Fine Thermal Structure of a Coronal Active Region
Fabio Reale,1,2*
Susanna Parenti,3
Kathy K. Reeves,4
Mark Weber,4
Monica G. Bobra,4
Marco Barbera,1,2
Ryouhei Kano,5
Noriyuki Narukage,6
Masumi Shimojo,7
Taro Sakao,6
Giovanni Peres,1,2
Leon Golub4
The determination of the fine thermal structure of the solar corona is fundamental to constraining the coronal heating mechanisms. The Hinode X-ray Telescope collected images of the solar corona in different passbands, thus providing temperature diagnostics through energy ratios. By combining different filters to optimize the signal-to-noise ratio, we observed a coronal active region in five filters, revealing a highly thermally structured corona: very fine structures in the core of the region and on a larger scale further away. We observed continuous thermal distribution along the coronal loops, as well as entangled structures, and variations of thermal structuring along the line of sight.
1 Dipartimento di Scienze Fisiche ed Astronomiche, Sezione di Astronomia, Università di Palermo, Piazza del Parlamento 1, 90134 Palermo, Italy.
2 Istituto Nazionale di AstroFisica/Osservatorio Astronomico di Palermo, Piazza del Parlamento 1, 90134 Palermo, Italy.
3 Royal Observatory of Belgium, 3 Circular Avenue, B-1180 Brussels, Belgium.
4 Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA.
5 National Astronomical Observatory, Mitaka, Tokyo 181-8588, Japan.
6 Institute of Space and Astronautical Science, Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, 3-1-1 Yoshinodai, Sagamihara, Kanagawa 229-8510, Japan.
7 Nobeyama Solar Radio Observatory, National Astronomical Observatory, Nobeyama, Nagano 384-1305, Japan.
* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: reale{at}astropa.unipa.it
