[en] The paper deals with the review of works on solar observations at Abastumani Astrophysical Observatory during the past 12 years. The works accomplished on the basis of patrol observations, with the horizontal solar telescope, small and large coronagraphs, and those based on the data obtained during eclipse observations are discussed separately. (orig.)

[en] This essay on the chromosphere and transition region gegins with a general discussion of mechanically heated atmospheres and goes on to discuss both descriptive and physical models. The descriptive models include the thermodynamic and fluid dynamic properties of the atmosphere as deduced from observations. Particular features of the models are identified with the properties of the radiation loss associated with the ionization of hydrogen and with the properties of thermal conduction. The role of spicules in chromosphere and transition region properties is emphasized. Physical models that attempt to predict the basic features of the descriptive models are reviewed. In summary, it seems likely that no one mechanism will satisfy the needs of the lower transition region. The region is observed to be highly dynamic and highly structured thermally. Certainly there are magnetic loops, and certainly there are non-LTE effects in electron distribution functions. Just as certainly, each will play a role in the structure and in the energy balance. The challenge ahead is to discover the relative magnitudes of these and other important effects

[en] High-resolution spectropolarimetric observations of three sunspots taken with Hinode demonstrate the existence of supersonic downflows at or close to the umbra-penumbra boundary which have not been reported before. These downflows are confined to large patches, usually encompassing bright penumbral filaments, and have lifetimes of more than 14 hr. The presence of strong downflows in the center-side penumbra near the umbra rules out an association with the Evershed flow. Chromospheric filtergrams acquired close to the time of the spectropolarimetric measurements show large, strong, and long-lived brightenings in the neighborhood of the downflows. The photospheric intensity also exhibits persistent brightenings comparable to the quiet Sun. Interestingly, the orientation of the penumbral filaments at the site of the downflows is similar to that resulting from the reconnection process described by Ryutova et al. The existence of such downflows in the inner penumbra represents a challenge for numerical models of sunspots because they have to explain them in terms of physical processes likely affecting the chromosphere.

[en] The program was based on simultaneous observations of the same solar region with the Universal Birefringent Filter (UBF) at the Vacuum Tower Telescope (VTT) and with the Big Dome BD Universal Spectrograph (USG). For the UBF images analysis it is referred to the June 13, 1980 RG 2502/2511 (N12-E11) observations. Selected pictures present the line profiles for H-alpha, H-beta, Mg-b1 and Na-D2 at some interesting pixels of the analyzed AR. The detailed photometric morphology of the observed active area and the longitudinal velocity field pattern are presented. A comparison with the corresponding UVSP data is given

[en] Fine prominence features have been predicted to explain the presence of faint luminous chromospheric emissions in the solar corona. This paper describes very fine structures of the order of 200 km in diameter seen at Hα and extending from the center of a sunspot into the corona

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[en] The far-ultraviolet (FUV) continuum flux is recognized as a very sensitive diagnostic of the temperature structure of the Sun's lower chromosphere. Until now analysis of the available stellar FUV data has shown that solar-type stars must also have chromospheres, but quantitative analyses of stellar FUV continua require far higher quality spectra and comparison with new non-LTE chromosphere models. We present accurate far-ultraviolet (FUV, 1150-1500 Å) continuum flux measurements for solar-mass stars, made feasible by the high throughput and very low detector background of the Cosmic Origins Spectrograph on the Hubbble Space Telescope. We show that the continuum flux can be measured above the detector background even for the faintest star in our sample. We find a clear trend of increasing continuum brightness temperature at all FUV wavelengths with decreasing rotational period, which provides an important measure of magnetic heating rates in stellar chromospheres. Comparison with semiempirical solar flux models shows that the most rapidly rotating solar-mass stars have FUV continuum brightness temperatures similar to the brightest faculae seen on the Sun. The thermal structure of the brightest solar faculae therefore provides a first-order estimate of the thermal structure and heating rate for the most rapidly rotating solar-mass stars in our sample.

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[en] We observe that intergranular jets, originating in the intergranular space surrounding individual granules, tend to be associated with granular fragmentation, in particular, with the formation and evolution of a bright granular lane (BGL) within individual granules. The BGLs have recently been identified as vortex tubes by Steiner et al. We further discover the development of a well-defined bright grain located between the BGL and the dark intergranular lane to which it is connected. Signatures of a BGL may reach the lower chromosphere and can be detected in off-band Hα images. Simulations also indicate that vortex tubes are frequently associated with small-scale magnetic fields. We speculate that the intergranular jets detected in the New Solar Telescope (NST) data may result from the interaction between the turbulent small-scale fields associated with the vortex tube and the larger-scale fields existing in the intergranular lanes. The intergranular jets are much smaller and weaker than all previously known jet-like events. At the same time, they appear much more numerous than the larger events, leading us to the speculation that the total energy release and mass transport by these tiny events may not be negligible in the energy and mass-flux balance near the temperature minimum atop the photosphere. The study is based on the photospheric TiO broadband (1.0 nm) filter data acquired with the 1.6 m NST operating at the Big Bear Solar Observatory. The data set also includes NST off-band Hα images collected through a Zeiss Lyot filter with a passband of 0.025 nm.