Inward Motions in the Outer Solar Corona Between 6 And 12 R : Evidence For Waves or Magnetic Reconnection Jets?
Abstract
DeForest et al. (2014) used synoptic visible-light image sequences from the COR2 coronagraph on board the STEREO-A spacecraft to identify inbound wave motions in the outer corona beyond 6 solar radii and inferred, from the observation, that the Alfven surface separating the magnetically dominated corona from the ow dominated wind must be located at least 12 solar radii from the Sun over polar coronal holes and 15 solar radii in the streamer belt. Here we will discuss both this and previous observations of inflows further down and attempt identification of the observed inward signals. We will theoretically reconstruct height-speed diagrams and compare them to the observed profiles. Interpretation in terms of Alfven / magnetoacouatic modes or Alfvenic turbulence appears to be ruled out by the fact that the observed signal shows a deceleration of inward motion when approaching the Sun. Fast magnetoacoustic waves are not directly ruled out in this way, as it is possible for inward waves observed in quadrature, but not propagating exactly radially, to suffer total reflection as the Alfven speed rises close to the Sun. However, the reconstructed signal in the height speed diagram has the wrong concavity. A final possibility is decelerating reconnection jets, most probably from component reconnection, in the accelerating wind: the profile in this case appears to match the observations very well. This interpretation does not alter the conclusion that the Alfven surface must be at least 12 solar radii from the photosphere.
- Publication:
-
AAS/Solar Physics Division Abstracts #47
- Pub Date:
- May 2016
- Bibcode:
- 2016SPD....4740205V