arXiv subjects

Alexei A. Pevtsov

Publications and source records attributed to Alexei A. Pevtsov.

41 records · Page 3Linked to original sources

arXiv2012

The Build-up to Eruptive Solar Events Viewed as the Development of Chiral Systems

When we examine the chirality or observed handedness of the chromospheric and coronal structures involved in the long-term build-up to eruptive events, we find that they evolve in very specific ways to form two and only two sets of large-scale chiral systems. Each system contains spatially separated components with both signs of chirality, the upper portion having negative (positive) chirality and the lower part possessing positive (negative) chirality. The components within a system are a filament channel (represented partially by sets of chromospheric fibrils), a filament (if present), a filament cavity, sometimes a sigmoid, and always an overlying arcade of coronal loops. When we view these components as parts of large-scale chiral systems, we more clearly see that it is not the individual components of chiral systems that erupt but rather it is the approximate upper parts of an entire evolving chiral system that erupts. We illustrate the typical pattern of build-up to eruptive solar events first without and then including the chirality in each stage of the build-up. We argue that a complete chiral system has one sign of handedness above the filament spine and the opposite handedness in the barbs and filament channel below the filament spine. If the spine has handedness, the observations favor its having the handedness of the filament cavity and coronal loops above. As the separate components of a chiral system form, we show that the system appears to maintain a balance of right-handed and left-handed features, thus preserving an initial near-zero net helicity. Each individual chiral system may produce many successive eruptive events above a single filament channel.

astro-ph.SR↗

arXiv2012

Resolving Azimuth Ambiguity Using Vertical Nature of Solar Quiet-Sun Magnetic Fields

The measurement of solar magnetic fields using the Zeeman effect diagnostics has a fundamental 180 degree ambiguity in the determination of the azimuth angle of the transverse field component. There are several methods that are used in the community and each one has its merits and demerits. Here we present a disambiguation idea that is based on the assumption that most of the magnetic field on the sun is predominantly vertical. While the method is not applicable to penumbra or other features harboring predominantly horizontal fields like the sheared neutral lines, it is useful for regions where fields are predominantly vertical like network and plage areas. The method is tested with the full-disk solar vector magnetograms observed by the VSM/SOLIS instrument. We find that statistically about 60-85 % of the pixels in a typical full-disk magnetogram has field inclination in the range of 0-30 degrees with respect to the local solar normal, and thus can be successfully disambiguated by the proposed method. Due to its non-iterative nature, the present method is extremely fast and therefore can be used as a good initial guess for iterative schemes like nonpotential field computation (NPFC) method. Furthermore, the method is insensitive to noisy pixels as it does not depend upon the neighboring pixels or derivatives.

astro-ph.SR↗

arXiv2012

Signature of Differential Rotation in Sun-as-a-Star Ca II K Measurements

The characterization of solar surface differential rotation (SDR) from disk-integrated chromospheric measurements has important implications for the study of differential rotation and dynamo processes in other stars. Some chromospheric lines, such as Ca II K, are very sensitive to the presence of activity on the disk and are an ideal choice for investigating SDR in Sun-as-a star observations. Past studies indicate that when the activity is low, the determination of Sun's differential rotation from integrated-sunlight measurements becomes uncertain. However, our study shows that using the proper technique, SDR can be detected from these type of measurements even during periods of extended solar minima. This paper describes results from the analysis of the temporal variations of Ca II K line profiles observed by the Integrated Sunlight Spectrometer (ISS) during the declining phase of Cycle 23 and the rising phase of Cycle 24, and discusses the signature of SDR in the power spectra computed from time series of parameters derived from these profiles. The described methodology is quite general, and could be applied to photometric time series of other Main-Sequence stars for detecting differential rotation.

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arXiv2011

Improvements in the determination of ISS Ca II K parameters

Measurements of the ionized Ca II K line are one of the major resources for long-term studies of solar and stellar activity. They also play a critical role in many studies related to solar irradiance variability, particularly as a ground-based proxy to model the solar ultraviolet flux variation that may influence the Earth's climate. Full disk images of the Sun in Ca II K have been available from various observatories for more than 100 years and latter synoptic Sun-as-a-star observations in Ca II K began in the early 1970s. One of these instruments, the Integrated Sunlight Spectrometer (ISS) has been in operation at Kitt Peak (Arizona) since late 2006. The ISS takes daily observations of solar spectra in nine spectra bands, including the Ca II K and H line s. We describe recent improvements in data reduction of Ca II K observations, and present time variations of nine parameters derived from the profile of this spectral line.

astro-ph.SR↗

arXiv2010

Latitude of Ephemeral Regions as Indicator of Strength of Solar Cycles

Digitized images of full disk CaK spectroheliograms from two solar observatories were used to study cycle variation of ephemeral regions (ERs) over ten solar cycles 14-23. We calculate monthly averaged unsigned latitude of ERs and compare it with annual sunspot number. We find that average latitude of ERs can be used as a predictor for strength of solar cycle. For a short-term prediction (dT about 1-2 years), maximum latitude of ephemeral regions (in current cycle) defines the amplitude of that cycle (higher is the latitude of ERs, larger are the amplitudes of sunspot cycle). For a long-term prediction (dT about 1.5 solar cycles), latitude of ERs at declining phase of n-th cycle determines the amplitude of (n+2)-th sunspot cycle (lower is the latitude of ERs, stronger is the cycle). Using this latter dependency, we forecast the amplitude of sunspot cycle 24 at W=92 +/- 13 (in units of annual sunspot number).

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