Related papers: Structures in the outer solar atmosphere
Magnetic loops filled with hot plasma are the main building blocks of the solar corona. Usually they have lengths of the order of the barometric scale height in the corona that is 50 Mm. Previously it has been suggested that miniature…
Hot Jupiters can experience mass loss driven by heating from UV radiation from their host stars, and this flow is often controlled by magnetic fields. More specifically, near the planetry surface, the magnetic pressure dominates the ram…
The coupling between small and large scale structures and processes on the Sun and in the heliosphere is important in the relation to the global magnetic configuration. Thin heliospheric current sheets play the leading role in this respect.…
Stellar winds of cool, main-sequence stars are very tenuous and difficult to observe. Despite carrying away only a small amount of the stellar mass, they are important for regulating the rotation of the star and, consequently, its activity…
In some massive stars, magnetic fields are thought to confine the outflowing radiatively-driven wind. Although theoretical models and MHD simulations are able to illustrate the dynamics of such a magnetized wind, the impact of this…
The Sun provides a standard reference against which we compare the chemical abundances found anywhere else in the Universe. Nevertheless, there is not a unique 'solar' composition, since the chemical abundances found in the solar interior,…
The solar corona has been revealed in the past decade to be a highly dynamic nonequilibrium plasma environment. Both the loop-filled coronal base and the extended acceleration region of the solar wind appear to be strongly turbulent, but…
The lower solar atmosphere is an intrinsically multi-component and collisional environment with electron and proton collision frequencies in the range $10^{8}-10^{10}$ Hz, which may be considerably higher than the gyro-frequencies for both…
The influence of solar variability on climate is currently uncertain. Recent observations have indicated a possible mechanism via the influence of solar modulated cosmic rays on global cloud cover. Surprisingly the influence of solar…
Identifying the two physical mechanisms behind the production and sustenance of the quiescent solar corona and solar wind poses two of the outstanding problems in solar physics today. We present analysis of spectroscopic observations from…
Convection is the most important physical process that determines the structure of the envelopes of cool stars. It influences the surface radiation flux and the shape of observed spectral line profiles and is responsible for both generating…
Determining the heating mechanism (or mechanisms) that causes the outer atmosphere of the Sun, and many other stars, to reach temperatures orders of magnitude higher than their surface temperatures has long been a key problem. For decades…
Plasma beta is an important and fundamental physical quantity in order to understand plasma dynamics, particularly in the context of magnetically active stars, because it tells about the domination of magnetic versus thermodynamic processes…
In-situ measurements by several spacecraft have revealed that the solar wind is frequently perturbed by transient structures (magnetic folds, jets, waves, flux-ropes) that propagate rapidly away from the Sun over large distances. Parker…
Planetary systems are angular momentum reservoirs generated during star formation. This accretion process produces very powerful engines able to drive the optical jets and the molecular outflows. A fraction of the engine energy is released…
The solar atmosphere is known to be replete with magneto-hydrodynamic wave modes, and there has been significant investment in understanding how these waves propagate through the Sun's atmopshere and deposit their energy into the plasma.…
Determining the magnetic field of solar spicules is vital for developing adequate models of these plasma jets, which are thought to play a key role in the thermal, dynamic, and magnetic structure of the chromosphere. Here we report on…
In addition to sunspots, which represent the most easily visualized manifestation of solar magnetism, cutting-edge observations of the solar atmosphere have uncovered a plethora of magnetic flux tubes, down to the resolving power of modern…
The Solar System hosts the most studied and best understood major and minor planetary bodies - and the only extraterrestrial bodies to have been visited by spacecraft. The Solar System therefore provides important constraints on both the…
Selected topics in solar dynamo theory are being highlighted. The possible relevance of the near-surface shear layer is discussed. The role of turbulent downward pumping is mentioned in connection with earlier concerns that a…