Gespeichert in:
Bibliographische Detailangaben
Hauptverfasser: Snow, Ben, Osborne, Chris, Hillier, Andrew
Format: Preprint
Veröffentlicht: 2025
Schlagworte:
Online-Zugang:https://arxiv.org/abs/2501.11324
Tags: Tag hinzufügen
Keine Tags, Fügen Sie den ersten Tag hinzu!
_version_ 1866917897234808832
author Snow, Ben
Osborne, Chris
Hillier, Andrew
author_facet Snow, Ben
Osborne, Chris
Hillier, Andrew
contents Cool ($\approx 10^4$K), dense material permeates the hot ($\approx 10^6$K), tenuous solar corona in form of coronal condensations, for example prominences and coronal rain. As the solar atmosphere evolves, turbulence can drive mixing between the condensations and the surrounding corona, with the mixing layer exhibiting an enhancement in emission from intermediate temperature ($\approx10^5$K) spectral lines, which is often attributed to turbulent heating within the mixing layer. However, radiative cooling is highly efficient at intermediate temperatures and numerical simulations have shown that radiative cooling can far exceed turbulent heating in prominence-corona mixing scenarios. As such the mixing layer can have a net loss of thermal energy, i.e., the mixing layer is cooling rather than heating. Here, we investigate the observational signatures of cooling processes in Kelvin-Helmholtz mixing between a prominence thread and the surrounding solar corona through 2D numerical simulations. Optically thin emission is synthesised for Si IV, along with optically thick emission for H$α$, Ca II K and Mg II h using Lightweaver The Mg II h probes the turbulent mixing layer, whereas H$α$ and Ca II K form within the thread and along its boundary respectively. As the mixing evolves, intermediate temperatures form leading to an increase in Si IV emission, which coincides with increased radiative losses. The simulation is dominated by cooling in the mixing layer, rather than turbulent heating, and yet enhanced emission in warm lines is produced. As such, an observational signature of decreased emission in cooler lines and increased emission in hotter lines may be a signature of mixing, rather than an implication of heating.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2501_11324
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Observational signatures of mixing-induced cooling in the Kelvin-Helmholtz instability
Snow, Ben
Osborne, Chris
Hillier, Andrew
Solar and Stellar Astrophysics
Cool ($\approx 10^4$K), dense material permeates the hot ($\approx 10^6$K), tenuous solar corona in form of coronal condensations, for example prominences and coronal rain. As the solar atmosphere evolves, turbulence can drive mixing between the condensations and the surrounding corona, with the mixing layer exhibiting an enhancement in emission from intermediate temperature ($\approx10^5$K) spectral lines, which is often attributed to turbulent heating within the mixing layer. However, radiative cooling is highly efficient at intermediate temperatures and numerical simulations have shown that radiative cooling can far exceed turbulent heating in prominence-corona mixing scenarios. As such the mixing layer can have a net loss of thermal energy, i.e., the mixing layer is cooling rather than heating. Here, we investigate the observational signatures of cooling processes in Kelvin-Helmholtz mixing between a prominence thread and the surrounding solar corona through 2D numerical simulations. Optically thin emission is synthesised for Si IV, along with optically thick emission for H$α$, Ca II K and Mg II h using Lightweaver The Mg II h probes the turbulent mixing layer, whereas H$α$ and Ca II K form within the thread and along its boundary respectively. As the mixing evolves, intermediate temperatures form leading to an increase in Si IV emission, which coincides with increased radiative losses. The simulation is dominated by cooling in the mixing layer, rather than turbulent heating, and yet enhanced emission in warm lines is produced. As such, an observational signature of decreased emission in cooler lines and increased emission in hotter lines may be a signature of mixing, rather than an implication of heating.
title Observational signatures of mixing-induced cooling in the Kelvin-Helmholtz instability
topic Solar and Stellar Astrophysics
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2501.11324