Transition Region Brightenings in a Moss Region and their Relation with Lower Atmospheric Dynamics

TL;DR

This study investigates small-scale brightenings in the solar transition region within moss areas, revealing their strong association with chromospheric spicules and dynamic fibrils, and exploring their potential role in active region heating.

Contribution

It provides new insights into the generation mechanisms of transition region brightenings, emphasizing their connection with chromospheric spicules and plasma dynamics in moss regions.

Findings

Most SB events are associated with chromospheric spicules.

Some SBs correspond to Ellerman Bombs or recurring brightenings from falling plasma.

A significant number of SBs show no clear chromospheric counterparts.

Abstract

Small-scale Brightenings (SBs) are commonly observed in the transition region that separates the solar chromosphere from the corona. These brightenings, omnipresent in active region patches known as "moss" regions, could potentially contribute to the heating of active region plasma. In this study, we investigate the properties of SB events in a moss region and their associated chromospheric dynamics, which could provide insights into the underlying generation mechanisms of the SBs. We analyzed the data sets obtained by coordinated observations using the Interface Region Imaging Spectrograph and the Goode Solar Telescope at Big Bear Solar Observatory. We studied 131 SB events in our region of interest and found that 100 showed spatial and temporal matches with the dynamics observed in the chromospheric H$\alpha$ images. Among these SBs, 98 of them were associated with spicules that are observed in H$\alpha$ images. Furthermore, detailed analysis revealed that one intense SB event corresponded to an Ellerman Bomb (EB), while another SB event consisted of several recurring brightenings caused by a stream of falling plasma. We observed that H$\alpha$ far wings often showed flashes of strong brightening caused by the falling plasma, creating an H$\alpha$ spectral profile similar to an EB. However, 31 of the 131 investigated SB events showed no noticeable spatial and temporal matches with any apparent features in H$\alpha$ images. Our analysis indicated that the predominant TR SB events in moss regions are associated with chromospheric phenomena primarily caused by spicules. Most of these spicules display properties akin to dynamic fibrils.