ALMA small-scale features in the quiet Sun and active regions

Author(s)

Brajsa, R. ^[1] ; Skokic, I ^[1] ; Sudar, D. ^[1] ; Benz, A. O. ^{[2, 3]} ; Krucker, S. ^{[4, 2]} ; Ludwig, H-G ^[5] ; Saar, S. H. ^[6] ; Selhorst, C. L. ^[7]

Affiliation

^[1] Univ Zagreb, Fac Geodesy, Hvar Observ, Kaciceva 26, Zagreb 10000 - Croatia

^[2] Univ Appl Sci & Arts Northwestern Switzerland, Bahnhofstr 6, CH-5210 Windisch - Switzerland

^[3] Swiss Fed Inst Technol, Inst Particle Phys & Astrophys, CH-8093 Zurich - Switzerland

^[4] Univ Calif Berkeley, Space Sci Lab, Berkeley, CA 94720 - USA

^[5] Zentrum Astron Univ Heidelberg, Landessternwarte, Konigstuhl 12, D-69117 Heidelberg - Germany

^[6] Harvard Smithsonian Ctr Astrophys, 60 Garden St, Cambridge, MA 02138 - USA

^[7] Univ Cidade Sao Paulo, NAT Nucleo Astrofis, Univ Cruzeiro do Sul, Sao Paulo, SP - Brazil

• Document type: Journal article
• Source: Astronomy & Astrophysics; v. 651, JUL 1 2021.
• Web of Science Citations: 0

Abstract

Aims. The main aim of the present analysis is to decipher (i) the small-scale bright features in solar images of the quiet Sun and active regions obtained with the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) and (ii) the ALMA correspondence of various known chromospheric structures visible in the H alpha images of the Sun. Methods. Small-scale ALMA bright features in the quiet Sun region were analyzed using single-dish ALMA observations (1.21 mm, 248 GHz) and in an active region using interferometric ALMA measurements (3 mm, 100 GHz). With the single-dish observations, a full-disk solar image is produced, while interferometric measurements enable the high-resolution reconstruction of part of the solar disk, including the active region. The selected quiet Sun and active regions are compared with the H alpha (core and wing sum), EUV, and soft X-ray images and with the magnetograms. Results. In the quiet Sun region, enhanced emission seen in the ALMA is almost always associated with a strong line-of-sight magnetic field. Four coronal bright points were identified, while other small-scale ALMA bright features are most likely associated with magnetic network elements and plages. In the active region, in 14 small-scale ALMA bright features randomly selected and compared with other images, we found five good candidates for coronal bright points, two for plages, and five for fibrils. Two unclear cases remain: a fibril or a jet, and a coronal bright point or a plage. A comparison of the H alpha core image and the 3 mm ALMA image of the analyzed active region showed that the sunspot appears dark in both images (with a local ALMA radiation enhancement in sunspot umbra), the four plage areas are bright in both images and dark small H alpha filaments are clearly recognized as dark structures of the same shape also in ALMA. (AU)

• FAPESP's process: 19/03301-8 - Observation and models of solar and stellar active regions at radio wavelengths (mm/sub-mm)
• Grantee: Caius Lucius Selhorst
• Support Opportunities: Regular Research Grants