Dependence of Spicule Properties on the Magnetic Field -- Results from Magnetohydrodynamics Simulations

TL;DR

This study uses high-resolution magnetohydrodynamics simulations to explore how solar spicule properties vary with magnetic field strength, revealing that stronger fields reduce spicule density and height, and influence their deceleration.

Contribution

The paper presents the first detailed simulation-based analysis of the dependence of spicule properties on magnetic field strength using radiative MHD equations.

Findings

Spicule number density decreases with increasing magnetic field strength.

Maximum height of spicules is reduced as magnetic field strength increases.

Deceleration of spicule tips correlates with magnetic field strength.

Abstract

Solar spicules are plasma jets observed in the interface region between the visible solar surface and the corona. At any given time, there are millions of spicules present all over the Sun. While various models attempt to elucidate their origin and characteristics, here, we consider the one driven by the magneto-convection undulations. The radiative magneto-hydrodynamical (rMHD) equations are solved using PENCIL CODE with a spatial resolution of 16 km using various magnetic field strengths. The obtained rMHD simulation data are investigated to unveil the various trends in spicular properties as function of the applied magnetic fields. The important outcome of this study is the finding of a consistent reduction in both the number density and the maximum height reached by spicules as magnetic field strength increases. We also use parabolic fitting on time-distance curves of spicules that are taller than $75^\mathrm{th}$ percentile in the distribution, in order to find a relation between deceleration of the spicule tip and the magnetic field strength. Our results offer insights into the response of solar spicules to magnetic field strength.