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1.
H. Moradi  P. S. Cally 《Solar physics》2008,251(1-2):309-327
In time?–?distance helioseismology, wave travel times are measured from the cross-correlation between Doppler velocities recorded at any two locations on the solar surface. However, one of the main uncertainties associated with such measurements is how to interpret observations made in regions of strong magnetic field. Isolating the effects of the magnetic field from thermal or sound-speed perturbations has proved to be quite complex and has yet to yield reliable results when extracting travel times from the cross-correlation function. One possible way to decouple these effects is by using a 3D sunspot model based on observed surface magnetic-field profiles, with a surrounding stratified, quiet-Sun atmosphere to model the magneto-acoustic ray propagation, and analyse the resulting ray travel-time perturbations that will directly account for wave-speed variations produced by the magnetic field. These artificial travel-time perturbation profiles provide us with several related but distinct observations: i) that strong surface magnetic fields have a dual effect on helioseismic rays?–?increasing their skip distance while at the same time speeding them up considerably compared to their quiet-Sun counterparts, ii) there is a clear and significant frequency dependence of both skip-distance and travel-time perturbations across the simulated sunspot radius, iii) the negative sign and magnitude of these perturbations appears to be directly related to the sunspot magnetic-field strength and inclination, iv) by “switching off” the magnetic field inside the sunspot, we are able to completely isolate the thermal component of the travel-time perturbations observed, which is seen to be both opposite in sign and much smaller in magnitude than those measured when the magnetic field is present. These results tend to suggest that purely thermal perturbations are unlikely to be the main effect seen in travel times through sunspots, and that strong, near-surface magnetic fields may be directly and significantly altering the magnitude and lateral extent of sound-speed inversions of sunspots made by time?–?distance helioseismology.  相似文献   

2.
In our previous article (Priyal et al. in Solar Phys. 289, 127, 2014) we have discussed the details of observations and methodology adopted to analyze the Ca-K spectroheliograms obtained at the Kodaikanal Observatory (KO) to study the variation of Ca-K plage areas, enhanced network (EN), and active network (AN) for Solar Cycles, namely 19, 20, and 21. Now, we have derived the areas of chromospheric features using KO Ca-K spectroheliograms to study the long-term variations of Solar Cycles 14 to 21. The comparison of the derived plage areas from the data obtained at the KO observatory for the period 1906?–?1985 with that of MWO, NSO for the period 1965?–?2002, earlier measurements made by Tlatov, Pevtsov, and Singh (Solar Phys. 255, 239, 2009) for KO data, and the SIDC sunspot numbers shows a good correlation. The uniformity of the data obtained with the same instrument remaining with the same specifications provided a unique opportunity to study long-term intensity variations in plages and network regions. Therefore, we have investigated the variation of the intensity contrast of these features with time at a temporal resolution of six months assuming that the quiet-background chromosphere remains unchanged during the period 1906?–?2005 and found that the average intensity of the AN, representing the changes in small-scale activity over solar surface, varies with solar cycle being less during the minimum phase. In addition, the average intensity of plages and EN varies with a very long period having a maximum value during Solar Cycle 19, which was the strongest solar cycle of twentieth century.  相似文献   

3.
A number of fundamental questions as regards the physical nature of sunspots are formulated. In order to answer these questions, we apply the model of a round-shaped unipolar sunspot with a lower boundary consisting of cool plasma and with strong magnetic field at the depth of about 4 Mm beneath the photosphere, in accordance with the data of local helioseismology and with certain physically sound arguments (the shallow sunspot model). The magnetic configuration of a sunspot is assumed to be close to the observed one and similar to the magnetic field of a round solenoid of the appropriate size. The transverse (horizontal) and longitudinal (vertical) equilibria of a sunspot were calculated based on the thermodynamic approach and taking into account the magnetic, gravitational, and thermal energy of the spot and the pressure of the environment. The dependence of the magnetic field strength in the sunspot center, B 0, on the radius of the sunspot umbra a is derived theoretically for the first time in the history of sunspot studies. It shows that the magnetic field strength in small spots is about 700 Gauss (G) and then increases monotonically with a, tending asymptotically to a limit value of about 4000 G. This dependence, B 0(a) includes, as parameters, the gravity acceleration on the solar surface, the density of gas in the photosphere, and the ratio of the radius of the spot (including penumbra), a p, to the radius of its umbra a. It is shown that large-scale subsurface flows of gas in the sunspot vicinity, being the consequence but not the cause of sunspot formation, are too weak to contribute significantly to the pressure balance of the sunspot. Stability of the sunspot is provided by cooling of the sunspot plasma and decreasing of its gravitational energy due to the vertical redistribution of the gas density when the geometric Wilson depression of the sunspot is formed. The depth of a depression grows linearly with B 0, in contrast to the quadratic law for the magnetic energy. Therefore, the range of stable equilibria turns out to be limited: large spots, with radius a larger than some limit value (about 12–18 Mm, depending on the magnetic field configuration), are unstable. It explains the absence of very large spots on the Sun and the appearance of light bridges in big spots that divide the spot into a few parts. The sunspots with B 0≈2.6÷2.7 kilogauss (kG) and a≈5 Mm are most stable. For these spots, taken as a single magnetic structure, the period of their vertical eigen oscillations is minimal and amounts, according to the model, to 10–12 hours. It corresponds well to the period derived from the study of long-term oscillations of sunspots using SOHO/MDI data.  相似文献   

4.
The propagation of solar waves through the sunspot of AR?9787 is observed by using temporal cross-correlations of SOHO/MDI Dopplergrams. We then use three-dimensional MHD numerical simulations to compute the propagation of wave packets through self-similar magnetohydrostatic sunspot models. The simulations are set up in such a way as to allow a comparison with observed cross-covariances (except in the immediate vicinity of the sunspot). We find that the simulation and the f-mode observations are in good agreement when the model sunspot has a peak field strength of 3 kG at the photosphere and less so for lower field strengths. Constraining the sunspot model with helioseismology is only possible because the direct effect of the magnetic field on the waves has been fully taken into account. Our work shows that the full-waveform modeling of sunspots is feasible.  相似文献   

5.
A “Solar Dynamo” (SODA) Index prediction of the amplitude of Solar Cycle 25 is described. The SODA Index combines values of the solar polar magnetic field and the solar spectral irradiance at 10.7 cm to create a precursor of future solar activity. The result is an envelope of solar activity that minimizes the 11-year period of the sunspot cycle. We show that the variation in time of the SODA Index is similar to several wavelet transforms of the solar spectral irradiance at 10.7 cm. Polar field predictions for Solar Cycles 21?–?24 are used to show the success of the polar field precursor in previous sunspot cycles. Using the present value of the SODA index, we estimate that the next cycle’s smoothed peak activity will be about \(140 \pm30\) solar flux units for the 10.7 cm radio flux and a Version 2 sunspot number of \(135 \pm25\). This suggests that Solar Cycle 25 will be comparable to Solar Cycle 24. The estimated peak is expected to occur near \(2025.2 \pm1.5\) year. Because the current approach uses data prior to solar minimum, these estimates may improve as the upcoming solar minimum draws closer.  相似文献   

6.
Using observations from the High Energy Telescopes (HETs) on the STEREO A and B spacecraft and similar observations from near-Earth spacecraft, we summarize the properties of more than 200 individual >?25 MeV solar proton events, some detected by multiple spacecraft, that occurred from the beginning of the STEREO mission in October 2006 to December 2013, and provide a catalog of these events and their solar sources and associations. Longitudinal dependencies of the electron and proton peak intensities and delays to onset and peak intensity relative to the solar event have been examined for 25 three-spacecraft particle events. Expressed as Gaussians, peak intensities fall off with longitude with σ=47±14° for 0.7?–?4 MeV electrons, and σ=43±13° for 14?–?24 MeV protons. Several particle events are discussed in more detail, including one on 3 November 2011, in which ～?25 MeV protons filled the inner heliosphere within 90 minutes of the solar event, and another on 7 March 2012, in which we demonstrate that the first of two coronal mass ejections that erupted from an active region within ～?1 hour was associated with particle acceleration. Comparing the current Solar Cycle 24 with the previous cycle, the first >?25 MeV proton event was detected at Earth in the current solar cycle around one year after smoothed sunspot minimum, compared with a delay of only two months in Cycle 23. Otherwise, solar energetic particle event occurrence rates were reasonably similar during the rising phases of Cycles 23 and 24. However, the rate declined in 2013, reflecting the decline in sunspot number since the peak in the northern-hemisphere sunspot number in November 2011. Observations in late 2013 suggest that the rate may be rising again in association with an increase in the southern sunspot number.  相似文献   

7.
T. A. Schad 《Solar physics》2014,289(5):1477-1498
We study 7530 sunspot umbrae and pores measured by the Hinode Spectropolarimeter (SP) between November 2006 and November 2012. We primarily seek confirmation of the long term secular decrease in the mean magnetic field strength of sunspot umbrae found by Penn and Livingston (IAU Symp. 273, 126, 2011) between 1998 and 2011. The excellent SP photometric properties and full vector magnetic field determinations from full-Stokes Milne–Eddington inversions are used to address the interrelated properties of the magnetic field strength and brightness temperature for all umbral cores. We find non-linear relationships between magnetic field strength and umbral temperature (and continuum contrast), as well as between umbral radius and magnetic field strength. Using disambiguated vector data, we find that the azimuths measured in the umbral cores reflect an organization weakly influenced by Joy’s law. The large selection of umbrae displays a log-normal size spectrum similar to earlier solar cycles. Influenced by the amplitude of the solar cycle and the non-linear relationship between umbral size and core magnetic field strength, the distribution of core magnetic field strengths, fit most effectively with a skew-normal distribution, shows a weak solar cycle dependence. Yet, the mean magnetic field strength does not show a significant long term trend.  相似文献   

8.
D. H. Hathaway 《Solar physics》2013,286(2):347-356
Daily records of sunspot group areas compiled by the Royal Observatory, Greenwich, from May of 1874 through 1976 indicate a curious history for the penumbral areas of the smaller sunspot groups. On average, the ratio of penumbral area to umbral area in a sunspot group increases from 5 to 6 as the total sunspot group area increases from 100 to 2000 μHem (a μHem is 10?6 the area of a solar hemisphere). This relationship does not vary substantially with sunspot group latitude or with the phase of the sunspot cycle. However, for the sunspot groups with total areas <?100 μHem, this ratio changes dramatically and systematically through this historical record. The ratio for these smallest sunspots is near 5.5 from 1874 to 1900. After a rapid rise to more than 7 in 1905, it drops smoothly to less than 3 by 1930 and then rises smoothly back to more than 7 in 1961. It then returns to near 5.5 from 1965 to 1976. The smooth variation from 1905 to 1961 shows no indication of any step-like changes that might be attributed to changes in equipment or personnel. The overall level of solar activity was increasing monotonically during this time period when the penumbra-to-umbra area ratio dropped to less than half its peak value and then returned. If this history can be confirmed by other observations (e.g. Mt. Wilson or Kodaikanal), it may impact our understanding of penumbra formation, our dynamo models, and our estimates of historical changes in the solar irradiance.  相似文献   

9.
We study quasi-periodical changes in the amplitudes of the 27-day variation of the galactic cosmic ray (GCR) intensity, and the parameters of solar wind and solar activity. We have recently found quasi-periodicity of three to four Carrington rotation periods (3?–?4 CRP) in the amplitudes of the 27-day variation of the GCR intensity (Gil and Alania in J. Atmos. Solar-Terr. Phys. 73, 294, 2011). A similar recurrence is recognized in parameters of solar activity (sunspot number, solar radio flux) and solar wind (components of the interplanetary magnetic field, solar wind velocity). We believe that the 3?–?4 CRP periodicity, among other periodicities, observed in the amplitudes of the 27-day variation of the GCR intensity is caused by a specific cycling structure of the Sun’s magnetic field, which may originate from the turbulent nature of the solar dynamo.  相似文献   

10.
Coronal Faraday rotation of the linearly polarized carrier signals of the HELIOS spacecraft was recorded during the regularly occurring solar occultations over almost a complete solar cycle from 1975 to 1984. These measurements are used to determine the average strength and radial variation of the coronal magnetic field at solar minimum at solar distances from 3–10 solar radii, i.e., the range over which the complex fields at the coronal base are transformed into the interplanetary spiral. The mean coronal magnetic field in 1975–1976 was found to decrease with radial distance according to r ?α, where α = 2.7 ± 0.2. The mean field magnitude was 1.0 ± 0.5 × 10 ?5 tesla at a nominal solar distance of 5 solar radii. Possibly higher magnetic field strengths were indicated at solar maximum, but a lack of data prevented a statistical determination of the mean coronal field during this epoch.  相似文献   

11.
Long-lived (>20 days) sunspot groups extracted from the Greenwich Photoheliographic Results (GPR) are examined for evidence of decadal change. The problem of identifying sunspot groups that are observed on consecutive solar rotations (recurrent sunspot groups) is tackled by first constructing manually an example dataset of recurrent sunspot groups and then using machine learning to generalise this subset to the whole GPR. The resulting dataset of recurrent sunspot groups is verified against previous work by A. Maunder and other Royal Greenwich Observatory (RGO) compilers. Recurrent groups are found to exhibit a slightly larger value for the Gnevyshev?–?Waldmeier Relationship than the value found by Petrovay and van Driel-Gesztelyi (Solar Phys. 51, 25, 1977), who used recurrence data from the Debrecen Photoheliographic Results. Evidence for sunspot-group lifetime change over the previous century is observed within recurrent groups. A lifetime increase of a factor of 1.4 between 1915 and 1940 is found, which closely agrees with results from Blanter et al. (Solar Phys. 237, 329, 2006). Furthermore, this increase is found to exist over a longer period (1915 to 1950) than previously thought and provisional evidence is found for a decline between 1950 and 1965. Possible applications of machine-learning procedures to the analysis of historical sunspot observations, the determination of the magnetic topology of the solar corona and the incidence of severe space–weather events are outlined briefly.  相似文献   

12.
The NOAA listings of solar flares in cycles 21?–?24, including the GOES soft X-ray magnitudes, enable a simple determination of the number of flares each flaring active region produces over its lifetime. We have studied this measure of flare productivity over the interval 1975?–?2012. The annual averages of flare productivity remained approximately constant during cycles 21 and 22, at about two reported M- or X-flares per region, but then increased significantly in the declining phase of cycle 23 (the years 2004?–?2005). We have confirmed this by using the independent RHESSI flare catalog to check the NOAA events listings where possible. We note that this measure of solar activity does not correlate with the solar cycle. The anomalous peak in flare productivity immediately preceded the long solar minimum between cycles 23 and 24.  相似文献   

13.
The evolution of the large-scale magnetic field of the Sun has been studied using an algorithm of tomographic inversion. By analyzing line-of-sight magnetograms, we mapped the radial and toroidal components of the Sun??s large-scale magnetic field. The evolution of the radial and toroidal magnetic field components in the 11-year solar cycle has been studied in a time?Clatitude aspect. It is shown that the toroidal magnetic field of the Sun is causally related to sunspot activity; i.e., the sunspot formation zones drift in latitude and follow the toroidal magnetic fields. The results of our analysis support the idea that the high-latitude toroidal magnetic fields can serve as precursors of sunspot activity. The toroidal fields in the current cycle are anomalously weak and also show a barely noticeable equatorward drift. This behavior of the toroidal magnetic field suggests low activity levels in the current cycle and in the foreseeable future.  相似文献   

14.
This study based on longitudinal Zeeman effect magnetograms and spectral line scans investigates the dependence of solar surface magnetic fields on the spectral line used and the way the line is sampled to estimate the magnetic flux emerging above the solar atmosphere and penetrating to the corona from magnetograms of the Mt. Wilson 150-foot tower synoptic program (MWO). We have compared the synoptic program λ5250 Å line of Fe?i to the line of Fe?i at λ5233 Å since this latter line has a broad shape with a profile that is nearly linear over a large portion of its wings. The present study uses five pairs of sampling points on the λ5233 Å line. Line profile observations show that the determination of the field strength from the Stokes V parameter or from line bisectors in the circularly polarized line profiles lead to similar dependencies on the spectral sampling of the lines, with the bisector method being the less sensitive. We recommend adoption of the field determined with the line bisector method as the best estimate of the emergent photospheric flux and further recommend the use of a sampling point as close to the line core as is practical. The combination of the line profile measurements and the cross-correlation of fields measured simultaneously with λ5250 Å and λ5233 Å yields a formula for the scale factor δ ?1 that multiplies the MWO synoptic magnetic fields. By using ρ as the center-to-limb angle (CLA), a fit to this scale factor is δ ?1=4.15?2.82sin?2(ρ). Previously δ ?1=4.5?2.5sin?2(ρ) had been used. The new calibration shows that magnetic fields measured by the MDI system on the SOHO spacecraft are equal to 0.619±0.018 times the true value at a center-to-limb position 30°. Berger and Lites (2003, Solar Phys. 213, 213) found this factor to be 0.64±0.013 based on a comparison using the Advanced Stokes Polarimeter.  相似文献   

15.
There is a collection of about 100 years of Ca-K line spectroheliograms at the Kodaikanal Observatory (KKL) obtained on daily basis with a single instrument that can be used to study long term variations of various chromospheric features. All the Ca-K images have been digitized using specially developed digitizers with uniform and highly stable light source, high quality lens and 4k×4k format CCD camera. The digitization has been carried out in a room with controlled temperature and humidity. The digitized data are in 16-bit format with pixel resolution of 0.86 arcsec. The digitized images have been calibrated by a process that includes flat-fielding, density to intensity conversion, centering the image, and rotation of the image to make the solar north pole in the fixed direction. Then we applied correction for the limb darkening effect and also made the background in the image uniform. The image background was normalized to unity that enabled us to use the intensity contrast to identify different features, such as plages, enhanced (EN), active (AN), and quite network on images and classified them by using different image contrast and area threshold values. After several experiments with different threshold values for different features and careful analysis of a large number of images, we could fix the threshold values of intensity contrast larger than 1.35 and area larger than 1 arcmin2 for plages, larger than 1.35 but area less than 1 arcmin2 for EN, and between 1.25?–?1.35 for AN. We compared the quarterly averaged and half yearly averaged plage areas obtained from KKL with the Mount Wilson (MWO) data and sunspot number. We find that the plage area extracted from the KKL is highly correlated with the MWO plage area, though there is a slight difference between the two data set in cycle 19. The plage area of KKL is also highly correlated with the sunspot number. The areas of EN and AN are also found to have smaller quasi-periodic variations apart from the solar cycle variations.  相似文献   

16.
Photospheric magnetic fields were studied using the Kitt Peak synoptic maps for 1976?–?2003. Only strong magnetic fields (B>100 G) of the equatorial region were taken into account. The north–south asymmetry of the magnetic fluxes was considered as well as the imbalance between positive and negative fluxes. The north–south asymmetry displays a regular alternation of the dominant hemisphere during the solar cycle: the northern hemisphere dominated in the ascending phase, the southern one in the descending phase during Solar Cycles 21?–?23. The sign of the imbalance did not change during the 11 years from one polar-field reversal to the next and always coincided with the sign of the Sun’s polar magnetic field in the northern hemisphere. The dominant sign of leading sunspots in one of the hemispheres determines the sign of the magnetic-flux imbalance. The sign of the north–south asymmetry of the magnetic fluxes and the sign of the imbalance of the positive and the negative fluxes are related to the quarter of the 22-year magnetic cycle where the magnetic configuration of the Sun remains constant (from the minimum where the sunspot sign changes according to Hale’s law to the magnetic-field reversal and from the reversal to the minimum). The sign of the north–south asymmetry for the time interval considered was determined by the phase of the 11-year cycle (before or after the reversal); the sign of the imbalance of the positive and the negative fluxes depends on both the phase of the 11-year cycle and on the parity of the solar cycle. The results obtained demonstrate the connection of the magnetic fields in active regions with the Sun’s polar magnetic field in the northern hemisphere.  相似文献   

17.
The results of an analysis of the north–south asymmetry in solar activity and solar magnetic fields are reported. The analysis is based on solar mean magnetic field and solar polar magnetic field time series, 1975–2015 (http://wso.stanford.edu), and the Greenwich sunspot data, 1875–2015 (http://solarscience.msfc.nasa.gov/greenwch.shtml). A long-term cycle (small-scale magnetic fields, toroidal component) of ~140 years is identified in the north–south asymmetry in solar activity by analyzing the cumulative sum of the time series for the north–south asymmetry in the area of sunspots. A comparative analysis of the variations in the cumulative sums of the time series composed of the daily values of the sun’s global magnetic field and in the asymmetry of the daily sunspot data over the time interval 1975–2015 shows that the photospheric large-scale magnetic fields may also have a similar long-term cycle. The variations in the asymmetry of large-scale and small-scale solar magnetic fields (sunspot area) are in sync until 2005.5 and in antiphase since then.  相似文献   

18.
We present a seismological method for probing the solar atmosphere above sunspot umbrae with three-minute oscillations. Our technique allows us to estimate both the vertical distance between atmospheric layers and the wave-propagation speed, without specifying any additional parameters, in particular, the phase speed of the wave or the emission formation heights. Our method uses the projected wave paths of slow magnetohydrodynamic waves that propagate through the atmospheric layers of different heights and are guided by the magnetic field. The length of the projected wave path depends upon the distance between the layers and the inclination angle of the magnetic field with respect to the line of sight, allowing us to estimate the distance between the layers from measured projected wave paths and the local magnetic-field vector. In turn, the wave-propagation delay registered at different heights allows for the calculation of the phase speed. We estimated the vertical distance between the emission layers at the temperature minimum (1600 Å) and transition region (304 Å), as well as the average phase speed above the sunspot umbrae, for three active regions. We found that the distance between the 1600 Å emission layer and the transition region above the sunspot umbrae lies in the range of 500?–?800 km. The average phase speed between these layers was found to be about 30 km?s?1, giving a sound speed of 6 km?s?1. The temperature between the layers has been roughly estimated as 3000 K and corresponds to the region of the temperature minimum. The results obtained are consistent with the semiempirical model of the sunspot-umbrae atmosphere by Fontenla et al. (Astrophys. J.707, 482, 2009).  相似文献   

19.
We derive an occurrence frequency for white-light flares (WLF) of 15.5 ± 4.5 yr?1 during a 2.6 year period following the maximum of solar cycle 21. This compares with a frequency 5–6 yr?1 derived by McIntosh and Donnelly (1972) during solar cycle 20. We find that the higher frequency of the more recently observed WLFs is due to the availability of patrol data at shorter wavelengths (λ ? 4000 Å), where the contrast of the flare emission is increased; the improved contrast has allowed less energetic (and hence more frequently occurring) events to be classified as WLFs. We find that sufficient conditions for the occurrence of a WLF are: active region magnetic class = delta; sunspot penumbra class = K, with spot group area ≥ 500 millionths of the solar hemisphere; 1–8 Å X-ray burst class ≥ X2.  相似文献   

20.
We employ annually averaged solar and geomagnetic activity indices for the period 1960??C?2001 to analyze the relationship between different measures of solar activity as well as the relationship between solar activity and various aspects of geomagnetic activity. In particular, to quantify the solar activity we use the sunspot number R s, group sunspot number R g, cumulative sunspot area Cum, solar radio flux F10.7, and interplanetary magnetic field strength IMF. For the geomagnetic activity we employ global indices Ap, Dst and Dcx, as well as the regional geomagnetic index RES, specifically estimated for the European region. In the paper we present the relative evolution of these indices and quantify the correlations between them. Variations have been found in: i) time lag between the solar and geomagnetic indices; ii) relative amplitude of the geomagnetic and solar activity peaks; iii) dual-peak distribution in some of solar and geomagnetic indices. The behavior of geomagnetic indices is correlated the best with IMF variations. Interestingly, among geomagnetic indices, RES shows the highest degree of correlation with solar indices.  相似文献   

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