太陽のコロナにある熱プラズマの起源

B De Pontieu¹, S W McIntosh, M Carlsson

¹Lockheed Martin Solar and Astrophysics Laboratory, 3251 Hanover Street, Organization ADBS, Building 252, Palo Alto, CA 94304, USA. bdp@lmsal.com

Science (New York, N.Y.)

|January 8, 2011

まとめ

科学者たちは,スパキュルと呼ばれるプラズマジェットが,太陽のコロナに熱い物質を供給していることを観察しました. この発見は,太陽のコロナ熱の謎に対する新しい洞察を提供します.

科学分野:

ソーラー物理学ソーラー物理学
プラズマ物理学プラズマ物理学
天体物理学天体物理学

背景:

太陽のコロナは表面よりも何百万度も熱いので,この現象はコロナ熱問題として知られています.
現在の理論では,磁気コンベクションによる非熱エネルギーがコロナを加熱することを示唆しているが,正確なメカニズムは不明である.

研究の目的:

プラズマと太陽のコロナへのエネルギー供給の源を調査する.
染色球のプラズマジェットを分析することによって,冠状の加熱メカニズムを特定する.

主な方法:

太陽力学天文台 (SDO) とヒノデ太陽物理ミッションからの観測データを活用した.
クロモスフィアから発生するスピキュールとして知られる噴水のようなジェットを分析した.

主要な成果:

クロモスフィアのプラズマの広範囲にわたる供給が,スピキュル経由でコロナに加速されたことが確認されました.
このプラズマの大部分が約0.020.1百万ケルビン (MK) に加熱されることが観察されました.
1MK以上で加熱された小胞状プラズマのより小さいが実質的な分子が検出されました.

結論:

スピキュールは太陽のコロナにプラズマを供給し加熱する上で重要な役割を果たします.
これらの発見は,冠状の加熱メカニズムを理解するための重要な制約を提供します.
光球とコロナとの間の界面領域は,冠状の加熱に不可欠です.

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