Statistics of transition-region loop brightenings and their heating implication

TL;DR

This study statistically characterizes propagating brightenings in solar transition-region loops, analyzing their properties and implications for heating mechanisms using coordinated solar observations.

Contribution

It provides the first comprehensive statistical analysis of transition-region loop brightenings and explores their heating mechanisms based on multi-instrument solar data.

Findings

Brightenings are impulsive with an average duration of 118.4 seconds.

Propagating brightenings are mostly subsonic, averaging 51.3 km/s.

Brightening sites are mainly near loop footpoints, decreasing with height.

Abstract

Transition-region loops are a type of critical magnetic structure in the solar atmosphere, yet their physical properties and evolutionary characteristics remain statistically poorly constrained. We aim to statistically characterize the physical properties of propagating brightening events in transition-region loops and to explore the underlying heating mechanism responsible for these brightenings.Using coordinated observations from the Extreme Ultraviolet Imager onboard the Solar Orbiter and the Atmospheric Imaging Assembly (AIA) onboard the Solar Dynamics Observatory, we analyze 42 propagating brightening events in loops that are unambiguously detected in both instrument data. Each of these events evolve simultaneously in the AIA 94, 131, 171, 193, 211, 304, and 335 passband images, suggesting that they are in the transition-region or low-coronal temperature range. Our analyses show that these brightenings are impulsive, with an average brightening time of 118.4 s and a mean intensity decreasing time of 159.4 s. The propagating brightenings are predominantly subsonic, with velocities in the range of 0-90 km/s and an average of 51.3 km/s. The lengths of brightenings range from 3 to 11 Mm, with an average and standard deviation of 6.3 Mm, which are closely related to the propagation velocity and the lifetime. The initial brightening sites are predominantly located near the footpoints of these loops, and the number of brightening events decreases systematically with increasing of loop height. Our results are consistent with an energizing mechanism regulated by enthalpy flows and radiative cooling.