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Investigation of the coronal heating through phase relation of solar activity indexes

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  24 January 2020

K. J. Li
Affiliation:
Yunnan Observatories, CAS, Kunming 650011, China Center for Astronomical Mega-Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100012, China Key Laboratory of Solar Activity, National Astronomical Observatories, CAS, Beijing 100012, China
J. C. Xu
Affiliation:
Yunnan Observatories, CAS, Kunming 650011, China Center for Astronomical Mega-Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100012, China Key Laboratory of Solar Activity, National Astronomical Observatories, CAS, Beijing 100012, China
Z. Q. Yin
Affiliation:
Center for Astronomical Mega-Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100012, China Key Laboratory of Solar Activity, National Astronomical Observatories, CAS, Beijing 100012, China
J. L. Xie
Affiliation:
Yunnan Observatories, CAS, Kunming 650011, China Center for Astronomical Mega-Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100012, China Key Laboratory of Solar Activity, National Astronomical Observatories, CAS, Beijing 100012, China
W. Feng*
Affiliation:
Research Center of Analysis and Measurement, Kunming University of Science and Technology, Kunming 650093, China
*
Author for correspondence: W. Feng, E-mail: fengwen69@sina.cn
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Abstract

The coronal heating problem is a long-standing perplexing issue. In this study, 13 solar activity indexes are used to investigate their phase relation with the sunspot number (SSN). Only three of them are found to statistically significantly lag the SSN (large-scale magnetic activity) by about one solar rotation period; the three indexes are total solar irradiance (TSI), the modified coronal index, and the solar wind velocity; the former two indexes may represent the long-term variation of energy quantity of the heated photosphere and corona, respectively. The Mount Wilson Sunspot Index (MWSI) and the Magnetic Plage Strength Index (MPSI), which reflect the large- and small-scale magnetic field activities, respectively, are also utilised to investigate their phase relations with the three indexes. The three indexes are found to be much more intimately related to MPSI than to MWSI, and MWSI statistically significantly leads TSI by about one rotation period. The heated corona is found to pulse perfectly in step with the small-scale magnetic activity rather than the large-scale magnetic activity; furthermore, combined with observations, our statistical evidence should thus attribute coronal heating firmly to small-scale magnetic activity phenomena, such as spicules, micro-flares, nano-flares, and others. The photosphere and the corona are synchronously heated, which should seemingly prefer magnetic reconnection heating to wave heating. In the long term, such a coronal heating way is inferred effective. Statistically, it is also small-scale magnetic activity phenomena that produce TSI enhancement. Coronal heating and solar wind acceleration are found to be synchronous, as standard models require.

Information

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Astronomical Society of Australia 2020
Figure 0

Figure 1. Fourteen long-term solar activity indexes.

Figure 1

Figure 2. Cross-correlation coefficient between the daily sunspot number (SSN) and the Ca ii index (thin solid line), the equivalent width of the helium 1 083 nm (dashed line), the GOES X-ray intensity at 1–8$\AA$ (dotted line), the adjusted 10.7-cm radio flux (dashed and dotted line), and the Mg ii index (thick solid line), respectively, varying with their relative phase shifts with backward shifts giving negative values.

Figure 2

Figure 3. Cross-correlation coefficient between the daily sunspot number (SSN) with the sunspot area (thin solid line), the interplanetary magnetic field (dashed line), the daily occurrence number of coronal mass ejections (CMEs, dotted line), the flare index (dashed and dotted line), and the full-disk mean line-of-sight magnetic field strength (thick solid line), respectively, varying with their relative phase shifts with backward shifts giving negative values.

Figure 3

Figure 4. Cross-correlation coefficient between the daily sunspot number (SSN) and the modified coronal index (MCI, solid line), the total solar irradiance (TSI, dashed line), and the solar wind velocity (dotted line), respectively, varying with their relative phase shifts with backward shifts giving negative values.

Figure 4

Figure 5. Top panel: daily Mount Wilson Sunspot Index (MWSI). Bottom panel: daily Magnetic Plage Strength Index (MPSI).

Figure 5

Figure 6. Cross-correlation coefficient between TSI and MPSI (solid), MWSI (dashed), respectively, varying with their relative phase shifts with forward shifts giving negative values.

Figure 6

Figure 7. Same as Figure 6, but between MCI and MPSI (solid), MWSI (dashed), respectively.

Figure 7

Figure 8. Same as Figure 6, but between the solar wind velocity and MPSI (solid), MWSI (dashed), respectively.

Figure 8

Figure 9. Daily sunspot number (SSN, solid line) from 2007 Jan 1 to 2009 Dec 31. SSN is less than 20 at the time interval from 2008 Apr 5 to 2009 Dec 8, which is marked by the dashed thick horizontal line.

Figure 9

Figure 10. Cross-correlation coefficient (cc) between daily sunspot number (SSN) at the time interval of 2008 Apr 5 to 2009 Dec 8 and the total solar irradiance (TSI, solid line), the modified coronal index (MCI, dotted line), and the solar wind velocity (dashed line), respectively, varying with their relative phase shifts with backward shifts giving negative values.