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Title: THE EFFECT OF LIMITED SPATIAL RESOLUTION OF STELLAR SURFACE MAGNETIC FIELD MAPS ON MAGNETOHYDRODYNAMIC WIND AND CORONAL X-RAY EMISSION MODELS

Journal Article · · Astrophysical Journal
; ;  [1];  [2]
  1. Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, 60 Garden St. Cambridge, MA 02138 (United States)
  2. Institute for Astronomy, University of Hawaii at Manoa, 2680 Woodlawn Dr., Honolulu, HI 96822 (United States)

We study the influence of the spatial resolution on scales of 5 Degree-Sign and smaller of solar surface magnetic field maps on global magnetohydrodynamic solar wind models, and on a model of coronal heating and X-ray emission. We compare the solutions driven by a low-resolution Wilcox Solar Observatory magnetic map, the same map with spatial resolution artificially increased by a refinement algorithm, and a high-resolution Solar and Heliospheric Observatory Michelson Doppler Imager map. We find that both the wind structure and the X-ray morphology are affected by the fine-scale surface magnetic structure. Moreover, the X-ray morphology is dominated by the closed loop structure between mixed polarities on smaller scales and shows significant changes between high- and low-resolution maps. We conclude that three-dimensional modeling of coronal X-ray emission has greater surface magnetic field spatial resolution requirements than wind modeling, and can be unreliable unless the dominant mixed polarity magnetic flux is properly resolved.

OSTI ID:
22167829
Journal Information:
Astrophysical Journal, Vol. 764, Issue 1; Other Information: Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 0004-637X
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English