Descripción: The planetary hypothesis of solar cycle is an old idea by which the planetary gravity acting on the Sun might have a non-negligible effect on the solar magnetic cycle. The advance of this hypothesis is based on phenomenological correlations between dynamical parameters of the Sun's movement around the barycenter of the Solar System and sunspots time series. In addition, several authors have proposed, using different methodologies that the first Grand Minima (GM) event of the new millennium is coming or has already begun. We present new fully three dimensional N-body simulations of the solar inertial motion (SIM) around the barycentre of the solar system in order to perform a phenomenological comparison between relevant SIM dynamical parameters and the occurrences of the last GM events (i.e., Maunder and Dalton). Our fundamental result is that the Sun acceleration decomposed in a co-orbital reference system shows a very particular behaviour that is common to Maunder minimum, Dalton minimum and the maximum of cycle 22 (around 1990), before the present prolonged minimum. We discuss our results in terms of a dynamical characterization of GM with relation to Sun dynamics and possible implications for a new GM event. © 2012 International Astronomical Union.

Descripción: We present a new technique suitable for a detailed comparison between solar dynamo models and observations. The method is based on the technique of dynamo spectroscopy proposed by Hoyng & Schutgens (1995) and bi-orthogonal decomposition of solar data. This decomposition provides a representation of the mean and fluctuating components of the flows, yielding relevant information for the comparison. To illustrate the method, we use a simple kinematic dynamo model of the solar cycle. Irregularities are introduced in the evolution of the magnetic fields modeling the turbulent behavior of the solar convective region with a random perturbation on the external source for the poloidal field. After fine tuning the parameters of the model we obtain solar like solutions displaying a magnetic cycle of 22 years, with fluctuations in its period and amplitude. In addition, the model generates Maunder-like events with a time span of 60-100 years.

Descripción: We study the coupling between the hot plasma confined in a coronal loop and the much colder chromospheric plasma at the footpoints. Considering the coronal heating rate as a control parameter, we find that the static equilibrium becomes unstable for heating rates below a critical value, giving rise to the appearance of a stable limit cycle. Starting from the hydrodynamic equations, we derive a model which generalizes the analysis of Kuin and Martens and consistently takes into account the condensation-evaporation process. In this paper, we linearize our equations in order to find the bifurcation point where the stability of the static equilibrium is lost. We also show that this model can provide a natural explanation for the excess widths of EUV spectral lines formed in the transition region. Moreover, we can predict the observed reduction in the broadening of these lines when they form in certain active regions, like quiescent prominences or sunspots.

Descripción: The recent solar minimum with very low activity provides us a unique opportunity for validating solar wind models. During CR2077 (2008 November 20 through December 17), the number of sunspots was near the absolute minimum of solar cycle 23. For this solar rotation, we perform a multi-spacecraft validation study for the recently developed three-dimensional, two-temperature, Alfvén-wave-driven global solar wind model (a component within the Space Weather Modeling Framework). By using in situ observations from the Solar Terrestrial Relations Observatory (STEREO) A and B, Advanced Composition Explorer (ACE), and Venus Express, we compare the observed proton state (density, temperature, and velocity) and magnetic field of the heliosphere with that predicted by the model. Near the Sun, we validate the numerical model with the electron density obtained from the solar rotational tomography of Solar and Heliospheric Observatory/Large Angle and Spectrometric Coronagraph C2 data in the range of 2.4 to 6 solar radii. Electron temperature and density are determined from differential emission measure tomography (DEMT) of STEREO A and B Extreme Ultraviolet Imager data in the range of 1.035 to 1.225 solar radii. The electron density and temperature derived from the Hinode/Extreme Ultraviolet Imaging Spectrometer data are also used to compare with the DEMT as well as the model output. Moreover, for the first time, we compare ionic charge states of carbon, oxygen, silicon, and iron observed in situ with the ACE/Solar Wind Ion Composition Spectrometer with those predicted by our model. The validation results suggest that most of the model outputs for CR2077 can fit the observations very well. Based on this encouraging result, we therefore expect great improvement for the future modeling of coronal mass ejections (CMEs) and CME-driven shocks. © 2012. The American Astronomical Society. All rights reserved.

Descripción: The combination of differential emission measure tomography with extrapolation of the photospheric magnetic field allows determination of the electron density and electron temperature along individual magnetic field lines. This is especially useful in quiet-Sun (QS) plasmas where individual loops cannot otherwise be identified. In Paper I, this approach was applied to study QS plasmas during Carrington rotation (CR) 2077 at the minimum between solar cycles (SCs) 23 and 24. In that work, two types of QS coronal loops were identified: "up" loops in which the temperature increases with height, and "down" loops in which the temperature decreases with height. While the first ones were expected, the latter ones were a surprise and, furthermore, were found to be ubiquitous in the low-latitude corona. In the present work, we extend the analysis to 11 CRs around the last solar minimum. We found that the "down" population, always located at low latitudes, was maximum at the time when the sunspot number was minimum, and the number of down loops systematically increased during the declining phase of SC-23 and diminished during the rising phase of SC-24. "Down" loops are found to have systematically larger values of β than do "up" loops. These discoveries are interpreted in terms of excitation of Alfvén waves in the photosphere, and mode conversion and damping in the low corona. © 2013. The American Astronomical Society. All rights reserved..

Descripción: The line-of-sight magnetograms from Solar Optical Telescope Narrowband Filter Imager observations of NOAA Active Region 10930 have been used to study the evolution of spinning and braiding helicities over a period of five days starting from 2006 December 9. The north (N) polarity sunspot was the follower and the south (S) polarity sunspot was the leader. The N-polarity sunspot in the active region was rotating in the counterclockwise direction. The rate of rotation was small during the first two days of observations and it increased up to 8°hr-1 on the third day of the observations. On the fourth and fifth days it remained at 4°hr-1 with small undulations in its magnitude. The sunspot rotated about 260° in the last three days. The S-polarity sunspot did not complete more than 20° in five days. However, it changed its direction of rotation five times over a period of five days and injected both the positive and negative type of spin helicity fluxes into the corona. Through the five days, both the positive and negative sunspot regions injected equal amounts of spin helicity. The total injected helicity is predominantly negative in sign. However, the sign of the spin and braiding helicity fluxes computed over all the regions were reversed from negative to positive five times during the five-day period of observations. The reversal in spinning helicity flux was found before the onset of the X3.4-class flare, too. Though, the rotating sunspot has been observed in this active region, the braiding helicity has contributed more to the total accumulated helicity than the spinning helicity. The accumulated helicity is in excess of -7 × 1043Mx2 over a period of five days. Before the X3.4-class flare that occurred on 2006 December 13, the rotation speed and spin helicity flux increased in the S-polarity sunspot. Before the flare, the total injected helicity was larger than -6 × 1043Mx2. The observed reversal in the sign of spinning and braiding helicity fluxes could be the signature of the emergence of a twisted flux tube, which acquires the writhe of an opposite sign. The magnetic cloud associated with the ejected mass has carried about -7 × 1041Mx2 of helicity. A time integration of helicity flux of about 1.2hr integrated backward in time of the observation of the coronal mass ejection is sufficient for this event. © 2011. The American Astronomical Society. All rights reserved.