High spatial resolution FeXII observations of solar active region

TL;DR

This study utilizes high-resolution IRIS UV spectral observations to analyze FeXII emission in solar active regions, revealing small Doppler shifts, modest non-thermal velocities, and potential subarcsecond heating events, with implications for solar plasma modeling.

Contribution

First high-resolution IRIS observations of FeXII emission in active regions, providing new insights into plasma dynamics and heating at unprecedented spatial scales.

Findings

FeXII emission studied at ~0.33" resolution with IRIS.

Small average Doppler redshifts (~3 km/s) observed.

Detected a tail of increased non-thermal broadening suggesting subarcsecond heating events.

Abstract

We use UV spectral observations of active regions with the Interface Region Imaging Spectrograph (IRIS) to investigate the properties of the coronal FeXII 1349.4A emission at unprecedented high spatial resolution (~0.33"). We find that by using appropriate observational strategies (i.e., long exposures, lossless compression), FeXII emission can be studied with IRIS at high spatial and spectral resolution, at least for high density plasma (e.g., post-flare loops, and active region moss). We find that upper transition region (moss) FeXII emission shows very small average Doppler redshifts (v_Dop ~3 km/s), as well as modest non-thermal velocities (with an average ~24 km/s, and the peak of the distribution at ~15 km/s). The observed distribution of Doppler shifts appears to be compatible with advanced 3D radiative MHD simulations in which impulsive heating is concentrated at the transition region footpoints of a hot corona. While the non-thermal broadening of FeXII 1349.4A peaks at similar values as lower resolution simultaneous Hinode/EIS measurements of FeXII 195A, IRIS observations show a previously undetected tail of increased non-thermal broadening that might be suggestive of the presence of subarcsecond heating events. We find that IRIS and EIS non-thermal line broadening measurements are affected by instrumental effects that can only be removed through careful analysis. Our results also reveal an unexplained discrepancy between observed 195.1/1349.4A FeXII intensity ratios and those predicted by the CHIANTI atomic database.