High flow speeds and transition-region like temperatures in the solar chromosphere during flux emergence

TL;DR

This study reveals that flux emergence in the solar chromosphere produces high-speed flows and transition-region-like temperatures, with evidence of magnetic reconnection and plasmoid formation, challenging previous assumptions about chromospheric temperature limits.

Contribution

It provides new observational and modeling evidence of high-temperature, dynamic features in the chromosphere during flux emergence, highlighting the role of magnetic reconnection and plasmoids.

Findings

Blob-like emission features associated with magnetic reconnection.

Evidence of transition-region-like temperatures in the chromosphere.

High Doppler widths indicating dynamic plasma motions.

Abstract

Context: Flux emergence in the solar atmosphere is a complex process that causes a release of magnetic energy as heat and acceleration of solar plasma at a variety of spatial scales. Methods: We analysed imaging spectropolarimetric data taken in the He 1083 nm line. This line is sensitive to temperatures larger than 15 kK, unlike diagnostics such as \MgIIhk, \CaIIHK, and \Halpha, which lose sensitivity already at 15 kK. The He I data is complemented by imaging spectropolarimetry in the \CaIIK, \Feline, and \Caline\ lines. We employed inversions to determine the magnetic field and vertical velocity in the solar atmosphere. We computed He 1083 nm profiles from a radiation-MHD simulation of the solar atmosphere to help interpretation of the observations. Results: We find fast-evolving blob-like emission features in the He 1083 nm triplet at locations where the magnetic field is rapidly changing direction, and these are likely sites of magnetic reconnection. We fit the line with a model consisting of an emitting layer located below a cold layer representing the fibril canopy. The modelling provides evidence that this model, while simple, catches the essential characteristics of the line formation. The morphology of the emission in the He 1083 nm line is localized and blob-like, unlike the emission in the \CaIIK\ line, which is more filamentary. Conclusions: The modelling shows that the \Heline\ emission features and their Doppler shifts can be caused by opposite-polarity reconnection and/or horizontal current sheets below the canopy layer in the chromosphere. Based on the high observed Doppler width and the blob-like appearance of the emission features, we conjecture that at least a fraction of them are produced by plasmoids. We conclude that transition-region-like temperatures in the deeper layers of the active region chromosphere are more common than previously thought.