Chromospheric Structure
Abstract
A brief introduction is given to the variety of chromospheric features seen in Hα images. Despite their wealth of detail, images obtained in a single, narrow band in Hα also suffer from a surfeit of missing information. The most basic chromospheric structures are the supergranular network and spicules; these are visible in lines formed higher in the chromosphere, as well, which also show evidence for small-scale heating. The heating of even the lower chromosphere is still problematic, but may be explained by large-amplitude acoustic wave dissipation. A current challenge is understanding the apparent thermal bifurcation of the chromosphere into regimes of distinctly different scale heights. Finally, the possibility of chromospheric wave cavities is briefly discussed.
- Publication:
-
The Sun: A Laboratory for Astrophysics
- Pub Date:
- 1992
- DOI:
- 10.1007/978-94-011-2765-3_11
- Bibcode:
- 1992ASIC..373..245G