학술논문
Fleeting Small-scale Surface Magnetic Fields Build the Quiet-Sun Corona
Document Type
article
Author
L. P. Chitta; S. K. Solanki; J. C. del Toro Iniesta; J. Woch; D. Calchetti; A. Gandorfer; J. Hirzberger; F. Kahil; G. Valori; D. Orozco Suárez; H. Strecker; T. Appourchaux; R. Volkmer; H. Peter; S. Mandal; R. Aznar Cuadrado; L. Teriaca; U. Schühle; D. Berghmans; C. Verbeeck; A. N. Zhukov; E. R. Priest
Source
The Astrophysical Journal Letters, Vol 956, Iss 1, p L1 (2023)
Subject
Language
English
ISSN
2041-8213
2041-8205
97532479
2041-8205
97532479
Abstract
Arch-like loop structures filled with million Kelvin hot plasma form the building blocks of the quiet-Sun corona. Both high-resolution observations and magnetoconvection simulations show the ubiquitous presence of magnetic fields on the solar surface on small spatial scales of ∼100 km. However, the question of how exactly these quiet-Sun coronal loops originate from the photosphere and how the magnetic energy from the surface is channeled to heat the overlying atmosphere is a long-standing puzzle. Here we report high-resolution photospheric magnetic field and coronal data acquired during the second science perihelion of Solar Orbiter that reveal a highly dynamic magnetic landscape underlying the observed quiet-Sun corona. We found that coronal loops often connect to surface regions that harbor fleeting weaker, mixed-polarity magnetic field patches structured on small spatial scales, and that coronal disturbances could emerge from these areas. We suggest that weaker magnetic fields with fluxes as low as 10 ^15 Mx and/or those that evolve on timescales less than 5 minutes are crucial to understanding the coronal structuring and dynamics.