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Moore, R. L.

Publications and source records attributed to Moore, R. L..

At least 19 records
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS2019

A CME-Producing Solar Eruption from the Interior of an Emerging Bipolar Active Region

In a negative-polarity coronal hole, magnetic flux emergence, seen by the Solar Dynamics Observatory's {SDO) Helioseismic Magnetic lmager (HMI), begins at approximately 19:00 UT on March 3, 2016. The emerged magnetic field produced sunspots, which NOAA numbered 12514 two days later. The emerging magnetic field is largely bipolar with the opposite-polarity fluxes spreading apart overall, but there is simultaneously some convergence and cancellation of opposite-polarity flux at the polarity inversion line (PIL) inside the emerging bipole. In the first fifteen hours after emergence onset, three obvious eruptions occur, observed in the coronal EUV images from SDO's Atmospheric Imaging Assembly (AIA). The first two erupt from separate segments of the external PIL between the emerging positve-polarity flux and the extant surrounding negative-polarity flux, with the exploding magnetic field being prepared and triggered by flux cancellation at the external PIL. The emerging bipole shows obvious overall left-handed shear and/or twist in its magnetic field. The focus of th is poster is the third and largest eruption, which comes from inside the emerging bipole and blows it open to produce a CME observed by SOHO/LASCO. That eruption is preceded by flux cancellation at the emerging bipole's interior PIL, cancellation that plausibly builds a sheared and twisted flux rope above the interior PIL and finally triggers the blow-out eruption of the flux rope via photospheric-convection•driven slow tether-cutting reconnection of the legs of the sheared core field, low above the interior PIL, as proposed by van Ballegooijen & Martens (1989) and Moore & Roumeliotis (1992). The production of this eruption is a (perhaps rare) counterexample to solar eruptions that result from external collisional shearing between opposite polarities from two distinct emerging and/or emerged bipoles (Chintzoglou et al. 2019).

Adams, M. L.↗
NASA NTRS2015

More Macrospicule Jets in On-Disk Coronal Holes

We examine the magnetic structure and dynamics of multiple jets found in coronal holes close to or on disk center. All data are from the Atmospheric Imaging Assembly (AIA) and the Helioseismic and Magnetic Imager (HMI) of the Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO). We report on observations of about ten jets in an equatorial coronal hole spanning 2011 February 27 and 28. We show the evolution of these jets in AIA 193 A, examine the magnetic field configuration and flux changes in the jet area, and discuss the probable trigger mechanism of these events. We reported on another jet in this same coronal hole on 2011 February 27, (is) approximately 13:04 UT (Adams et al 2014, ApJ, 783: 11). That jet is a previously-unrecognized variety of blowout jet, in which the base-edge bright point is a miniature filament-eruption flare arcade made by internal reconnection of the legs of the erupting field. In contrast, in the presently-accepted 'standard' picture for blowout jets, the base-edge bright point is made by interchange reconnection of initially-closed erupting jet-base field with ambient open field. This poster presents further evidence of the production of the base-edge bright point in blowout jets by internal reconnection. Our observations suggest that most of the bigger and brighter EUV jets in coronal holes are blowout jets of the new-found variety.

jets↗
NASA NTRS2014

Macrospicule Jets in On-Disk Coronal Holes

We examine the magnetic structure and dynamics of multiple jets found in coronal holes close to or on disk center. All data are from the Atmospheric Imaging Assembly (AIA) and the Helioseismic and Magnetic Imager (HMI) of the Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO). We report on observations of six jets in an equatorial coronal hole spanning 2011 February 27 and 28. We show the evolution of these jets in AIA 193 A, examine the magnetic field configuration, and postulate the probable trigger mechanism of these events. We recently reported on another jet in the same coronal hole on 2011 February 27, approximately 13:04 Universal Time (Adams et al 2014, Astrophysical Journal, 783: 11); this jet is a previously-unrecognized variety of blowout jet. In this variety, the reconnection bright point is not made by interchange reconnection of initially-closed erupting field in the base of the jet with ambient open field. Instead, there is a miniature filament-eruption flare arcade made by internal reconnection of the legs of the erupting field.

macrospicule jets coronal holes↗
NASA NTRS2014

Hi-C Observations of Penumbral Bright Dots

We use high-quality data obtained by the High Resolution Coronal Imager (Hi-C) to examine bright dots (BDs) in a sunspot's penumbra. The sizes of these BDs are on the order of 1 arcsecond (1") and are therefore hard to identify using the Atmospheric Imaging Assembly's (AIA) 0.6" pixel(exp −1) resolution. These BD become readily apparent with Hi-C's 0.1" pixel(exp −1) resolution. Tian et al. (2014) found penumbral BDs in the transition region (TR) by using the Interface Region Imaging Spectrograph (IRIS). However, only a few of their dots could be associated with any enhanced brightness in AIA channels. In this work, we examine the characteristics of the penumbral BDs observed by Hi-C in a sunspot penumbra, including their sizes, lifetimes, speeds, and intensity. We also attempt to find any association of these BDs to the IRIS BDs. There are fewer Hi-C BDs in the penumbra than seen by IRIS, though different sunspots were studied. We use 193 Angstroms Hi-C data from July 11, 2012 which observed from approximately 18:52:00 UT- 18:56:00 UT and supplement it with data from AIA's 193 Angstrom passband to see the complete lifetime of the dots that were born before and/or lasted longer than Hi- C's 5-minute observation period. We use additional AIA passbands and compare the light curves of the BDs at different temperatures to test whether the Hi-C BDs are TR BDs. We find that most Hi-C BDs show clear movement, and of those that do, they move in a radial direction, toward or away from the sunspot umbra. Single BDs interact with other BDs, combining to fade away or brighten. The BDs that do not interact with other BDs tend to move less. Many of the properties of our BDs are similar to the extreme values of the IRIS BDs, e.g., they move slower on average and their sizes and lifetimes are on the higher end of the IRIS BDs. We infer that our penumbral BDs are the large-scale end of the distribution of BDs observed by IRIS.

Alpert, S. E.↗
NASA NTRS2014

Hi-C Observations of Penumbral Bright Dots: Comparison with the IRIS Results

We observed bright dots (BDs) in a sunspot penumbra by using data acquired by the High Resolution Coronal Imager (Hi-C). The sizes of these BDs are on the order of 1 arcsecond (1') and are therefore hard to identify using the Atmospheric Imaging Assembly's (AIA) 0.6' pixel -1 resolution. These BDs become readily apparent with Hi-C's 0.1' pixel -1 resolution. Tian et al. (2014) found penumbral BDs in the transition region (TR) by using the Interface Region Imaging Spectrograph (IRIS). However, only a few of their dots could be associated with any enhanced brightness in AIA channels. In this work, we examine the characteristics of the penumbral BDs observed by Hi-C in a sunspot penumbra, including their sizes, lifetimes, speeds, and intensity. We also attempt to relate these BDs to the IRIS BDs. There are fewer Hi-C BDs in the penumbra than seen by IRIS, though different sunspots were studied and Hi-C had a short observation time. We use 193 A Hi-C data from July 11, 2012 which observed from 18:52:00 UT{18:56:00 UT and supplement it with data from AIA's 193 A passband to see the complete lifetime of the dots that were born before and/or lasted longer than Hi-C's 5-minute observation period. We use additional AIA passbands and compare the light curves of the BDs at different temperatures to test whether the Hi-C BDs are TR BDs. We find that most Hi-C BDs show clear movement, and of those that do, they move in a radial direction, toward or away from the sunspot umbra, sometimes doing both. BDs interact with other BDs, combining to fade away or brighten. The BDs that do not interact with other BDs tend to move less and last longer. We examine the properties of the Hi-C BDs and compare them with the IRIS BDs. Our BDs are similar to the exceptional values of the IRIS BDs: they move slower on average and their sizes and lifetimes are on the higher end of the distributions of IRIS BDs. We infer that our penumbral BDs are some of the larger BDs observed by IRIS.

Alpert, S. E.↗
NASA NTRS2014

Magnetic Structure of Sites of Braiding in Hi-C Active Region

High‐resolution Coronal Imager (Hi‐C) observations of an active region (AR) corona, at a spatial resolution of 0.2 arcsec, have offered the first direct evidence of field lines braiding, which could deliver sufficient energy to heat the AR corona by current dissipation via magnetic reconnection, a proposal given by Parker three decades ago. The energy required to heat the corona must be transported from the photosphere along the field lines. The mechanism that drives the energy transport to the corona is not yet fully understood. To investigate simultaneous magnetic and intensity structure in and around the AR in detail, we use SDO/HMI+AIA data of + / ‐ 2 hours around the 5 minute Hi‐C flight. In the case of the QS, work done by convection/granulation on the inter‐granular feet of the coronal field lines probably translates into the heat observed in the corona. In the case of the AR, as here, there could be flux emergence, cancellation/submergence, or shear flows generating large stress and tension in coronal field loops which is released as heat in the corona. However, to the best of our knowledge, there is no observational evidence available to these processes. We investigate the changes taking place in the photospheric feet of the magnetic field involved with brightenings in the Hi‐C AR corona. Using HMI 45s magnetograms of four hours we find that, out of the two Hi‐C sub‐regions where the braiding of field lines were recently detected, flux emergence takes place in one region and flux cancellation in the other. The field in these sub‐regions are highly sheared and have apparent high speed plasma flows at their feet. Therefore, shearing flows plausibly power much of the coronal and transition region heating in these areas of the AR. In addition, the presence of large flux emergence/cancellation strongly suggests that the work done by these processes on the pre‐existing field also drives much of the observed heating.

Tiwari, S. K.↗
NASA NTRS2014

Hi-C Observations of an Active Region Corona, and Investigation of the Underlying Magnetic Structure

The solar corona is much hotter (>=10(exp 6) K) than its surface (approx 6000 K), puzzling astrophysicists for several decades. Active region (AR) corona is again hotter than the quiet Sun (QS) corona by a factor of 4-10. The most widely accepted mechanism that could heat the active region corona is the energy release by current dissipation via reconnection of braided magnetic field structure, first proposed by E. N. Parker three decades ago. The first observational evidence for this mechanism has only recently been presented by Cirtain et al. by using High-resolution Coronal Imager (Hi-C) observations of an AR corona at a spatial resolution of 0.2 arcsec, which is required to resolve the coronal loops, and was not available before the rocket flight of Hi-C in July 2012. The Hi-C project is led by NASA/MSFC. In the case of the QS, work done by convection/granulation on the inter-granular feet of the coronal field lines translates into the heat observed in the corona. In the case of the AR, as here, there could be flux emergence, cancellation/submergence, or shear flows generating large stress and tension in coronal field loops which is released as heat in the corona. We are currently investigating the changes taking place in photospheric feet of the magnetic field involved with brightenings in the Hi-C AR corona. For this purpose, we are also using SDO/AIA data of +/- 2 hours around the 5 minutes Hi-C flight. In the present talk, I will first summarize some of the results of the Hi-C observations and then present some results from our recent analysis on what photospheric processes feed the magnetic energy that dissipates into heat in coronal loops.

Tiwari, S. K.↗
NASA NTRS2013

Onset of a Solar Filament Eruption Without a Slow-Rise Phase

We observe a filament eruption of 23 Jan 2012 using Atmospheric Imaging Array (AIA) data from the Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) satellite. Relatively cool emissions (193 Ang. channel) show a filament with a rise-toward-eruption trajectory that is relatively smooth, without a distinct, linearly-increasing "slow rise" followed by an abrupt "fast rise," as is often seen in other events. Detailed investigations of some of those two-phase events suggested that they were triggered by magnetic flux cancellation. Here however, observations of hotter emissions (335 Ang. channel) show an adjacent eruption, invisible in 193 Ang., occurred just prior to the filament's eruption start. We surmise that the hotter eruption destabilized the 193 Ang. filament, triggering its eruption onset. In this way, the filament's smooth eruption trajectory is indicative of a non-tether-cutting eruption-onset mechanism for the filament.

Knox, J. M.↗
NASA NTRS2010

Dichotomy of Solar Coronal Jets: Standard Jets and Blowout Jets

By examining many X-ray jets in Hinode/XRT coronal X-ray movies of the polar coronal holes, we found that there is a dichotomy of polar X-ray jets. About two thirds fit the standard reconnection picture for coronal jets, and about one third are another type. We present observations indicating that the non-standard jets are counterparts of erupting-loop H alpha macrospicules, jets in which the jet-base magnetic arch undergoes a miniature version of the blowout eruptions that produce major CMEs. From the coronal X-ray movies we present in detail two typical standard X-ray jets and two typical blowout X-ray jets that were also caught in He II 304 Angstrom snapshots from STEREO/EUVI. The distinguishing features of blowout X-ray jets are (1) X-ray brightening inside the base arch in addition to the outside bright point that standard jets have, (2) blowout eruption of the base arch's core field, often carrying a filament of cool (T ~10(exp 4) - 10(exp 5) K) plasma, and (3) an extra jet-spire strand rooted close to the bright point. We present cartoons showing how reconnection during blowout eruption of the base arch could produce the observed features of blowout X-ray jets. We infer that (1) the standard-jet/blowout-jet dichotomy of coronal jets results from the dichotomy of base arches that do not have and base arches that do have enough shear and twist to erupt open, and (2) there is a large class of spicules that are standard jets and a comparably large class of spicules that are blowout jets.

Moore, R. L.↗
NASA NTRS2010

Solar Spicules Near and at the Limb, Observed from Hinode

Solar spicules appear as narrow jets emanating from the chromosphere and extending into the corona. They have been observed for over a hundred years, mainly in chromospheric spectral lines such as H-alpha. Because they are at the limit of visibility of ground-based instruments, their nature has long been a puzzle. In recent years however, vast progress has been made in understanding them both theoretically and observationally, as spicule studies have undergone a revolution because of the superior resolution and time cadence of ground-based and space-based instruments. Even more rapid progress is currently underway, due to the Solar Optical Telescope (SOT) instrument on the Hinode spacecraft. Here we present observations of spicules from Hinode SOT, as seen near the limb with the Ca II filtergraph.

Sterling, A. C.↗
NASA NTRS2007

The Width of a CME and the Source of the Driving Magnetic Explosion

We show that the strength of the magnetic field in the area covered by the flare arcade following a CME-producing ejective solar eruption can be estimated from the final angular width of the CME in the outer corona and the final angular width of the flare arcade. We assume (1) the flux-rope plasmoid ejected from the flare site becomes the interior of the CME plasmoid, (2) in the outer corona the CME is roughly a "spherical plasmoid with legs" shaped like a light bulb, and (3) beyond some height in or below the outer corona the CME plasmoid is in lateral pressure balance with the surrounding magnetic field. The strength of the nearly radial magnetic field in the outer corona is estimated from the radial component of the interplanetary magnetic field measured by Ulysses. We apply this model to three well-observed CMEs that exploded from flare regions of extremely different size and magnetic setting. In each event, the estimated source-region field strength is appropriate for the magnetic setting of the flare. This agreement indicates via the model that CMEs (1) are propelled by the magnetic field of the CME plasmoid pushing against the surrounding magnetic field, and (2) can explode from flare regions that are laterally far offset from the radial path of the CME in the outer corona.

Moore, R. L.↗
NASA NTRS2007

Combined Hinode, STEREO, and TRACE Observations of a Solar Filament Eruption: Evidence for Destabilization by Flux-Cancelation Tether Cutting

We present observations from Hinode, STEREO, and TRACE of a solar filament eruption and flare that occurred on 2007 March 2. Data from the two new satellites, combined with the TRACE observations, give us fresh insights into the eruption onset process. HINODE/XRT shows soft X-ray (SXR) activity beginning approximately 30 minutes prior to ignition of bright flare loops. STEREO andTRACE images show that the filament underwent relatively slow motions coinciding with the pre-eruption SXR brightenings, and it underwent rapid eruptive motions beginning near the time of flare onset. Concurrent HINODE/SOT magnetograms showed substantial flux cancelation under the filament at the site of the pre-eruption SXR activity. From these observations we infer that progressive tether-cutting reconnection driven by photospheric convection caused the slow rise of the filament and led to its eruption. NASA supported this work through a NASA Heliosphysics GI grant.

Sterling, Alphonse C.↗