The Structure of the Quiet Solar Chromosphere
Abstract
Is the temperature in the chromosphere high and increasing outward, because of heating by shock waves throughout and all the time? Or is the temperature low and decreasing outward most of the time, because of heating typically by a single shock, for a few seconds once every three minutes? Carlsson & Stein (1994) have simulated the oscillations seen in calcium bright points in the nonmagnetic chromosphere, obtaining a valid, and valuable, description of the physics of chromospheric three-minute oscillations. But the temperature structure resulting as a by-product from the dynamical simulations reflects the intermittent heating pattern and, as a consequence, predicts deep absorption lines at some phases of the shock wave. None of these absorption lines has been observed, either from the ground or from space. In addition, the total energy emitted by the dynamical model is much less than the energy emitted by the coolest of the models that reproduce the emergent chromospheric spectrum. The cause of the failure of the dynamical model to reproduce the emergent chromospheric spectrum is the limited acoustic frequency range of the empirical input velocity spectrum, which drives the oscillations but provides no sustained background heating. Support by NASA is gratefully acknowledged.
- Publication:
-
American Astronomical Society Meeting Abstracts
- Pub Date:
- December 2000
- Bibcode:
- 2000AAS...19712802K