Published August 1, 2011 | Version v1
Journal article

OBSERVATION OF HIGH-SPEED OUTFLOW ON PLUME-LIKE STRUCTURES OF THE QUIET SUN AND CORONAL HOLES WITH SOLAR DYNAMICS OBSERVATORY/ATMOSPHERIC IMAGING ASSEMBLY

  • 1. High Altitude Observatory, National Center for Atmospheric Research, P.O. Box 3000, Boulder, CO 80307 (United States)
  • 2. Institute for Astronomy, University of Hawaii, 2680 Woodlawn Drive, Honolulu, HI 96822 (United States)
  • 3. School of Earth and Space Sciences, Peking University, 100871 Beijing (China)

Description

Observations from the Atmospheric Imaging Assembly onboard the Solar Dynamics Observatory reveal ubiquitous episodic outflows (jets) with an average speed around 120 km s-1 at temperatures often exceeding a million degree in plume-like structures, rooted in magnetized regions of the quiet solar atmosphere. These outflows are not restricted to the well-known plumes visible in polar coronal holes, but are also present in plume-like structures originating from equatorial coronal holes and quiet-Sun (QS) regions. Outflows are also visible in the 'inter-plume' regions throughout the atmosphere. Furthermore, the structures traced out by these flows in both plume and inter-plume regions continually exhibit transverse (Alfvenic) motion. Our finding suggests that high-speed outflows originate mainly from the magnetic network of the QS and coronal holes (CHs), and that the plume flows observed are highlighted by the denser plasma contained therein. These outflows might be an efficient means to provide heated mass into the corona and serve as an important source of mass supply to the solar wind. We demonstrate that the QS plume flows can sometimes significantly contaminate the spectroscopic observations of the adjacent CHs-greatly affecting the Doppler shifts observed, thus potentially impacting significant investigations of such regions.

Availability note (English)

Available from http://dx.doi.org/10.1088/0004-637X/736/2/130

Additional details

Identifiers

Publishing Information

Journal Title
Astrophysical Journal
Journal Volume
736
Journal Issue
2
Journal Page Range
[11 p.]
ISSN
0004-637X
CODEN
ASJOAB

INIS

Country of Publication
United States
Country of Input or Organization
International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)
INIS RN
43055969
Subject category
S79: ASTROPHYSICS, COSMOLOGY AND ASTRONOMY;
Descriptors DEI
PLUMES; SOLAR CORONA; SOLAR WIND; SUN
Descriptors DEC
ATMOSPHERES; MAIN SEQUENCE STARS; SOLAR ACTIVITY; SOLAR ATMOSPHERE; STARS; STELLAR ACTIVITY; STELLAR ATMOSPHERES; STELLAR CORONAE; STELLAR WINDS