The Appearance of Spicules in High Resolution Observations of Ca II H and H-alpha

TL;DR

This study uses high-resolution solar observations to analyze how spicules appear in different wavelengths, revealing their detailed structure, Doppler effects, and the importance of width maps for accurate lifetime measurement.

Contribution

It demonstrates that Doppler shifts from transverse motions explain spicule appearance and highlights the effectiveness of width maps over narrowband images for tracking spicule lifetimes.

Findings

Spicules show complex spatial structures and transverse velocities.

Doppler shifts influence their apparent position and lifetime.

Width maps provide a more reliable measure of spicule presence.

Abstract

Solar spicules are chromospheric fibrils that appear everywhere on the Sun, yet their origin is not understood. Using high resolution observations of spicules obtained with the Swedish 1-m Solar Telescope, we aim to understand how spicules appear in filtergrams and Dopplergrams, how they compare in Ca II H and H-alpha, and what can make them appear and disappear. We find thatspicules display a rich and detailed spatial structure, and show a distribution of transverse velocities that when aligned with the line of sight can make them appear at different H-alpha wing positions. They become more abundant at positions closer to the line core, reflecting a distribution of Doppler shifts and widths. In H-alpha width maps they stand out as bright features both on disk and off limb, reflecting their large Doppler motions and possibly higher temperatures than in the typical H-alpha formation region. Spicule lifetimes measured from narrowband images at only a few positions will be an underestimate because Doppler shifts can make them disappear prematurely from such images; for such cases, width maps are a more robust tool. In H-alpha and Ca II H filtergrams, off limb spicules essentially have the same properties, appearance, and evolution. We find that the sudden appearance of spicules can be explained by Doppler shifts from their transverse motions, and does not require other convoluted explanations.