Fe 6173 ? Doppler Signal

The Helioseismic and Magnetic Imager (HMI) onboard the Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) is designed to study oscillations and the magnetic field in the solar photosphere. It observes the full solar disk in the Fe?i absorption line at 6173 Å. We use the output of a high-resolution, 3D, time-dependent, radiation-hydrodynamic simulation based on the CO ⁵ BOLD code to calculate profiles F(??,x,y,t) for the Fe?i 6173 Å line. The emerging profiles F(??,x,y,t) are multiplied by a representative set of HMI filter-transmission profiles R _i (??, 1??i??6) and filtergrams I _i (x,y,t; 1??i??6) are constructed for six wavelengths. Doppler velocities V _HMI(x,y,t) are determined from these filtergrams using a simplified version of the HMI pipeline. The Doppler velocities are correlated with the original velocities in the simulated atmosphere. The cross-correlation peaks near 100 km, suggesting that the HMI Doppler velocity signal is formed rather low in the solar atmosphere. The same analysis is performed for the SOHO/MDI Ni?i line at 6768 Å. The MDI Doppler signal is formed slightly higher at around 125 km. Taking into account the limited spatial resolution of the instruments, the apparent formation height of both the HMI and MDI Doppler signal increases by 40 to 50 km. We also study how uncertainties in the HMI filter-transmission profiles affect the calculated velocities.