Heating signatures in the disk counterparts of solar spicules in IRIS observations

TL;DR

This study combines IRIS and SST observations to identify the disk counterparts of type II spicules, revealing their heating to transition region temperatures and linking them to network jets and diffuse halos in solar observations.

Contribution

It provides new spectral evidence that type II spicules are heated to transition region temperatures, connecting chromospheric and TR diagnostics with high-resolution coordinated observations.

Findings

Type II spicules show signatures in Mg II, C II, and Si IV lines.

Spicules are heated to at least transition region temperatures.

Network jets are connected to chromospheric RBEs and RREs.

Abstract

We use coordinated observations with the Interface Region Imaging Spectrograph (IRIS) and the Swedish 1-m Solar Telescope (SST) to identify the disk counterpart of type II spicules in upper-chromospheric and transition region (TR) diagnostics. These disk counterparts were earlier identified through short-lived asymmetries in chromospheric spectral lines: rapid blue- or red-shifted excursions (RBEs or RREs). We find clear signatures of RBEs and RREs in Mg II h & k, often with excursions of the central h3 and k3 absorption features in concert with asymmetries in co-temporal and co-spatial H-alpha spectral profiles. We find spectral signatures for RBEs and RREs in C II 1335 and 1336 A and Si IV 1394 and 1403 A spectral lines and interpret this as a sign that type II spicules are heated to at least TR temperatures, supporting other recent work. These C II and Si IV spectral signals are weaker for a smaller network region than for more extended network regions in our data. A number of bright features around extended network regions observed in IRIS slit-jaw imagery SJI 1330 and 1400, recently identified as network jets, can be clearly connected to H-alpha RBEs and/or RREs in our coordinated data. We speculate that at least part of the diffuse halo around network regions in the IRIS SJI 1330 and 1400 images can be attributed to type II spicules with insufficient opacity in the C II and Si IV lines to stand out as single features in these passbands.