Issue |
A&A
Volume 592, August 2016
|
|
---|---|---|
Article Number | A91 | |
Number of page(s) | 6 | |
Section | The Sun | |
DOI | https://doi.org/10.1051/0004-6361/201527792 | |
Published online | 04 August 2016 |
Comparison of solar radio and extreme ultraviolet synoptic limb charts during the present solar maximum
1 IP&D – Universidade do Vale do Paraíba – UNIVAP, São José dos Campos, SP, Brazil
e-mail: caiuslucius@gmail.com
2 NAT – Núcleo de Astrofísica Teórica, Universidade Cruzeiro do Sul, São Paulo, SP, Brazil
3 SUPA School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Glasgow, G12 8QQ, UK
4 CRAAM, Universidade Presbiteriana Mackenzie, São Paulo, Brazil
5 IAFE, Universidad de Buenos Aires/CONICET, Buenos Aires, Argentina
Received: 19 November 2015
Accepted: 10 June 2016
Aims. The present solar cycle is particular in many aspects: it had a delayed rising phase, it is the weakest of the last 100 yrs, and it presents two peaks separated by more than one year. To understand the impact of these characteristics on the solar chromosphere and coronal dynamics, images from a wide wavelength range are needed. In this work we use the 17 GHz radio continuum, which is formed in the upper chromosphere and the extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lines 304 and 171 Å, that come from the transition region (He ii, T ~ 6−8 × 104 K) and the corona (Fe IX, X, T ~ 106 K), respectively.We extend upon a previous similar analysis, and compare the mean equatorial and polar brightening behavior at radio and EUV wavelengths during the maximum of the present solar cycle, covering the period between 2010 and 2015.
Methods. We analyze daily images at 304 and 171 Å obtained by the Atmospheric Imaging Assembly (AIA) on board the Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO). The 17 GHz maps were obtained by the Nobeyama Radioheliograph (NoRH). To construct synoptic limb charts, we calculated the mean emission of delimited limb areas with 100′′ wide and angular separation of 5°.
Results. At the equatorial region, the results show a hemispheric asymmetry of the solar activity. The northern hemisphere dominance is coincident with the first sunspot number peak, whereas the second peak occurs concurrently with the increase in the activity at the south. The polar emission reflects the presence of coronal holes at both EUV wavelengths, moreover, the 17 GHz polar brightenings can be associated with the coronal holes. Until 2013, both EUV coronal holes and radio polar brightenings were more predominant at the south pole.Since then they have not been apparent in the north, but thus appear in the beginning of 2015 in the south as observed in the synoptic charts.
Conclusions. This work strengthens the association between coronal holes and the 17 GHz polar brightenings as it is evident in the synoptic limb charts in agreement with previous case study papers. The enhancement of the radio brightness in coronal holes is explained by the presence of bright patches closely associated with the presence of intense unipolar magnetic fields. However, observations with better spatial resolution and also at different radio wavelengths will be necessary to fully understand the physical mechanisms that link these features.
Key words: Sun: general / Sun: radio radiation / Sun: UV radiation / Sun: transition region / Sun: corona
© ESO, 2016
Current usage metrics show cumulative count of Article Views (full-text article views including HTML views, PDF and ePub downloads, according to the available data) and Abstracts Views on Vision4Press platform.
Data correspond to usage on the plateform after 2015. The current usage metrics is available 48-96 hours after online publication and is updated daily on week days.
Initial download of the metrics may take a while.