Identification

Title

A chromospheric conundrum?

Abstract

We examine spectra of the Ca II H line, obtained under good seeing conditions with the VTT Echelle Spectrograph in 2007 June, and higher resolution data of the Ca II λ8542 line from Fabry-Pérot instruments. The VTT targets were areas near disk center which included quiet Sun and some dispersed plage. The infrared data included quiet Sun and plage associated with small pores. Bright chromospheric network emission patches expand little with wavelength from line wing to line center, i.e., with increasing line opacity and height. We argue that this simple observation has implications for the force and energy balance of the chromosphere, since bright chromospheric network emission is traditionally associated with enhanced local mechanical heating which increases temperatures and pressures. Simple physical considerations then suggest that the network chromosphere may not be able to reach horizontal force balance with its surroundings, yet the network is a long-lived structure. We speculate on possible reasons for the observed behavior. By drawing attention to a potential conundrum, we hope to contribute to a better understanding of a long-standing unsolved problem: the heating of the chromospheric network.

Resource type

document

Resource locator

Unique resource identifier

code

http://n2t.net/ark:/85065/d7vq3349

codeSpace

Dataset language

eng

Spatial reference system

code identifying the spatial reference system

Classification of spatial data and services

Topic category

geoscientificInformation

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keyword value

Text

originating controlled vocabulary

title

Resource Type

reference date

date type

publication

effective date

2016-01-01T00:00:00Z

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date type

publication

effective date

2010-09-01T00:00:00Z

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Conformity

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Use constraints

Limitations on public access

None

Responsible organisations

Responsible party

contact position

OpenSky Support

organisation name

UCAR/NCAR - Library

full postal address

PO Box 3000

Boulder

80307-3000

email address

opensky@ucar.edu

web address

http://opensky.ucar.edu/

name: homepage

responsible party role

pointOfContact

Metadata on metadata

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