Observations and numerical models of solar coronal heating associated with spicules

Abstract

Spicules have been proposed as significant contributors to the mass and energy balance of the corona. While previous observations have provided a glimpse of short-lived transient brightenings in the corona that are associated with spicules, these observations have been contested and are the subject of a vigorous debate both on the modeling and the observational side. Therefore, it remains unclear whether plasma is heated to coronal temperatures in association with spicules. We use high-resolution observations of the chromosphere and transition region with the Interface Region Imaging Spectrograph (IRIS) and of the corona with the Atmospheric Imaging Assembly (AIA) onboard the Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) to show evidence of the formation of coronal structures associated with spicular mass ejections and heating of plasma to transition region and coronal temperatures. Our observations suggest that a significant fraction of the highly dynamic loop fan environment associated with plage regions may be the result of the formation of such new coronal strands, a process that previously had been interpreted as the propagation of transient propagating coronal disturbances (PCD)s. Our observations are supported by 2.5D radiative MHD simulations that show heating to coronal temperatures in association with spicules. Our results suggest that heating and strong flows play an important role in maintaining the substructure of loop fans, in addition to the waves that permeate this low coronal environment.

9 pages, 5 figures

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Cited by in corpus (12)

• The Solar Orbiter mission -- Science overview
• Ion-neutral interactions and non-equilibrium ionization in the solar chromosphere
• Why Does the Solar Corona Abnormally Rotate Faster Than the Photosphere?
• The chromosphere underneath a Coronal Bright Point
• IRIS observations of the low-atmosphere counterparts of active region outflows
• Evidence of multithermal nature of spicular downflows. Impact on solar atmospheric heating
• Differential rotation of the chromosphere in the He I absorption line
• Spicule jets in the solar atmosphere modeled with resistive MHD and thermal conduction
• Modelling the connection between propagating disturbances and solar spicules
• Diffuse solar coronal features and their spicular footpoints
• Bright Dots and Coronal Plume Formation in Sunspot Penumbra
• SolO/EUI Observations of Ubiquitous Fine-scale Bright Dots in an Emerging Flux Region: Comparison with a Bifrost MHD Simulation