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Search indexed NASA NTRS and DOE OSTI research on propulsion, heat transfer, battery materials and energy systems. Follow report and document links to the original sources.

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At least 19 records
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS2016

Simulations of Solar Jets Confined by Coronal Loops

Coronal jets are collimated, dynamic events that occur over a broad range of spatial scales in the solar corona. In the open magnetic field of coronal holes, jets form quasi-radial spires that can extend far out into the heliosphere, while in closed-field regions the jet outflows are confined to the corona. We explore the application of the embedded-bipole model to jets occurring in closed coronal loops. In this model, magnetic free energy is injected slowly by footpoint motions that introduce twist within the closed dome of the jet source region, and is released rapidly by the onset of an ideal kink-like instability. Two length scales characterize the system: the width (N) of the jet source region and the footpoint separation (L) of the coronal loop that envelops the jet source. We find that both the conditions for initiation and the subsequent dynamics are highly sensitive to the ratio L/N. The longest-lasting and most energetic jets occur along long coronal loops with large L/N ratios, and share many of the features of open-field jets, while smaller L/N ratios produce shorter-duration, less energetic jets that are affected by reflections from the far-loop footpoint. We quantify the transition between these behaviors and show that our model replicates key qualitative and quantitative aspects of both quiet Sun and active-region loop jets. We also find that there connection between the closed dome and surrounding coronal loop is very extensive: the cumulative reconnected flux at least matches the total flux beneath the dome for small L/N, and is more than double that value for large L/N.

Wyper, P. F.↗
NASA NTRS1999

TRACE Observation of Damped Coronal Loop Oscillations: Implicating for Coronal Heating

The imaging telescope on board the Transition Region and Coronal Explorer (TRACE) spacecraft observed the decaying transversal oscillations of a long [(130 +/- 6) x 10(exp 6) meters], thin [diameter (2.0 +/- 0.36) x 10(exp 6) meters], bright coronal loop in the 171 angstrom Fe-IX emission line. The oscillations were excited by a solar flare in the adjacent active region. The decay time of the oscillations is 12.1 +/- 6.7 minutes for an oscillation with a frequency 3.90 +/- 0.13 millihertz The coronal dissipation coefficient is estimated to be eight to nine orders of magnitude larger than the theoretically predicted classical value. The larger dissipation coefficient may solve existing difficulties with wave heating and reconnection theories.

Nakariakov, V. M.↗
NASA NTRS2017

Unravelling the Components of a Multi-Thermal Coronal Loop Using Magnetohydrodynamic Seismology

Coronal loops, constituting the basic building blocks of the active Sun, serve as primary targets to help understand the mechanisms responsible for maintaining multi-million Kelvin temperatures in the solar and stellar coronae. Despite significant advances in observations and theory, our knowledge on the fundamental properties of these structures is limited. Here, we present unprecedented observations of accelerating slow magnetoacoustic waves along a coronal loop that show differential propagation speeds in two distinct temperature channels, revealing the multi-stranded and multithermal nature of the loop. Utilizing the observed speeds and employing nonlinear force free magnetic field extrapolations, we derive the actual temperature variation along the loop in both channels, and thus are able to resolve two individual components of the multithermal loop for the first time. The obtained positive temperature gradients indicate uniform heating along the loop, rather than isolated foot point heating.

Prasad, S. Krishna↗
NASA NTRS2009

The Structure of Coronal Loops

It is widely believed that the simple coronal loops observed by XUV imagers, such as EIT, TRACE, or XRT, actually have a complex internal structure consisting of many (perhaps hundreds) of unresolved, interwoven "strands". According to the nanoflare model, photospheric motions tangle the strands, causing them to reconnect and release the energy required to produce the observed loop plasma. Although the strands, themselves, are unresolved by present-generation imagers, there is compelling evidence for their existence and for the nanoflare model from analysis of loop intensities and temporal evolution. A problem with this scenario is that, although reconnection can eliminate some of the strand tangles, it cannot destroy helicity, which should eventually build up to observable scales. we consider, therefore, the injection and evolution of helicity by the nanoflare process and its implications for the observed structure of loops and the large-scale corona. we argue that helicity does survive and build up to observable levels, but on spatial and temporal scales larger than those of coronal loops. we discuss the implications of these results for coronal loops and the corona, in general .

Antiochos, Spiro K.↗
NASA NTRS1986

High-spatial-resolution microwave and related observations as diagnostics of coronal loops

High spatial resolution microwave observations of coronal loops, together with theoretical models for the loop emission, can provide detailed information about the temperature, density, and magnetic field within the loop, as well as the environment around the loop. The capability for studying magnetic fields is particularly important, since there is no comparable method for obtaining direct information about coronal magnetic fields. Knowledge of the magnetic field strength and structure in coronal loops is important for understanding both coronal heating and flares. With arc-second-resolution microwave observations from the Very Large Array (VLA), supplemental high-spectral-resolution microwave data from a facility such as the Owens Valley frequency-agile interferometer, and the ability to obtain second-of-arc resolution EUV aor soft X ray images, the capability already exists for obtaining much more detailed information about coronal plasma and magnetic structures than is presently available. This capability is discussed.

Holman, Gordon D.↗
NASA NTRS1980

Resonant electrodynamic heating of stellar coronal loops: An LRC circuit analogue

The electrodynamic coupling of stellar coronal loops to underlying beta velocity fields. A rigorous analysis revealed that the physics can be represented by a simple yet equivalent LRC circuit analogue. This analogue points to the existence of global structure oscillations which resonantly excite internal field line oscillations at a spatial resonance within the coronal loop. Although the width of this spatial resonance, as well as the induced currents and coronal velocity field, explicitly depend upon viscosity and resistivity, the resonant form of the generalized electrodynamic heating function is virtually independent of irreversibilities. This is a classic feature of high quality resonators that are externally driven by a broad band source of spectral power. Applications to solar coronal loops result in remarkable agreement with observations.

Ionson, J. A.↗
NASA NTRS1988

Heating of solar coronal loops by resonant absorption of Alfven waves

Numerical calculations governing the efficiency of coronal loop heating by the resonant absorption of shear Alfven waves are reported. The loop structure is modeled by a class of axisymmetric force-free equilibria of a long straight cylinder, approximating a large aspect ratio loop. For a range of parameters characterizing the evolution of solar coronal loops, the absorption bandwidth falls in the frequency range of the photospheric motions due to granulation and p-modes. Resonant Alfven wave absorption is thus a viable mechanism for coronal loop heating.

Grossmann, William↗
NASA NTRS2010

Can Thermal Nonequilibrium Explain Coronal Loops?

Any successful model of coronal loops must explain a number of observed properties. For warm (approx. 1 MK) loops, these include: 1. excess density, 2. flat temperature profile, 3. super-hydrostatic scale height, 4. unstructured intensity profile, and 5. 1000-5000 s lifetime. We examine whether thermal nonequilibrium can reproduce the observations by performing hydrodynamic simulations based on steady coronal heating that decreases exponentially with height. We consider both monolithic and multi-stranded loops. The simulations successfully reproduce certain aspects of the observations, including the excess density, but each of them fails in at least one critical way. -Xonolithic models have far too much intensity structure, while multi-strand models are either too structured or too long-lived. Storms of nanoflares remain the only viable explanation for warm loops that has been proposed so far. Our results appear to rule out the widespread existence of heating that is both highly concentrated low in the corona and steady or quasi-steady (slowly varying or impulsive with a rapid cadence). Active regions would have a very different appearance if the dominant heating mechanism had these properties. Thermal nonequilibrium may nonetheless play an important role in prominences and catastrophic cooling e(veen.gts..,coronal rain) that occupy a small fraction of the coronal volume. However, apparent inconsistencies between the models and observations of cooling events have yet to be understood.

Klimchuk, James A.↗
NASA NTRS1987

Pressure structure of solar coronal loops

The steady state pressure structure of a coronal loop is discussed in terms of the MHD global invariants of an incompressible plasma. The steady state is represented by the superposition of two Chandrasekhar-Kendall functions corresponding to (n=m=0) and (n=m=1) modes. The relative contribution of the two modes (epsilon) is found to depend on the surface pressure of the coronal loop which is also the pressure of the external medium. The mixed mode state does not exist for high values of the external pressure because epsilon becomes complex.

Krishan, V.↗
NASA NTRS2017

Invisibility of Solar Active Region Umbra-to-Umbra Coronal Loops: New Evidence that Magnetoconvection Drives Solar-Stellar Coronal Heating

Coronal heating generally increases with increasing magnetic field strength: the EUV/X-ray corona in active regions is 10--100 times more luminous and 2--4 times hotter than that in quiet regions and coronal holes, which are heated to only about 1.5 MK, and have fields that are 10--100 times weaker than that in active regions. From a comparison of a nonlinear force-free model of the three-dimensional active region coronal field to observed extreme-ultraviolet loops, we find that (1) umbra-to-umbra coronal loops, despite being rooted in the strongest magnetic flux, are invisible, and (2) the brightest loops have one foot in an umbra or penumbra and the other foot in another sunspot's penumbra or in unipolar or mixed-polarity plage. The invisibility of umbra-to-umbra loops is new evidence that magnetoconvection drives solar-stellar coronal heating: evidently, the strong umbral field at both ends quenches the magnetoconvection and hence the heating. Our results from EUV observations and nonlinear force-free modeling of coronal magnetic field imply that, for any coronal loop on the Sun or on any other convective star, as long as the field can be braided by convection in at least one loop foot, the stronger the field in the loop, the stronger the coronal heating.

Tiwari, Sanjiv K.↗
NASA NTRS1982

Electron acceleration and radiation signatures in loop coronal transients

It is proposed that in loop coronal transients an erupting loop moves away from the solar surface, with a velocity exceeding the local Alfven speed, pushing against the overlying magnetic fields and driving a shock in the front of the moving part of the loop. Lower hybrid waves are excited at the shock front and propagate radially toward the center of the loop with phase velocity along the magnetic field that exceeds the thermal velocity. The lower hybrid waves stochastically accelerate the tail of the electron distribution inside the loop. The manner in which the accelerated electrons are trapped in the moving loop are discussed, and their radiation signature is estimated. It is suggested that plasma radiation can explain the power observed in stationary and moving type IV bursts.

Vlahos, L.↗
NASA NTRS2008

Models of Coronal Loops and Those Annoying Observations

It is often said that coronal loops are the fundamental building blocks of the magnetically-closed corona. This is certainly true, especially when one realizes that the diffuse component of the corona can be thought of as a collection of indistinguishable loops. During the Skylab era, it was believed that loops are in states of quasi static equilibrium. However, more recent observations combined with numerical models have revealed that this interpretation is not correct, at least for many loops. The concept of loops as bundles of impulsively-heated strands is very appealing and solves many of the problems faced by static models, but it too faces observational challenges. Yet another idea involves the fascinating phenomenon of thermal nonequilibrium. I will review the various attempts to model coronal loops and discuss how they agree and disagree with observations, paying particular attention to the latest results from Hinode.

Klimchuk, James A.↗
NASA NTRS1982

The thermal structure of solar coronal loops and implications for physical models of coronae

EUV spectra of three active region loops observed above the solar limb with the SO55 spectrometer on Skylab are analyzed. It is noted that the lengths, peak temperatures, and pressures of the loops are typical of the X-ray coronal loops to which static models have been applied. It is found that the physical parameters of the coronal loop plasma derived from EUV spectra and raster pictures are not well represented by the static models. Although the loops also contain a significant quantity of cool plasma, no physical reason is found to differentiate them from other active region loops of similar length, pressure, and temperature. Several line ratios in the loop spectrum suggest departures from ionization equilibrium caused by rapid cooling. The source of this cooling material is discussed with reference to several models of loop dynamics.

Raymond, J. C.↗
NASA NTRS1980

The thermal statics of coronal loops

The thermal statics of constant pressure coronal loops is discussed, with particular emphasis on non-equilibrium and scaling relations. An analytical solution showing explicitly the occurrence of non-equilibrium in radiation dominated loops is presented. In addition, the general scaling law for hot loops is given. However, in view of the uncertainties in the coronal heating function and the observational determined loop parameters, it is suggested that scaling laws are currently of limited value.

Roberts, B.↗
NASA NTRS1982

Resonant electrodynamic heating of stellar coronal loops - An LRC circuit analog

The problem of electrodynamic coupling of stellar coronal loops where beta is less than 1 to underlying velocity fields where beta is greater than approximately 1 is treated. A rigorous analysis reveals that the physics can be represented by a simple yet equivalent LRC circuit analog. This derived analog suggests the existence of global structure oscillations which resonantly excite internal field line oscillations at a spatial resonance within the coronal loop. Even though the width of this spatial resonance, as well as the induced currents and coronal velocity field, within the resonance region explicitly depends on viscosity and resistivity, the resonant form of the generalized electrodynamic heating functions is virtually independent of irreversibilities. This is a classic feature of high-quality resonators that are driven externally by a broad-band source of spectral power.

Ionson, J. A.↗
NASA NTRS1985

Thermal stability of static coronal loops. I - Effects of boundary conditions

The linear stability of static coronal-loop models undergoing thermal perturbations was investigated. The effect of conditions at the loop base on the stability properties of the models was considered in detail. The question of appropriate boundary conditions at the loop base was considered and it was concluded that the most physical assumptions are that the temperature and density (or pressure) perturbations vanish there. However, if the base is taken to be sufficiently deep in the chromosphere, either several chromospheric scale heights or several coronal loop lengths in depth, then the effect of the boundary conditions on loop stability becomes negligible so that all physically acceptable conditions are equally appropriate. For example, one could as well assume that the velocity vanishes at the base. The growth rates and eigenmodes of static models in which gravity is neglected and in which the coronal heating is a relatively simple function, either constant per-unit mass or per-unit volume were calculated. It was found that all such models are unstable with a growth rate of the order of the coronal cooling time. The physical implications of these results for the solar corona and transition region are discussed.

Antiochos, S. K.↗