Determining the Frequency of Coronal Heating with the Marshall Grazing Incidence X-ray Spectrometer (MaGIXS)
No abstract available
x-ray solar instrumentation↗
Engineering topics
Savage, Sabrina
Publications and source records attributed to Savage, Sabrina.
Distinguishing Between Supra-Arcade Downflows and Plasmoids
Supra‐arcade downflows (SADs) and downflowing loops (SADLs), observed as sunward-traveling voids and thin flux tubes in the current sheet region above developing flare arcades, are considered indicators of magnetic reconnection fueling long-duration solar eruptions. These flows are located in regions of very low signal-to-noise in the corona where high cadence magnetic field measurements are not yet achievable, making observations difficult to fully interpret with respect to reconnection. Several models have been developed to explain their characteristics and behaviors, but most do not successfully recreate the observations. We will present a variety of downflow observations and provide comparisons to a number of the more prominent models.
solar flares↗
Cross-Scale Observational Signatures of Magnetic Reconnection
Magnetic reconnection is a significant mechanism for energy release across many astrophysical applications. In the solar atmosphere, reconnection is considered a primary contributor of flare evolution and coronal heating. Directly observing reconnection occurring in the solar atmosphere, however, is not trivial considering that the scale size of the diffusion region is magnitudes smaller than the observational capabilities of current instrumentation, and coronal magnetic field measurements are not currently sufficient to capture the process. Meanwhile, reconnection occurring in the Earth's magnetosphere transfers energy from the solar wind through a comparable process, although on vastly different scales. Magnetospheric measurements are made in situ rather than remotely; ergo, comparison of observations between the two regimes allows for potentially significant insight into reconnection as a stochastic and possibly turbulent process. We will present a set of observations from long-duration solar events and compare them to in situ measurements from the magnetosphere.
Savage, Sabrina↗
Reduction in Hinode Mission Operations: Test Results and Implementation Plans
No abstract available
Hinode mission operations (SWG)↗
Dynamic Moss Observed with Hi-C
The High‐resolution Coronal Imager (Hi‐C), flown on 11 July 2012, has revealed an unprecedented level of detail and substructure within the solar corona. Hi‐C imaged a large active region (AR11520) with 0.2‐0.3'' spatial resolution and 5.5s cadence over a 5 minute period. An additional dataset with a smaller FOV, the same resolution, but with a higher temporal cadence (1s) was also taken during the rocket flight. This dataset was centered on a large patch of 'moss' emission that initially seemed to show very little variability. Image processing revealed this region to be much more dynamic than first thought with numerous bright and dark features observed to appear, move and disappear over the 5 minute observation. Moss is thought to be emission from the upper transition region component of hot loops so studying its dynamics and the relation between the bright/dark features and underlying magnetic features is important to tie the interaction of the different atmospheric layers together. Hi‐C allows us to study the coronal emission of the moss at the smallest scales while data from SDO/AIA and HMI is used to give information on these structures at different heights/temperatures. Using the high temporal and spatial resolution of Hi‐C the observed moss features were tracked and the distribution of displacements, speeds, and sizes were measured. This allows us to comment on both the physical processes occurring within the dynamic moss and the scales at which these changes are occurring.
Alexander, Caroline↗
Distinguishing Between Supra-Arcade Downflows and Plasmoids
Supra-arcade downflows (SADs) observed above flaring active regions during long-duration events are theorized to be signatures of magnetic reconnection. Observations of SADs strongly indicate an association with shrinking reconnected flux tubes characterized by a specific magnetic topology. Plasmoids comprise another proposed group of observational reconnection signatures. While some plasmoids occur under nearly the same conditions as SADs, the magnetic configuration of the two phenomena are quite incongruous, yet they are often categorized together. We present distinguishing characteristics between SADs and plasmoids and indicate how their respective observations may yield insight into the conditions within the current sheet above eruptive active regions.
Savage, Sabrina↗
Dynamic Moss Observed with Hi-C
The High-resolution Coronal Imager (Hi-C), flown on 11 July 2012, has revealed an unprecedented level of detail and substructure within the solar corona. Hi-‐C imaged a large active region (AR11520) with 0.2-0.3'' spatial resolution and 5.5s cadence over a 5 minute period. An additional dataset with a smaller FOV, the same resolution, but with a higher temporal cadence (1s) was also taken during the rocket flight. This dataset was centered on a large patch of 'moss' emission that initially seemed to show very little variability. Image processing revealed this region to be much more dynamic than first thought with numerous bright and dark features observed to appear, move and disappear over the 5 minute observation. Moss is thought to be emission from the upper transition region component of hot loops so studying its dynamics and the relation between the bright/dark features and underlying magnetic features is important to tie the interaction of the different atmospheric layers together. Hi-C allows us to study the coronal emission of the moss at the smallest scales while data from SDO/AIA and HMI is used to give information on these structures at different heights/temperatures. Using the high temporal and spatial resolution of Hi-C the observed moss features were tracked and the distribution of displacements, speeds, and sizes were measured. This allows us to comment on both the physical processes occurring within the dynamic moss and the scales at which these changes are occurring.
Alexander, Caroline↗
Observational Signatures of Magnetic Reconnection
Magnetic reconnection is often referred to as the primary source of energy release during solar flares. Directly observing reconnection occurring in the solar atmosphere, however, is not trivial considering that the scale size of the diffusion region is magnitudes smaller than the observational capabilities of current instrumentation, and coronal magnetic field measurements are not currently sufficient to capture the process. Therefore, predicting and studying observationally feasible signatures of the precursors and consequences of reconnection is necessary for guiding and verifying the simulations that dominate our understanding. I will present a set of such observations, particularly in connection with long-duration solar events, and compare them with recent simulations and theoretical predictions.
Savage, Sabrina↗
Coordinated Observations of X-ray and High-resolution EUV Active Region Dynamics
The recently-launched High-resolution Coronal imager (Hi-C) sounding rocket provided the highest resolution images of coronal loops and other small-scale structures in the 193 Angstrom passband to date. With just 5 minutes of observations, the instrument recorded a variety of dynamic coronal events -- including even a small B-class flare. We will present our results comparing these extreme-ultraviolet (EUV) observations with X-ray imaging from Hinode/XRT as well as EUV AIA data to identify sources of hot plasma rooted in the photosphere and track their affect on the overall topology and dynamics of the active region.
Savage, Sabrina↗
Coordinated Observations of X-ray and High-Resolution EUV Active Region Dynamics
The recently-launched High-resolution Coronal imager (Hi-C) sounding rocket provided the highest resolution images of coronal loops and other small-scale structures in the 193 Angstrom passband to date. With just 5 minutes of observations, the instrument recorded a variety of dynamic coronal events -- including even a small B-class flare. We will present our results comparing these extreme-ultraviolet (EUV) observations with X-ray imaging from Hinode/XRT as well as EUV AIA data to identify sources of hot plasma rooted in the photosphere and track their affect on the overall topology and dynamics of the active region.
Savage, Sabrina↗
Solar Flares
Because the Earth resides in the atmosphere of our nearest stellar neighbor, events occurring on the Sun's surface directly affect us by interfering with satellite operations and communications, astronaut safety, and, in extreme circumstances, power grid stability. Solar flares, the most energetic events in our solar system, are a substantial source of hazardous space weather affecting our increasingly technology-dependent society. While flares have been observed using ground-based telescopes for over 150 years, modern space-bourne observatories have provided nearly continuous multi-wavelength flare coverage that cannot be obtained from the ground. We can now probe the origins and evolution of flares by tracking particle acceleration, changes in ionized plasma, and the reorganization of magnetic fields. I will walk through our current understanding of why flares occur and how they affect the Earth and also show several examples of these fantastic explosions.
Savage, Sabrina↗
Sounding Rocket Instrument Development at UAHuntsville/NASA MSFC
We present an overview of solar sounding rocket instruments developed jointly by NASA Marshall Space Flight Center and the University of Alabama in Huntsville. The High Resolution Coronal Imager (Hi-C) is an EUV (19.3 nm) imaging telescope which was flown successfully in July 2012. The Chromospheric Lyman-Alpha SpectroPolarimeter (CLASP) is a Lyman Alpha (121.6 nm) spectropolarimeter developed jointly with the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan and scheduled for launch in 2015. The Marshall Grazing Incidence X-ray Spectrograph is a soft X-ray (0.5-1.2 keV) stigmatic spectrograph designed to achieve 5 arcsecond spatial resolution along the slit.
Kobayashi, Ken↗
A History of Supra-Arcade Downflows and Their Connection to Reconnection
No abstract available
Savage, Sabrina↗
Complex Dynamic Flows in Solar Flare Sheet Structures
Observations of high-energy emission from solar flares often reveal the presence of large sheet-like structures, sometimes extending over a space comparable to the Sun's radius. Given that these structures are found between a departing coronal mass ejection and the post-eruption flare arcade, it is natural to associate the structure with a current sheet; though the relationship is unclear. Moreover, recent high-resolution observations have begun to reveal that the motions in this region are highly complex, including reconnection outflows, oscillations, and apparent wakes and eddies. We present a detailed first look at the complicated dynamics within this supra-arcade plasma, and consider implications for the interrelationship between the plasma and its embedded magnetic field.
McKenzie, David E.↗
Thermal Structure of Supra-Arcade Plasma in Two Solar Flares
In this work, we use Hinode/XRT and SDO/AIA data to determine the thermal structure of supra-arcade plasma in two solar flares. The first flare is a Ml.2 flare that occurred on November 5, 2010 on the east limb. This flare was one of a series of flares from AR 11121, published in Reeves & Golub (2011). The second flare is an XI.7 flare that occurred on January 27, 2012 on the west limb. This flare exhibits visible supra-arcade downflows (SADs), where the November 2010 flare does not. For these two flares we combine XRT and AlA data to calculate DEMs of each pixel in the supra-arcade plasma, giving insight into the temperature and density structures in the fan of plasma above the post-flare arcade. We find in each case that the supra-arcade plasma is around 10 MK, and there is a marked decrease in the emission measure in the SADs. We also compare the DEMs calculated with the combined AIA/XRT dataset to those calculated using AIA alone.
Reeves, Katharine K.↗