Solar Alfvénic Pulses and Mesoscale Solar Wind
Large-scale solar ejections are well understood, but the extent to which small-scale solar features directly influence the solar wind remains an open question, primarily due to the challenges of tracing these small-scale ejections and their impact. Here, we measure the fine-scale motions of network...
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IOP Publishing
2025-01-01
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| Series: | The Astrophysical Journal Letters |
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| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.3847/2041-8213/adeb54 |
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| author | Jeongwoo Lee Manolis K. Georgoulis Rahul Sharma Nour E. Raouafi Qin Li Haimin Wang |
| author_facet | Jeongwoo Lee Manolis K. Georgoulis Rahul Sharma Nour E. Raouafi Qin Li Haimin Wang |
| author_sort | Jeongwoo Lee |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Large-scale solar ejections are well understood, but the extent to which small-scale solar features directly influence the solar wind remains an open question, primarily due to the challenges of tracing these small-scale ejections and their impact. Here, we measure the fine-scale motions of network bright points along a coronal hole boundary in high-resolution H α images from the 1.6 m Goode Solar Telescope at Big Bear Solar Observatory to quantify the agitation of open flux tubes into generating Alfvénic pulses. We combine the motion, magnetic flux, and activity duration of the flux tubes to estimate the energy content carried by individual Alfvénic pulses, which is ∼10 ^25 erg, adequately higher than the energies ∼10 ^23 erg estimated for the magnetic switchbacks observed by the Parker Solar Probe (PSP). This implies the possibility that the surface-generated Alfvénic pulses could reach the solar wind with sufficient energy to generate switchbacks, even though some of then are expected to be reflected back in the stratified solar atmosphere. Alfvénic pulses further reproduce for the first time other properties of switchbacks, including the filling factor above ∼8% at granular and supergranular scales, which correspond best to the lower end of the mesoscale structure. This quantitative result for solar energy output in the form of Alfvénic pulses through magnetic funnels provides a crucial clue to the ongoing debate about the dynamic cycle of energy exchange between the Sun and the mesoscale solar wind that has been raised, but has not been adequately addressed, by PSP near-Sun observations. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-c5dade002f5445aeae17669df43b5fda |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2041-8205 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-01-01 |
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| series | The Astrophysical Journal Letters |
| spelling | doaj-art-c5dade002f5445aeae17669df43b5fda2025-08-20T03:30:19ZengIOP PublishingThe Astrophysical Journal Letters2041-82052025-01-019881L1610.3847/2041-8213/adeb54Solar Alfvénic Pulses and Mesoscale Solar WindJeongwoo Lee0https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5865-7924Manolis K. Georgoulis1https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6913-1330Rahul Sharma2Nour E. Raouafi3https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2409-3742Qin Li4https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3669-1830Haimin Wang5https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5233-565XInstitute for Space Weather Sciences, New Jersey Institute of Technology , Newark, NJ 07102, USA; Center for Solar-Terrestrial Research, New Jersey Institute of Technology , Newark, NJ 07102, USA; Big Bear Solar Observatory, New Jersey Institute of Technology , Big Bear City, CA 92314, USAJohns Hopkins Applied Physics Laborarory , 11100 Johns Hopkins Road, Laurel, MD 20723, USA; Research Center for Astronomy and Applied Mathematics , Academy of Athens, 11527 Athens, GreeceDepartment of Mathematics, Physics and Electrical Engineering, Northumbria University , Ellison Pl, Newcastle Upon Tyne, NE1 8ST, UKJohns Hopkins Applied Physics Laborarory , 11100 Johns Hopkins Road, Laurel, MD 20723, USAInstitute for Space Weather Sciences, New Jersey Institute of Technology , Newark, NJ 07102, USA; Center for Solar-Terrestrial Research, New Jersey Institute of Technology , Newark, NJ 07102, USA; Big Bear Solar Observatory, New Jersey Institute of Technology , Big Bear City, CA 92314, USAInstitute for Space Weather Sciences, New Jersey Institute of Technology , Newark, NJ 07102, USA; Center for Solar-Terrestrial Research, New Jersey Institute of Technology , Newark, NJ 07102, USA; Big Bear Solar Observatory, New Jersey Institute of Technology , Big Bear City, CA 92314, USALarge-scale solar ejections are well understood, but the extent to which small-scale solar features directly influence the solar wind remains an open question, primarily due to the challenges of tracing these small-scale ejections and their impact. Here, we measure the fine-scale motions of network bright points along a coronal hole boundary in high-resolution H α images from the 1.6 m Goode Solar Telescope at Big Bear Solar Observatory to quantify the agitation of open flux tubes into generating Alfvénic pulses. We combine the motion, magnetic flux, and activity duration of the flux tubes to estimate the energy content carried by individual Alfvénic pulses, which is ∼10 ^25 erg, adequately higher than the energies ∼10 ^23 erg estimated for the magnetic switchbacks observed by the Parker Solar Probe (PSP). This implies the possibility that the surface-generated Alfvénic pulses could reach the solar wind with sufficient energy to generate switchbacks, even though some of then are expected to be reflected back in the stratified solar atmosphere. Alfvénic pulses further reproduce for the first time other properties of switchbacks, including the filling factor above ∼8% at granular and supergranular scales, which correspond best to the lower end of the mesoscale structure. This quantitative result for solar energy output in the form of Alfvénic pulses through magnetic funnels provides a crucial clue to the ongoing debate about the dynamic cycle of energy exchange between the Sun and the mesoscale solar wind that has been raised, but has not been adequately addressed, by PSP near-Sun observations.https://doi.org/10.3847/2041-8213/adeb54Solar surfaceSolar windSolar magnetic fieldsSolar atmosphereSolar granulation |
| spellingShingle | Jeongwoo Lee Manolis K. Georgoulis Rahul Sharma Nour E. Raouafi Qin Li Haimin Wang Solar Alfvénic Pulses and Mesoscale Solar Wind The Astrophysical Journal Letters Solar surface Solar wind Solar magnetic fields Solar atmosphere Solar granulation |
| title | Solar Alfvénic Pulses and Mesoscale Solar Wind |
| title_full | Solar Alfvénic Pulses and Mesoscale Solar Wind |
| title_fullStr | Solar Alfvénic Pulses and Mesoscale Solar Wind |
| title_full_unstemmed | Solar Alfvénic Pulses and Mesoscale Solar Wind |
| title_short | Solar Alfvénic Pulses and Mesoscale Solar Wind |
| title_sort | solar alfvenic pulses and mesoscale solar wind |
| topic | Solar surface Solar wind Solar magnetic fields Solar atmosphere Solar granulation |
| url | https://doi.org/10.3847/2041-8213/adeb54 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT jeongwoolee solaralfvenicpulsesandmesoscalesolarwind AT manoliskgeorgoulis solaralfvenicpulsesandmesoscalesolarwind AT rahulsharma solaralfvenicpulsesandmesoscalesolarwind AT noureraouafi solaralfvenicpulsesandmesoscalesolarwind AT qinli solaralfvenicpulsesandmesoscalesolarwind AT haiminwang solaralfvenicpulsesandmesoscalesolarwind |