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This seminar is the first of two on the sun and heliosphere. It adresses the sun, solar wind and magnetic field with emphasis on recent observations by the Ulysses mission.
A solar telescope was built at Stanford University to study the organization and evolution of large-scale solar magnetic fields and velocities. The observations are made using a Babcock-type magnetograph which is connected to a 22.9 m vertical Littrow spectrograph. Sun-as-a-star integrated light measurements of the mean solar magnetic field were made daily since May 1975. The typical mean field magnitude is about 0.15 gauss with typical measurement error less than 0.05 gauss. The mean field polarity pattern is essentially identical to the interplanetary magnetic field sector structure (seen near the earth with a 4 day lag). The differences in the observed structures can be understood in terms of a warped current sheet model.
High-resolution magnetograms of the solar polar region were used for the study of the polar magnetic field. In contrast to low-resolution magnetograph observations which measure the polar magnetic field averaged over a large area, we focused our efforts on the properties of the small magnetic elements in the polar region. Evolution of the filling factor (the ratio of the area occupied by the magnetic elements to the total area) of these magnetic elements, as well as the average magnetic field strength, were studied during the maximum and declining phase of solar cycle 22, from early 1991 to mid-1993. We found that during the sunspot maximum period, the polar regions were occupied by about equal numbers of positive and negative magnetic elements, with equal average field strength. As the solar cycle progresses toward sunspot minimum, the magnetic field elements in the polar region become predominantly of one polarity. The average magnetic field of the dominant polarity elements also increases with the filling factor. In the meanwhile, both the filling factor and the average field strength of the non-dominant polarity elements decrease. The combined effects of the changing filling factors and average field strength produce the observed evolution of the integrated polar flux over the solar cycle. We compared the evolutionary histories of both filling factor and average field strength, for regions of high (70-80 deg) and low (60-70 deg) latitudes. For the south pole, we found no significant evidence of difference in the time of reversal. However, the low-latitude region of the north pole did reverse polarity much earlier than the high-latitude region. It later showed an oscillatory behavior. We suggest this may be caused by the poleward migration of flux from a large active region in 1989 with highly imbalanced flux.
Some observational facts about the large-scale patterns formed by solar negative polarity magnetic fields during the 19th and 20th cycles of solar activity are presented. The close relation of the position of occurrence of very large flares accompanied by cosmic ray and PCA events as well as other phenomena of solar activity during the declining part of the 19th cycle of the regularities in the internal structure of large scale negative polarity features are demonstrated.
On the basis of the model and experimental investigations, the spatial distribution of cosmic ray anisotropy for the different epochs of solar activity is studied. A solution is offered to the anisotropic diffusion equation with regard to the electromagnetic conditions for the periods of minimum and maximum solar activity and cosmic ray particle drift in a regular interplanetary magnetic field. It is shown that the long period changes amplitude and phase of the diurnal variations of cosmic rays is limited not only by convection and diffusion of particles but also by the drift effect before and after the sing change of the general magnetic field of the Sun. The calculated model is compared with the results obtained on the basis of an analysis of the experimental data from the neutron super monitor station, and it is shown that for the periods when the lines of magnetic force of the Sun come from the Northern Hemisphere the phase of the first harmonic diurnal variation is shifted forwards to an earlier time.
Inferences from the asymmetry in time of the solar sunspot number, taken over many cycles, yields evidence for the relict magnetic field in the solar core which Cowling (1945) suggested would not decay, over the solar system's lifetime, given sufficiently high bulk electrical conductivity. Whether such a relict field is present can be ascertained either by searching for the presence of a 22-year line quintet in the Fourier spectrum of the sunspot index or by processing the time sequence in order to highlight an offset. Since the solar cycle is unstable to frequency drifts, the presence of frequency modulation can lead to a spurious relict field signal.
We compare predicted magnetopause positions at the subsolar point and four reference points in the terminator plane obtained from several empirical and numerical MHD (magnetohydrodynamics) models. Empirical models using various sets of magnetopause crossings and making different assumptions about the magnetopause shape predict significantly different magnetopause positions (with a scatter greater than 1 Earth radius (R (sub E)) even at the subsolar point. Axisymmetric magnetopause models cannot reproduce the cusp indentations or the changes related to the dipole tilt effect, and most of them predict the magnetopause closer to the Earth than non axisymmetric models for typical solar wind conditions and zero tilt angle. Predictions of two global non axisymmetric models do not match each other, and the models need additional verification. MHD models often predict the magnetopause closer to the Earth than the non axisymmetric empirical models, but the predictions of MHD simulations may need corrections for the ring current effect and decreases of the solar wind pressure that occur in the foreshock. Comparing MHD models in which the ring current magnetic field is taken into account with the empirical Lin et al. model, we find that the differences in the reference point positions predicted by these models are relatively small for B (sub z) equals 0 (note: B (sub z) is when the Earth's magnetic field points north versus Sun's magnetic field pointing south). Therefore, we assume that these predictions indicate the actual magnetopause position, but future investigations are still needed.
The large-scale photospheric magnetic field, measured at Stanford, has been analyzed in terms of surface harmonics. Changes of the photospheric field which occur within whole solar rotation period can be resolved by this analysis. For this reason we used daily magnetograms of the line-of-sight magnetic field component observed from Earth over solar disc. We have estimated the period during which day-to-day full disc magnetograms must be collected. An original algorithm was applied to resolve time variations of spherical harmonics that reflect time evolution of large-scale magnetic field within solar rotation period. This method of magnetic field presentation can be useful enough in lack of direct magnetograph observations due to sometimes bad weather conditions. We have used the calculated surface harmonics to reconstruct the large-scale magnetic field structure on the source surface near the sun - the origin of heliospheric current sheet and solar wind streams. The obtained results have been compared with spacecraft in situ observations and geomagnetic activity. We tried to show that proposed technique can trace shon-time variations of heliospheric current sheet and short-lived solar wind streams. We have compared also our results with those obtained traditionally from potential field approximation and extrapolation using synoptic charts as initial boundary conditions.
The energy distribution in the small-scale magnetic field that pervades the solar surface, and its relationship to X-ray/coronal activity are discussed. The observed emission from the small scale structures, at temperatures characteristic of the chromosphere, transition region and corona, emanates from the boundaries of supergranular cells, within coronal bright points. This emission is characterized by a strong temporal and spatial variability with no definite pattern. The analysis of simultaneous, multiwavelength EUV observations shows that the spatial density of the enhanced as well as variable emission from the small scale structures exhibits a pronounced temperature dependence with significant maxima at 100,000 and 1,000,000 K. Within the limits of the spatial (1-5 arcsec) and temporal (1-5 min) resolution of data available at present, the observed variability in the small scale structure cannot account for the coroal heating of the quiet sun. The characteristics of their emission are more likely to be an indicator of the coronal heating mechanisms.
Interplanetary magnetic field and plasma effect on geomagnetic activity during quiet sun conditions
We present the analysis of a decaying active region observed by the EUV Imaging Spectrometer on Hinode during 2009 December 7-11. We investigated the temporal evolution of its structure exhibited by plasma at temperatures from 300,000 to 2.8 million degrees, and derived the electron density, differential emission measure, effective electron temperature, and elemental abundance ratios of Si/S and Fe/S (as a measure of the First Ionization Potential (FIP) Effect). We compared these coronal properties to the temporal evolution of the photospheric magnetic field strength obtained from the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory Michelson Doppler Imager magnetograms. We find that, while these coronal properties all decreased with time during this decay phase, the largest change was at plasma above 1.5 million degrees. The photospheric magnetic field strength also decreased with time but mainly for field strengths lower than about 70 Gauss. The effective electron temperature and the FIP bias seem to reach a basal state (at 1.5 x 10(exp 6) K and 1.5, respectively) into the quiet Sun when the mean photospheric magnetic field (excluding all areas <10 G) weakened to below 35 G, while the electron density continued to decrease with the weakening field. These physical properties are all positively correlated with each other and the correlation is the strongest in the high-temperature plasma. Such correlation properties should be considered in the quest for our understanding of how the corona is heated. The variations in the elemental abundance should especially be considered together with the electron temperature and density.
To obtain quantitative temporal and spatial information on the network magnetic fields, auto- and cross-correlation techniques are applied to the Big Bear videomagnetogram data. The average size of the network magnetic elements derived from the auto-correlation curve is about 5700 km. The distance between the primary and secondary peak in the auto-correlation curve is about 17,000 km, which is half of the size of the supergranule as determined from the velocity map. The canceling features and the emergence of ephemeral regions are the major sources for the loss and replenishment of magnetic flux on the quiet sun.
This paper examines the effect that solar differential rotation would have on a hypothetical large-scale equatorial dipole field. The evolving large-scale field pattern is expressed as a series of non-axisymmetric moments. As time increases, power is transferred to progressively higher order moments. In the 27d rotating coordinate system, each moment undergoes a small retrograde drift which remains nearly uniform until that mode begins to fade. The synodic rotation periods of the first few moments are comparable to the observed 28.5d period of the sun's large-scale field near sunspot maximum. Differential rotation may be the source of this 28.5d period, but the eruption of new flux is necessary to keep the pattern going.
In this study we use a recently developed technique for measuring the combined magnitudes of inward and outward (sunward and antisunward) pointing 2D magnetic flux in the ecliptic plane to examine (1) the long term variation of the amount of magnetic field open to interplanetary space and (2) the apparent rate at which coronal mass ejections (CMEs) may be opening new magnetic field from the sun. Since there is a substantial variation (about 50 percent) of these combined fluxes in the ecliptic plane over solar cycle 21, we conclude that there must be some means whereby new field can be opened from the sun and a previously open magnetic field can be closed off. We briefly describe recently discovered coronal disconnection events which could serve to close off a previously open magnetic field. CMEs appear to retain at least partial magnetic connection to the sun and hence open up a new field, while disconnections appear to be likely signatures of the process that returns a closed field to the sun. The combination of these processes could regulate the amount of inward and outward magnetic flux open to interplanetary space.
Migratory dynamo waves in solar convective zone related to sunspot activity
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Regarding new bipolar magnetic regions as sources of flux, the evolution of the radial component of the solar photospheric magnetic field is simulated during 1976-1984, and the corresponding evolution of the line-of-sight polar fields as seen from earth is derived. The observed timing and strength of the polar-field reversal during cycle 21 can be accounted for by supergranular diffusion alone, for a diffusion coefficient of 800 sq km/sec. For an assumed 300 sq km/sec rate of diffusion, on the other hand, a poleward meridional flow with a moderately broad profile and a peak speed of 10 m/s reached at about 5 deg latitude is required to obtain agreement between the simulated and observed fields. Such a flow accelerates the transport of following-polarity flux to the polar caps, but also inhibits the diffusion of leading-polarity flux across the equator. For flows faster than about 10 m/s, the latter effect dominates, and the simulated polar fields reverse increasingly later and more weakly than the observed fields.
Using analytical calculations and numerical simulations, it is shown that a meridional component of magnetic-flux transport will offset the shearing effect of differential rotation and give rise to rigidly rotating patterns of large-scale magnetic field. The nonaxisymmetric field attains a striped polarity pattern which rotates rigidly like a barber pole while its individual small-scale flux elements rotate at the differential rate of the latitudes they are crossing. On the sun, the meridional transport is provided by supergranular diffusion possibly assisted by a small poleward flow. New sources of flux retard this process and exclude the rigid rotation from the sunspot belts until well into the declining phase of the sunspot cycle. This mechanism accounts for a number of heretofore unexplained phenomena including the tendency for coronal holes to rotate rigidly during the declining phase of the sunspot cycle.