Using SDO/AIA to Understand the Thermal Evolution of Solar Prominence Formation
Abstract
In this study, we investigate prominence formation using time series analysis of Solar Dynamics Observatory's Atmospheric Imaging Assembly (SDO/AIA) data. We investigate the thermal properties of forming prominences by analyzing observed light curves using the same technique that we have already successfully applied to active regions to diagnose heating and cooling cycles. This technique tracks the thermal evolution using emission formed at different temperatures, made possible by AIA's different wavebands and high time resolution. We also compute the predicted light curves in the same SDO/AIA channels of a hydrodynamic model of thermal nonequilibrium formation of prominence material, an evaporation-condensation model. In these models of prominence formation, heating at the foot-points of sheared coronal flux-tubes results in evaporation of material of a few MK into the corona followed by catastrophic cooling of the hot material to form cool ( 10,000 K) prominence material. We demonstrate that the SDO/AIA light curves for flux tubes undergoing thermal nonequilibrium vary at different locations along the flux tube, especially in the region where the condensate forms, and we compare the predicted light curves with those observed. Supported by NASA's Living with a Star program.
- Publication:
-
SDO 2016: Unraveling the Sun's Complexity
- Pub Date:
- October 2016
- Bibcode:
- 2016usc..confE..49V
- Keywords:
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- SDO;
- SDO 2016;
- Solar Dynamic Observatory;
- SDO-2016;
- SDO Workshop;
- SDO 2016: Unraveling the Sun's Complexity