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Alphonse C Sterling

Publications and source records attributed to Alphonse C Sterling.

At least 19 records
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS2023

Another Look at Erupting Minifilaments at the Base of Solar X-Ray Polar Coronal “Standard” and “Blowout” Jets

We examine 21 solar polar coronal jets that we identify in soft X-ray images obtained from the Hinode/X-ray telescope (XRT). We identify 11 of these jets as blowout jets and four as standard jets (with six uncertain), based on their X-ray-spire widths being respectively wide or narrow (compared to the jet’s base) in the XRT images. From corresponding Extreme Ultraviolet (EUV) images from the Solar Dynamics Observatory’s (SDO) Atmospheric Imaging Assembly (AIA), essentially all (at least 20 of 21) of the jets are made by minifilament eruptions,consistent with other recent studies. Here, we examine the detailed nature of the erupting minifilaments (EMFs) in the jet bases. Wide-spire (“blowout”) jets often have ejective EMFs, but sometimes they instead have an EMF that is mostly confined to the jet’s base rather than ejected. We also demonstrate that narrow-spire (“standard”) jets can have either a confined EMF, or a partially confined EMF where some of the cool minifilament leaks into the jet’s spire. Regarding EMF visibility: we find that in some cases the minifilament is apparent in as few as one of the four EUV channels we examined, being essentially invisible in the other channels; thus it is necessary to examine images from multiple EUV channels before concluding that a jet does not have an EMF at its base. The size of the EMFs, measured projected against the sky and early in their eruption, is 14′′ ± 7′′, which is within a factor of two of other measured sizes of coronal-jet EMFs. A full report on these results will be published in the Astrophysical Journal. This work was supported by NASA's HGI, HSR, and HSOC programs, and by the NASA/MSFC Hinode Project.

Alphonse C Sterling↗
NASA NTRS2022

Firefly: The Case for a Holistic Understanding of the Global Structure and Dynamics of the Sun and the Heliosphere

This white paper presents the current knowledge gaps in understanding how magnetic fields control solar (and by extension, stellar) activity in timescales from minutes to years and discusses a transformative observational approach to fill those gaps. The solar activity drives space weather as the result of dynamic magnetic fields forming in the solar interior and evolving continuously until reaching levels of complexity in the atmosphere that trigger eruptions. However, we do not fully understand how solar and, more generally, stellar magnetic fields are generated and how they evolve through the eruptive states. The major obstacle is our reliance on observations from a single viewpoint, particularly in the ecliptic plane. This vantage point can only provide limited information for (i) understanding the generation of solar magnetic fields deep in the convection zone; (ii) determining the origin of the solar cycle and predicting its timing and strength; (iii) explaining the causes of solar activity and their triggers; (iv) reliably predicting when and how CMEs will impact Earth and other planets; (v) fathoming the structure and dynamics of the corona as it creates the heliosphere; (vi) understanding the energization and transport of energetic particles; etc.

Nour E. Raouafi↗
NASA NTRS2020

Future High-Resolution and High-Cadence Observations for Unraveling Eruptive Solar Features

Many of the key advances in solar science over the previous fifty years have been strongly influenced by imaging with increasing resolution and cadence of the Sun’s atmosphere from space. There is still much room for further advances in this area in the coming decades. Here we demonstrate this need using as an example recent past advances of the features known as solar coronal jets. Over the last few decades jet studies have progressed substantially, and much of this is due to improved resolution and cadence in imaging, along with concurrent magnetic field and spectroscopic observations.

Alphonse C Sterling↗
NASA NTRS2020

Possible Evolution of Minifilament-Eruption-Produced Solar Coronal Jets, Jetlets, and Spicules, into Magnetic-Twist-Wave “Switchbacks” Observed by the Parker Solar Probe (PSP)

Many solar coronal jets result from erupting miniature-filament (“minifilament”) magnetic flux ropes that reconnect with encountered surrounding far-reaching field. Many of those minifilament flux ropes are apparently built and triggered to erupt by magnetic flux cancelation. If that cancelation (or some other process) results in the flux rope’s field having twist, then the reconnection with the far-reaching field transfers much of that twist to that reconnected far- reaching field. In cases where that surrounding field is open, the twist can propagate to far distances from the Sun as a magnetic-twist Alfv ́enic pulse. We argue that such pulses from jets could be the kinked-magnetic-field structures known as “switchbacks,” detected in the solar wind during perihelion passages of the Parker Solar Probe (PSP). For typical coronal-jet-generated Alfv ́enic pulses, we expect that the switchbacks would flow past PSP with a duration of several tens of minutes; larger coronal jets might produce switchbacks with passage durations∼1 hr.Smaller-scale jet-like features on the Sun known as “jetlets” may be small-scale versions of coronal jets, produced in a similar manner as the coronal jets. We estimate that switchbacks from jetlets would flow past PSP with a duration of a few minutes. Chromospheric spiculesare jet-like features that are even smaller than jetlets. If some portion of their population are indeed very-small-scale versions of coronal jets, then we speculate that the same processes could result in switchbacks that pass PSP with durations ranging from about∼2 min down to tens of seconds.

Alphonse C Sterling↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Early Results from the Solar-Minimum 2019 Total Solar Eclipse

We observed the 2 July 2019 total solar eclipse with a variety of imaging and spectroscopic instruments recording from three sites in mainland Chile: on the centerline at La Higuera, from the Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory, and from La Serena, as well as from a chartered flight at peak totality in mid-Pacific. Our spectroscopy monitored Fe X, Fe XIV, and Ar X lines, and we imaged Ar X with a Lyot filter adjusted from its original H-alpha bandpass. Our composite imaging has been compared with predictions based on modeling using magnetic-field measurements from the pre-eclipse month. Our time-differenced sites will be used to measure motions in coronal streamers.

Jay M Pasachoff↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Update on Coronal Jets, and Jet Connections to Other Solar Features

Solar jets occur throughout the solar atmosphere, including in coronal holes, quiet regions, and active regions. Observations at X-ray and EUV wavelengths show that frequently jets are made by eruptions of small-scale filaments, called “minifilaments.” Recent studies indicate that many, or even the majority of, these jet-producing minifilament eruptions occur at locations where opposite-polarity photosphere magnetic fluxes merge and cancel.

Alphonse C Sterling↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Recent and Upcoming Studies of Solar Coronal Jets

Observations at X-ray and EUV wavelengths show that frequently jets are made by eruptions of small-scale filaments, called “minifilaments.” Recent studies indicate that many, or even the majority of, these jet-producing minifilament eruptions occur at locations where opposite-polarity photosphere magnetic fluxes merge and cancel. These observations support the idea that flux cancelation builds a magnetic flux rope along which cool minifilament material gathers, and that the flux rope subsequently erupts to form the jet through a sequence of magnetic reconnections. Here, we will update our recent investigations into jets, and discuss expectations and needs for jet studies with new Sun-observing instruments.

Alphonse C Sterling↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Network Jets as the Driver of Counter-streaming Flows in a Solar Filament

We investigate the driving mechanism of counter-streaming flows in a solar filament, using EUV images from SDO/AIA, line of sight magnetograms from SDO/HMI, IRIS SJ images, and H-alpha data from GONG. We find that: (i) persistent counter-streaming flows along adjacent threads of a small (100” long) solar filament is present; (ii) both ends of the solar filament are rooted at the edges of magnetic network flux lanes; (iii) recurrent small-scale jets (also known as network jets) occur at both ends of the filament; (iv) some of the network jets occur at the sites of flux cancelation between the majority-polarity flux and merging minority-polarity flux patches; (v) these multiple network jets clearly drive the counter-streaming flows along the adjacent threads of the solar filament for ~2 hours with an average speed of 70 km/s; (vi) some the network jets show base brightenings, analogous to the base brightenings of coronal jets; and (vii) the filament appears wider (4”) in EUV images than in H-alpha images (2.5”), consistent with previous studies. Thus, our observations show that counter-streaming flows in the filament are driven by network jets and possibly these driving network jet eruptions are triggered by flux cancelation.

Navdeep K Panesar↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

A Hinode-IRIS HOP for Searching for Possible Solar Jet Sources for Switchbacks Observed in the Near-Sun Solar Wind by the Parker Solar Probe (PSP)

The Parker Solar Probe (PSP) detects “switchback” magnetic structures in the near-Sun solar wind. A candidate for the source of these is solar coronal jets. Recent studies show that coronal jets are frequently made by eruptions of small-filament-carrying flux ropes, or mini filament flux-rope eruptions, that can inject a magnetic twist wave onto high-reaching ambient magnetic field(Sterling et al. 2015; Moore et al 2015).That is, many coronal jets evidently result from the eruption of a small-scale flux rope of twisted field that holds a mini filament of chromospheric-temperature plasma. The erupting flux rope reconnects with ambient far-reaching field, ejecting both reconnection-heated plasma and cool filament plasma (forming the multi-temperature jet spire), and transferring its twist onto the far-reaching field via a mechanism proposed by Shibata & Uchida(1986).If the far-reaching field opens into the heliosphere, it is plausible that the twist propagates out into the solar wind, possibly appearing as a switchback in the magnetic field in the solar wind (Sterling & Moore 2020).As part of the "Connecting Heliophysics Observatories and Models with PSP" (CHOMP)investigation led by Pete Riley and funded by NASA’s Heliophysics System Observatory Connect (HSOC) Program, we are currently We are currently running a joint Hinode-IRIS HOP, HOP 410, for coordinated observations of the Sun during times of PSP perihelia. An output from this study is a series of soft X-ray movies from Hinode/XRT. If PSP sees a strong switchback during any of its front-side or partly-front-side perihelia, we will examine the corresponding XRT movies to see whether exceptional jet activity occurred at the expected time and location of the potential source of the switchback on the Sun. This work is supported by the NASA HSOC and HGI programs, and by the MSFC Hinode project.

Alphonse C Sterling↗