On the prevalence of small-scale twist in the solar chromosphere and transition region

Abstract

The solar chromosphere and transition region (TR) form an interface between the Sun's surface and its hot outer atmosphere. Here most of the non-thermal energy that powers the solar atmosphere is transformed into heat, although the detailed mechanism remains elusive. High-resolution (0.33-arcsec) observations with NASA's Interface Region Imaging Spectrograph (IRIS) reveal a chromosphere and TR that are replete with twist or torsional motions on sub-arcsecond scales, occurring in active regions, quiet Sun regions, and coronal holes alike. We coordinated observations with the Swedish 1-m Solar Telescope (SST) to quantify these twisting motions and their association with rapid heating to at least TR temperatures. This view of the interface region provides insight into what heats the low solar atmosphere.

Published in Science at this URL: http://www.sciencemag.org/content/346/6207/1255732.short, 31 pages, 12 figures, movies available here: http://www.lmsal.com/bdp/papers/twist/

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Cited by in corpus (39)

• Solar Coronal Jets: Observations, Theory, and Modeling
• Prevalence of Small-scale Jets from the Networks of the Solar Transition Region and Chromosphere
• The European Solar Telescope
• Three-dimensional oscillatory magnetic reconnection
• A model for straight and helical solar jets: II. Parametric study of the plasma beta
• Fine-scale explosive energy release at sites of prospective magnetic flux cancellation in the core of the solar active region observed by Hi-C 2.1, IRIS and SDO
• An Inside Look at Sunspot Oscillations with Higher Azimuthal Wavenumbers
• Explosive events in active region observed by IRIS and SST/CRISP
• Multifluid modeling of magnetosonic wave propagation in the solar chromosphere -- effects of impact ionization and radiative recombination
• First direct observation of a torsional Alfvén oscillation at coronal heights
• Kelvin-Helmholtz instability in solar chromospheric jets: theory and observation
• What causes the high apparent speeds in chromospheric and transition region spicules on the Sun?
• Observational Evidence of Magnetic Reconnection for Brightenings and Transition Region Arcades in IRIS observations
• Spicules and downflows in the solar chromosphere
• Investigating the Transition Region Explosive Events and Their Relationship to Network Jets
• Magnetic swirls and associated fast magnetoacoustic kink waves in a solar chromospheric flux tube
• Chromospheric and Coronal Wave Generation in a Magnetic Flux Sheath
• Possible Production of Solar Spicules by Microfilament Eruptions
• Three-dimensional MHD wave propagation near a coronal null point: a new wave mode decomposition approach
• High-resolution observations of the solar photosphere, chromosphere and transition region. A database of coordinated IRIS and SST observations
• The Brightness Temperature of the Quiet Solar Chromosphere at 2.6 mm
• Transition to turbulence in nonuniform coronal loops driven by torsional Alfven waves
• The chromosphere underneath a Coronal Bright Point
• High-resolution wave dynamics in the lower solar atmosphere
• Diagnostic of Homologous Solar Surge Plasma as observed by IRIS and SDO
• The Center-to-Limb Variation of Non-Thermal Velocities using IRIS Si IV
• Plasma injection into a solar coronal loop
• Velocity Response of the Observed Explosive Events in the Lower Solar Atmosphere: I. Formation of the Flowing Cool Loop System
• Spectroscopic observation of a transition region network jet
• Structure of sunspot light bridges in the chromosphere and transition region
• On the Response of the Transition Region and the Corona to Rapid Excursions in the Chromosphere
• Coronal Properties of Low-mass Population III Stars and the Radiative Feedback in the Early Universe
• Spectroscopic and Imaging Observations of Spatially Extended Magnetic Reconnection in the Splitting of a Solar Filament Structure
• The Effect of the Chromospheric Temperature on Coronal Heating
• Transition to turbulence in nonuniform coronal loops driven by torsional Alfvén waves. II. Extended analysis and effect of magnetic twist
• Dynamics of Explosive Events by Interface Region Imaging Spectrograph
• Can Multi-Threaded Flux Tubes in Coronal Arcades Support a Magnetohydrodynamic Avalanche?
• On collective nature of nonlinear torsional Alfvén waves
• Coronal heating problem solution by means of axion origin photons