Spatiotemporal organization of energy release events in the quiet solar corona

Journal Article · Sat Nov 01 00:00:00 EDT 2014 · Astrophysical Journal

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1088/0004-637X/795/1/15· OSTI ID:22370325

Uritsky, Vadim M. ^[1]

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1. Catholic University of America at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD 20771 (United States)

Using data from the STEREO and SOHO spacecraft, we show that temporal organization of energy release events in the quiet solar corona is close to random, in contrast to the clustered behavior of flaring times in solar active regions. The locations of the quiet-Sun events follow the meso- and supergranulation pattern of the underling photosphere. Together with earlier reports of the scale-free event size statistics, our findings suggest that quiet solar regions responsible for bulk coronal heating operate in a driven self-organized critical state, possibly involving long-range Alfvénic interactions.

• OSTI ID: 22370325
• Journal Information: Astrophysical Journal, Vol. 795, Issue 1; Other Information: Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 0004-637X
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

79 ASTROPHYSICS
COSMOLOGY AND ASTRONOMY
ALFVEN WAVES
INSTABILITY
INTERACTIONS
MAGNETIC FIELDS
PHOTOSPHERE
RANDOMNESS
SOLAR CORONA
SOLAR GRANULATION
SUN