Can Emission Measure Distributions Derived from Extreme-ultraviolet Images Accurately Constrain High-temperature Plasma?
Measuring the relative amount of high-temperature, low emission measure (EM) plasma is considered to be a smoking-gun observation to constrain the frequency of plasma heating in coronal structures. Often, narrowband, extreme-ultraviolet images, such as those obtained by the Atmospheric Imaging Assem...
| Main Authors: | , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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IOP Publishing
2024-01-01
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| Series: | The Astrophysical Journal |
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| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/ad1837 |
| _version_ | 1797346781573414912 |
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| author | P. S. Athiray Amy R. Winebarger |
| author_facet | P. S. Athiray Amy R. Winebarger |
| author_sort | P. S. Athiray |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Measuring the relative amount of high-temperature, low emission measure (EM) plasma is considered to be a smoking-gun observation to constrain the frequency of plasma heating in coronal structures. Often, narrowband, extreme-ultraviolet images, such as those obtained by the Atmospheric Imaging Assembly (AIA) on the Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO), are used to determine the EM distribution, though the sensitivity to high-temperature plasma is limited. Conversely, the soft X-ray wavelength range offers multiple high-temperature diagnostics, including emission lines of N vii , O vii , O viii , Fe xvii , Ne ix , and Mg xi , which can provide tight constraints to the high-temperature plasma in the log T = 6.1–6.7 (∼1–5+ MK) range. The Marshall Grazing Incidence X-ray Spectrometer (MaGIXS), a slitless spectrograph launched on a NASA sounding rocket on 2021 July 30, resolved an X-ray-bright point in multiple emission lines in the soft X-ray wavelength range. Using coordinated observations of the same X-ray-bright point from SDO/AIA, we compare and contrast the EM distributions from the EUV image data, the X-ray spectra, and the combined EUV and X-ray data set. In this paper, we demonstrate that EM distributions from SDO/AIA data alone can overestimate the amount of high-temperature (log T > 6.4) plasma in the solar corona by a factor of 3–15. Furthermore, we present our effort to cross-calibrate Hinode/X-ray Telescope (XRT) response functions by comparing the observed XRT fluxes with the predicted ones from combined MaGIXS-1 + AIA EM analysis. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-08T11:37:57Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-146eea3b55f244c7b62cd4a98e8dbfdf |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1538-4357 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-08T11:37:57Z |
| publishDate | 2024-01-01 |
| publisher | IOP Publishing |
| record_format | Article |
| series | The Astrophysical Journal |
| spelling | doaj.art-146eea3b55f244c7b62cd4a98e8dbfdf2024-01-25T11:21:11ZengIOP PublishingThe Astrophysical Journal1538-43572024-01-01961218110.3847/1538-4357/ad1837Can Emission Measure Distributions Derived from Extreme-ultraviolet Images Accurately Constrain High-temperature Plasma?P. S. Athiray0https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4454-147XAmy R. Winebarger1https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5608-531XCenter for Space Plasma and Aeronomic Research, The University of Alabama in Huntsville , Huntsville, AL 35899, USA ; athiray.panchap@nasa.gov; NASA Marshall Space Flight Center , ST13, Huntsville, AL 35812, USANASA Marshall Space Flight Center , ST13, Huntsville, AL 35812, USAMeasuring the relative amount of high-temperature, low emission measure (EM) plasma is considered to be a smoking-gun observation to constrain the frequency of plasma heating in coronal structures. Often, narrowband, extreme-ultraviolet images, such as those obtained by the Atmospheric Imaging Assembly (AIA) on the Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO), are used to determine the EM distribution, though the sensitivity to high-temperature plasma is limited. Conversely, the soft X-ray wavelength range offers multiple high-temperature diagnostics, including emission lines of N vii , O vii , O viii , Fe xvii , Ne ix , and Mg xi , which can provide tight constraints to the high-temperature plasma in the log T = 6.1–6.7 (∼1–5+ MK) range. The Marshall Grazing Incidence X-ray Spectrometer (MaGIXS), a slitless spectrograph launched on a NASA sounding rocket on 2021 July 30, resolved an X-ray-bright point in multiple emission lines in the soft X-ray wavelength range. Using coordinated observations of the same X-ray-bright point from SDO/AIA, we compare and contrast the EM distributions from the EUV image data, the X-ray spectra, and the combined EUV and X-ray data set. In this paper, we demonstrate that EM distributions from SDO/AIA data alone can overestimate the amount of high-temperature (log T > 6.4) plasma in the solar corona by a factor of 3–15. Furthermore, we present our effort to cross-calibrate Hinode/X-ray Telescope (XRT) response functions by comparing the observed XRT fluxes with the predicted ones from combined MaGIXS-1 + AIA EM analysis.https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/ad1837Solar coronal heatingSolar coronaSolar extreme ultraviolet emissionSolar x-ray emissionSolar active regions |
| spellingShingle | P. S. Athiray Amy R. Winebarger Can Emission Measure Distributions Derived from Extreme-ultraviolet Images Accurately Constrain High-temperature Plasma? The Astrophysical Journal Solar coronal heating Solar corona Solar extreme ultraviolet emission Solar x-ray emission Solar active regions |
| title | Can Emission Measure Distributions Derived from Extreme-ultraviolet Images Accurately Constrain High-temperature Plasma? |
| title_full | Can Emission Measure Distributions Derived from Extreme-ultraviolet Images Accurately Constrain High-temperature Plasma? |
| title_fullStr | Can Emission Measure Distributions Derived from Extreme-ultraviolet Images Accurately Constrain High-temperature Plasma? |
| title_full_unstemmed | Can Emission Measure Distributions Derived from Extreme-ultraviolet Images Accurately Constrain High-temperature Plasma? |
| title_short | Can Emission Measure Distributions Derived from Extreme-ultraviolet Images Accurately Constrain High-temperature Plasma? |
| title_sort | can emission measure distributions derived from extreme ultraviolet images accurately constrain high temperature plasma |
| topic | Solar coronal heating Solar corona Solar extreme ultraviolet emission Solar x-ray emission Solar active regions |
| url | https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/ad1837 |
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