• Journal of The Korean Astronomical Society
• /
• v.51 no.2
• /
• pp.27-36
• /
• 2018

In a solar coronagraph, the most important component is an occulter to block the direct light from the disk of the sun. Because the intensity of the solar outer corona is $10^{-6}$ to $10^{-10}$ times of that of the solar disk ($I_{\odot}$), it is necessary to minimize scattering at the optical elements and diffraction at the occulter. Using a Fourier optic simulation and a stray light test, we investigated the performance of a compact coronagraph that uses an external truncated-cone occulter without an internal occulter and Lyot stop. In the simulation, the diffracted light was minimized to the order of $7.6{\times}10^{-10}I_{\odot}$ when the cone angle ${\theta}_c$ was about $0.39^{\circ}$. The performance of the cone occulter was then tested by experiment. The level of the diffracted light reached the order of $6{\times}10^{-9}I_{\odot}$ at ${\theta}_c=0.40^{\circ}$. This is sufficient to observe the outer corona without additional optical elements such as a Lyot stop or inner occulter. We also found the manufacturing tolerance of the cone angle to be $0.05^{\circ}$, the lateral alignment tolerance was $45{\mu}m$, and the angular alignment tolerance was $0.043^{\circ}$. Our results suggest that the physical size of coronagraphs can be shortened significantly by using a cone occulter.

• Journal of Astronomy and Space Sciences
• /
• v.26 no.4
• /
• pp.479-486
• /
• 2009

We studied the solar proton events (SPEs) associated with coronal mass ejections (CMEs) during the solar cycle 23 (1997-2006). Using 63 SPE dataset, we investigated the relationship among SPE, flare, and CME, and found that (1) SPE rise time and duration time depend on CME speed and the earthward direction parameter of the CME, and (2) the SPE peak intensity depends on CME speed and X-ray Flare intensity. While inspecting the relation between SPE peak intensity and the direction parameter, we found there are two groups: first group consists of large six SPEs (> 10,000 pfu at > 10 MeV proton channel of GOES satellite) and shows strong correlation (cc = 0.65) between SPE peak intensity and CME direction parameter. The second group has a weak intensity and shows poor correlation between SPE peak intensity and the direction parameter (cc = 0.01). By investigating characteristics of the first group, we found that all the SPEs are associated with very fast halo CME (> 1400km/s) and also they are mostly located at central region and within ${\pm}20^{\circ}$ latitude and ${\pm}30^{\circ}$ longitude strip.

• The Bulletin of The Korean Astronomical Society
• /
• v.35 no.1
• /
• pp.26.1-26.1
• /
• 2010

In this talk we outline the current understanding of solar flares, mainly focusing on magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) processes. A flare causes plasma heating, mass ejection, and particle acceleration which generates high-energy particles. The key physical processes producing a flare are: the emergence of magnetic field from the solar interior to the solar atmosphere (flux emergence), formation of current-concentrated areas (current sheets) in the corona, and magnetic reconnection proceeding in a current sheet to cause shock heating, mass ejection, and particle acceleration. A flare starts with the dissipation of electric currents in the corona, followed by various dynamic processes that affect lower atmosphere such as the chromosphere and photosphere. In order to understand the physical mechanism for producing a flare, theoretical modeling has been develops, where numerical simulation is a strong tool in that it can reproduce the time-dependent, nonlinear evolution of a flare. In this talk we review various models of a flare proposed so far, explaining key features of individual models. We introduce the general properties of flares by referring observational results, then discuss the processes of energy build-up, release, and transport, all of which are responsible for a flare. We will come to a concluding viewpoint that flares are the manifestation of the recovering and ejecting processes of a global magnetic flux tube in the solar atmosphere, which has been disrupted via interaction with convective plasma while rising through the convection zone.

• Bulletin of the Korean Space Science Society
• /
• 2010.04a
• /
• pp.25.1-25.1
• /
• 2010

This talk outlines the current understanding of solar flares, mainly focusing on magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) processes. A flare causes plasma heating, mass ejection, and particle acceleration that generates high-energy particles. The key physical processes related to a flare are: the emergence of magnetic field from the solar interior to the solar atmosphere (flux emergence), formation of current-concentrated areas (current sheets) in the corona, and magnetic reconnection proceeding in current sheets that causes shock heating, mass ejection, and particle acceleration. A flare starts with the dissipation of electric currents in the corona, followed by various dynamic processes which affect lower atmospheres such as the chromosphere and photosphere. In order to understand the physical mechanism for producing a flare, theoretical modeling has been developed, in which numerical simulation is a strong tool reproducing the time-dependent, nonlinear evolution of plasma before and after the onset of a flare. In this talk we review various models of a flare proposed so far, explaining key features of these models. We show observed properties of flares, and then discuss the processes of energy build-up, release, and transport, all of which are responsible for producing a flare. We come to a concluding view that flares are the manifestation of recovering and ejecting processes of a global magnetic flux tube in the solar atmosphere, which was disrupted via interaction with convective plasma while it was rising through the convection zone.

• Journal of The Korean Astronomical Society
• /
• v.56 no.2
• /
• pp.187-194
• /
• 2023

The remote sensing technique of measuring the magnetic field was applied first to sunspots by Hale (1908). Later Babcock (1961) showed that the solar surface magnetic field on a global scale is a dipole in first-order approximation and that this dipole field reverses once every solar cycle. The Wilcox Solar Observatory (WSO) supplies the spherical harmonics coefficients of the solar corona magnetic field of each Carrington Rotation, calculated based on the remotely-sensed photospheric magnetic field of the solar surface. To infer the internal current system producing the global solar coronal magnetic field structure and evolution of the Sun, we calculate the multipole components of the solar magnetic field using the WSO data from 1976 to 2019. The prominent cycle components over the last 4 solar activity cycles are axis-symmetric fields of the dipole and octupole. This implies that the current inversion driving the solar magnetic field reversal originates from the equatorial region and spreads to the whole globe. Thus, a more accurate solar dynamo model must include an explanation of the origin and evolution of such solar internal current dynamics.

• Journal of The Korean Astronomical Society
• /
• v.36 no.spc1
• /
• pp.29-36
• /
• 2003

Quiescent solar radiation, at microwave spectral regime, is dominated by gyroresonant and thermal Bremsstrahlung radiations from hot electrons residing in solar active region corona. These radiations are known to provide excellent diagnostics on the coronal temperature, density, and magnetic field, provided that spatially resolved spectra are available from observations. In this paper we present an imaging spectroscopy implemented for a bipolar active region, AR 7912, using the multifrequency interferometric data from the Owens Valley Solar Array (OVSA), as processed with a new imaging technique, so-called Spatio-Spectral Maximum Entropy Method (SSMEM). From the microwave maps at 26 frequencies in the range of 1.2-12.4 GHz at both right- and left-circular polarizations, we construct spatially resolved brightness spectra in every reconstructed pixel of about 2 arcsec interval. These spectra allowed us to determine 2-D distribution of electron temperature, magnetic field of coronal base, and emission measure at the coronal base above the active region. We briefly compare the present result with existing studies of the coronal active regions.

• The Bulletin of The Korean Astronomical Society
• /
• v.32 no.1
• /
• pp.35.1-35.1
• /
• 2007

• The Bulletin of The Korean Astronomical Society
• /
• v.46 no.1
• /
• pp.60.2-60.2
• /
• 2021

In this study, we determinate the differential emission measure(DEM) of solar corona using three SDO/AIA EUV channel images and three AI-generated ones. To generate the AI-generated images, we apply a deep learning model based on multi-layer perceptrons by assuming that all pixels in solar EUV images are independent of one another. For the input data, we use three SDO/AIA EUV channels (171, 193, and 211). For the target data, we use other three SDO/AIA EUV channels (94, 131, and 335). We train the model using 358 pairs of SDO/AIA EUV images at every 00:00 UT in 2011. We use SDO/AIA pixels within 1.2 solar radii to consider not only the solar disk but also above the limb. We apply our model to several brightening patches and loops in SDO/AIA images for the determination of DEMs. Our main results from this study are as follows. First, our model successfully generates three solar EUV channel images using the other three channel images. Second, the noises in the AI-generated EUV channel images are greatly reduced compared to the original target ones. Third, the estimated DEMs using three SDO/AIA images and three AI-generated ones are similar to those using three SDO/AIA images and three stacked (50 frames) ones. These results imply that our deep learning model is able to analyze temperature response functions of SDO/AIA channel images, showing a sufficient possibility that AI-generated data can be used for multi-wavelength studies of various scientific fields. SDO: Solar Dynamics Observatory AIA: Atmospheric Imaging Assembly EUV: Extreme Ultra Violet DEM: Diffrential Emission Measure

• The Bulletin of The Korean Astronomical Society
• /
• v.42 no.2
• /
• pp.82.1-82.1
• /
• 2017

After a coronal mass ejection occur, plasma blobs are often observed along the post-CME ray. Searching for features related to the plasma blobs would be important in understanding their origin. We investigated the morphology of solar flares at EUV wavelengths, around the estimated times when blobs were formed. We focused on three events - 2013 September 21 and 22, 2015 March 7 and 8, and 2017 July 13 and 14 - observed by Atmospheric Imaging Assembly (AIA) aboard Solar Dynamic Observatory (SDO). Around the blob ejection times on 2013 September 21 and 22 and 2017 July 13 and14, we found regions with recurrent events of pronounced flux increase in EUV images. Around those of 2015 March 7 and 8, however, we could not observe such recurrent flux increase. This illustrates that even though blob ejections along different post-CME rays look similar in the high corona, the assocated features in the low corona may differ. We conclude that magnetic morphology and CME triggering process should be carefully examined in order to classify plasma blobs by their nature.

• Solar Energy
• /
• v.12 no.3
• /
• pp.126-136
• /
• 1992

In this paper an EGD generator of small capacity with the operating gases of $O_2,\;N_2$ and air is made and the electric characteristics in relation to energy conversion range length, corona current and gas pressure are investigated. The results are as follows: 1. There is a critical value in conversion range length for maximum open voltage and the critical value increases with fluid velocity. 2. The open voltage increases approximately linearly with corona current. 3. There is a critical value in the gas pressure for maximum open voltage and this pressure of gas decreases with fluid velocity in constant conversion range length.