Science and technology reporter Jin Feng.
Recently, a collaborative team from Peking University, Nanjing University, Yunnan University, and the Yunnan Astronomical Observatory of the Chinese Academy of Sciences used H-spectral imaging from the Xihe satellite and data from the Solar Dynamics Observatory in the United States to discover the formation process of a special magnetic field type in the solar atmosphere and its internal energy changes, which provides important clues for the energy storage and release mechanism in the solar jet process. The research results were recently published in the special issue of the international academic journal Astrophysics Letters.
Jets are one of the most prevalent eruptions in the solar atmosphere and play an important role in the heating and material circulation of the solar atmosphere. At the same time, the solar jet is also the only celestial jet phenomenon that can be observed with multi-band and high spatial and temporal resolution. Understanding the magnetic environment and energy release process of the solar jet can provide important clues for understanding the celestial jet.
In the solar atmosphere, there is a special magnetic field type 'three-dimensional fan ridge zero point structure', which is very conducive to the storage and release of energy. In recent years, more and more studies have found that many solar jets occur in this structure. *According to the first author and postdoctoral fellow at Peking University, at the zero point of the structure, magnetic reconnection can easily occur, leading to solar eruptive activity. Studying the formation process of this structure can help us better understand the energy conversion and transmission process of solar eruptive activity.
The formation process of the zero-point magnetic field pattern of the three-dimensional fan ridge.
It is reported that the research team used high-quality observation data at home and abroad to conduct in-depth research on the birth, evolution and demise of a three-dimensional fan-ridge zero-point magnetic field system in the solar atmosphere, and found that the three-dimensional fan-ridge zero-point shape is formed by the magnetic reconnection between the magnetic field structure emerging from the sun's interior and the background magnetic field. They observed a change in the morphology of the zero-point magnetic field of the three-dimensional spine from the initial axisymmetric to the non-axisymmetric morphology. This transition is intensified with the appearance of current plates and the increasing strength of reconnections.
The formation and evolution of this magnetic field pattern is closely related to the process of energy storage and release in solar eruptive activities. Duan Yadan said that the jet burst that occurs under the zero-point magnetic field pattern of the fan ridge is usually accompanied by the generation of annular flare bands, core bright bands and distal bright bands. It is worth noting that the spectral imaging data of Xihe H shows that all three bands show redshift characteristics, which provides key information about the plasma motion mode during the jet stream and helps us better understand the matter and energy transport processes in solar eruptions.
Xihe"h spectral imaging data shows the distribution of red and blue shifts during jet bursts (first row), p.
The second and third lines are the spectral line contours of the corresponding sampling points.
Li Chuan, chief designer of the Xihe science and application system and professor of Nanjing University, introduced that since August 2023, "Astrophysics Letters" has opened a special issue for the research results related to "Xihe", and this is the 11th article of the special issue. This is the first time that the journal has set up a special issue on the research results of astronomical observation equipment in China. Li Chuan said.
Photo courtesy of the interviewee).