Observations of various instruments on board Yohkoh, SOHO, and TRACE complement high-resolution observations of the balloon-borne Flare Genesis Experiment, obtained on January 25, 2000. A subset of the TRACE loops are located in the vicinity of the SXT loops in the NOAA emerging active region 8844, but never coincide with them. We find that coronal loops appeared 6 ± 2 hr after the first detection of emerging magnetic flux. The loops evolved rapidly when the active region entered its impulsive flux emergence phase. In the low chromosphere, flux emergence was reflected in intense Ellerman bomb activity. Besides chromosphere, we find that Ellerman bombs may also heat the transition region, by contributing to the moss emission. Areas prolific in Ellerman bombs show moss ∼ 100% brighter than areas without Ellerman bombs. Only the strongest Ellerman bombs can heat their surroundings to coronal temperatures. In the corona, we find a spatio-temporal anti-correlation between the soft X-ray (SXT) and the extreme ultraviolet (TRACE) loops: First, the SXT loops preceded the appearance of the TRACE loops by 30 — 40 min. Second, the TRACE loops had different shapes and different footpoints compared to the SXT loops. The SXT and TRACE loops are probably formed independently.

We approach the solar coronal heating problem ab initio. Starting from a potential extrapolation of a SOHO/MDI magnetogram, a FAL—C atmospheric stratification, and a realistic photospheric velocity field, Spitzer conductivity and magnetic dissipation creates a corona where more than 2 106ergs s—1 cm—2 is dissipated. The winding of the magnetic field by the horizontal velocities in the solar photosphere is sufficient to provide a major part of the heating in the solar corona. The heating is intermittent on the smallest scale, but on average follows the magnetic field strength squared, as is expected from a force free magnetic field configuration. The intermittent heating creates large temperature and density fluctuations in the corona. The total dissipated energy in the corona is at least constant if not increasing with magnetic Reynolds number, making this heating process unavoidable as a major contributor to the heating of the solar corona.

Using EUV spectra of an active region observed off the solar disk by the SOHO/SUMER spectrograph on the SOHO spacecraft, we investigate the dependence of the FIP effect on the height above the photosphere, and its relation to plasma magnetic structures present in the field of view. We also investigate the possibility of the FIP bias in the low-FIP elements to be FIP-dependent, so that different abundance anomalies must be found even within the low-FIP class of elements, which can provide important constraints on the FIP effect models.

There has been substantial interest in the coronal wave phenomena since its discovery several years ago using the EUV Imaging Telescope onboard SOHO (Thompson et al. 1999). One of the first explanations was that finally the coronal part of the Moreton wave had been discovered. Since then, there have been a number of results giving different explanations. We will discuss these in this paper along with the latest results on coronal waves from a spectroscopic perspective.

We select some highlights and new results that have been obtained from detailed “microscopic” observations of coronal loop structures with the Transition Region and Coronal Explorer (TRACE) and Extreme Ultraviolet Imager (EIT) instruments, including: (1) the inhomogeneous substructure of EUV loops, (2) the dynamic and non-hydrostatic nature, (3) the non-uniform heating, (4) the magnetic topology at the loop foot-points, (5) the magnetic energy budget for heating, and (6) oscillations and waves in coronal loops.

Loop-like structures are the fundamental magnetic building blocks of the solar atmosphere. Recent space-based EUV and X-ray satellite observations (from Yohkoh, SOHO and TRACE) have challenged the view that these features are simply static, gravitationally stratified plasma pipes. Rather, it is now surmised that each loop may consist of a bundle of fine plasma threads that are twisted around one another and can brighten independently. This invited paper will outline the latest developments in “untangling” the topology of these features through observational analysis and magnetohydrodynamic modelling. In particular, recent interest has centred on how the observed thermal profile along loops can be employed as a tool to diagnose any localised energy input to the structure and hence constrain the presence of a particular coronal heating mechanism. The implications of superior resolution plasma thread observations (whether spatial, temporal or spectral) from future space missions (SolarB, STEREO, Solar Dynamics Observatory and Solar Orbiter) will be discussed.

I review recent progress in determining the nature of the loop structures that form the coronae of solar-like stars. This progress has been driven by observational advances, in particular the new results from X-ray satellites (Chandra and XMM-Newton) and the availability of surface magnetograms from Zeeman-Doppler imaging. It is now clear that stars that are similar to the Sun in mass, but which rotate more rapidly, have a very different magnetic field structure. Their surfaces are more heavily spotted, with spots appearing at all latitudes, extending all the way up to the rotation pole. Their coronae are correspondingly much brighter in X-rays, containing plasma that is hotter and denser than on the Sun. In addition, stellar coronae can support massive co-rotating prominences out to many stellar radii. Recent efforts in modelling these magnetic structures are now bringing together both the surface magnetograms and also the coronal X-ray emission. The resulting coronal loop models show complex loop structures on all scales, with much of the X-ray emission coming from high latitudes where is does not suffer rotational self-eclipse. The observed high densities and X-ray emission measures are a natural consequence of the high magnetic flux density at the surface. The stripping of the corona due to centrifugal effects at high rotation rates can also explain the saturation and supersaturation of X-ray emission with increasing rotation rates, and the recent observation of a high rotational modulation in a supersaturated star.

Two dimensional magneto-shear instabilities in the solar tachocline have been extensively explored in recent years. One of their most notable traits over a wide range of shear and magnetic profiles is a propensity for the magnetic field to tip substantially from its initial axisymmetric configuration, with possible implications for patterns of flux emergence. However, it is found that modifications of the standard models to include either kinetic and magnetic drag, or prograde toroidal velocity jets associated with magnetic bands, can suppress the instabilities, or considerably reduce their nonlinear development. In the case of tip reduction by jets, for a toroidal field of around 100kG in the tachocline (required for sunspots to emerge in sunspot latitudes), simulations indicate that jets capable of reducing tipping below the limits of detection from sunspot patterns at the surface are potentially detectable by helioseismic methods, and should be looked for. Establishing an upper limit to the jet may result in a lower limit for the amount of tipping to be expected.

We model thin magnetic flux tubes as they rise from the bottom of a stellar convection zone to the photosphere. On emergence they form active regions, i.e. star spots. This model was very successfully applied to the solar case, where the simulations where in agreement with the butterfly diagram, Joy's law, and Hale's law. We propose the use of a similar model to describe stellar activity in the more extreme form found on active stars. A comparison between Doppler-images of well-observed pre-MS stars and a theoretically derived probability of star-spot formation as a function of latitude is presented.

We have investigated the temporal evolution of the solar magnetic field during solar cycles 20, 21 and 22 by means of spherical harmonic decomposition and subsequent time series analysis. A 33 yr and a 25 yr time series of daily magnetic maps of the solar photosphere, recorded at the Mt. Wilson and NSO/Kitt Peak observatories respectively, were used to calculate the spherical coefficients of the radial magnetic field. Fourier and wavelet analysis were then applied to deduce the temporal variations. We compare the results of the two datasets and present examples of zonal modes which show significant variations, e. g. with a period of approx. 2.0—2.5 years. We provide evidence that this quasi-biennial oscillation originates mainly from the southern hemisphere. Furthermore, we show that low degree modes with odd l — m exhibit periods of 29.2 and 28.1 days while modes with even l — m show a dominant period of 26.9 days. A resonant modal structure of the solar magnetic field (apart from the 22 yr cycle) has not been found.

In the present work we compare CDS observations of active region loops and predictions from a steady-state theoretical model developed assuming different functional forms of steady-state loop heating. The present work shows that in no case agreement with observations is achieved, that filamentation is present, and that despite its limitation, CDS is a precious tool for loop physics.

Before the advent of the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO, launched in 1995), we had little information on how coronal plasma gets accelerated to the high speed measured in situ. The Ultraviolet Coronagraph Spectrometer (UVCS) on SOHO, acquiring UV data over the first few solar radii, a region unexplored in this spectral range, allowed us to build a profile of the outflow plasma speed vs. heliocentric distance, based on empirical constraints. Still, much has to be learnt about the behavior of solar wind in the extended corona. In the following, after briefly reviewing the general properties of the solar wind, I'll focus on controversial issues — like the identification of the sources of fast and slow wind, and the acceleration of fast vs. slow wind streams — and I'll illustrate recent contributions to the solution of these problems.

Hardly any part of the chromosphere and the low corona of the Sun is in a static state. Spectrographs reveal line shifts and nonthermal broadening indicating mass supply to the corona, draining of coronal material, syphon flows, wave propagation and more. Imaging instruments show apparent motions of bright or dark structures indicating the presence of flows and waves, too.

This paper will review recent observations of the EUV spectrometer SUMER onboard SOHO on Doppler shifts of lines from the transition region and low corona of the Sun. These results will be discussed with respect to the general picture(s) we have of the structure of the upper solar atmosphere.

Identifying the regions of open magnetic structures in the corona, namely regions where field lines expand outwards into interplanetary space, is equivalent to establishing the origin of the solar wind at the Sun. A review of recent studies, based on the comparison of the distribution, as a function of latitude, of density and velocity in the inner corona and in interplanetary space, is presented. It is shown how, at solar minimum, this comparison leads to the unexpected result that the fast solar wind expands indiscriminately from a significant fraction of the solar surface, not limited to polar coronal holes, as has been believed for the past three decades. It is also shown how polarization measurements of coronal forbidden lines, which yield the direction of the coronal magnetic field, lend further support to this result. The implications of these findings are that a significant fraction of the solar magnetic field is primarily open, expanding almost radially into interplanetary space, carrying with it the imprint of the distribution of density in the corona, while the ‘closed’ structures contribute a small fraction to the overall filling factor of coronal density structures. Furthermore, the solar wind particle flux is found to be correlated with density, implying a higher mass loss rate from the higher density quiet Sun regions, and the likelihood of a solar cycle dependence in the mass loss rate, as the are of polar coronal holes decreases with increased solar activity.

Outflows in young stellar objects are powered by accretion, and ∼ 0.1 of the accreted material is lost in the outflow. Observational evidence is analyzed in the context of models for the origin of the wind. Winds in FU Ori objects are clear examples of disk winds. In Classical T Tauri stars, there is evidence for the existence of a wide angle wind at scales < 100 AU, which supports the X-wind model prediction that narrow jets are the result of density/temperature enhancement towards the axis of the system. However, recent HST observations of the DG Tau jet indicate that the opening angle of the wind is more confined than predicted by the X-wind model, in better agreement with disk wind theories.

Recent observations have revealed that young stellar objects are associated with jet-like structures and Herbig-Haro objects emitting at wavelengths ranging from optical lines to radio continua. These phenomena are similar in morphologies, and have mostly comparable energetics, dynamics, and kinematics. Probing such phenomena observed at various wavelengths with self-consistent physical and radiative processes arising within an inner disk-wind driven magnetocentrifugally from the circumstellar accretion disk is a challenge for confronting theory and observation of outflows. How such early outflow phase may play a role in forming planetary materials may help solve puzzles posed by meteorites. We will discuss the relevant observations, theoretical foundations for modelling approaches, magnetic structures and dynamical effects, and the connection to the early solar system.

Recent spectroscopic results from the far ultraviolet and X-ray region coupled with infrared observations demonstrate that winds from luminous stars can be warm (300000K) and fast (speeds of several hundred km s—1) linking the hot solar wind to the cool, massive winds of luminous M-type supergiant stars. Hot coronal material (T ∼107 K) appears to be confined near the star, and not expanding in the wind. These new spectra enable a comprehensive picture to be constructed of the presence and character of winds in cool stars.

Observations have been carried out using the oxygen VI multiplet ratio 1032/1038 Â from SUMER on SOHO. Analysis based on the Doppler dimming method shows that the outflow velocity in polar plumes is higher than that in the interplume region, contrary to many published suggestions. The addition of UVCS data for the interplume region, leads to a conclusion that the effective oxygen ion “temperature” in the radial direction has to rise to around 14 MK over the height range 1.5 to 1.8 R⊙.

We present spatially resolved spectra observed with the Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph on the Hubble Space Telescope of the upper chromosphere and dust envelope of Betelgeuse (α Orionis, M2 Iab). In the fall of 2002 a set of five high-resolution near-UV spectra was obtained by scanning at intensity peak-up position and four off-limb target positions up to one arcsecond, using a small aperture (200 by 63 mas), to investigate the thermal conditions and flow dynamics in the outer atmosphere of this important nearby cool supergiant star.

Based on Mg ii h & k, Fe ii λ2716, C ii λ2327, and Al ii] λ2669 emission lines we provide the first evidence for the presence of warm chromospheric plasma at least 1 arcsecond away from the star at ∼40 R* (1 R*≃700 R⊙). The STIS spectra reveal that Betelgeuse's upper chromosphere extends far beyond the circumstellar Hα envelope of ∼5 R*, determined from previous ground-based imaging (Hebden et al. 1987).

The flux in the broad and self-absorbed resonance lines of Mg ii decreases by a factor of ∼700 compared to the flux at chromospheric disk center. We observe strong asymmetry changes in the Mg ii h and Si i resonance line profiles when scanning off-limb, signaling the outward acceleration of gas outflow in the upper chromosphere.

From the radial intensity distributions of Fe i and Fe ii emission lines we determine the radial non-LTE iron ionization balance. We compute that the local kinetic gas temperatures of the warm chromospheric gas component in the outer atmosphere exceed 2600 K, when assuming local gas densities of the cool gas component we determine from radiative transfer models that fit the 9.7 μm silicate dust emission feature. The spatially resolved STIS spectra directly demonstrate that warm chromospheric plasma co-exisists with cool gas in Betelgeuse's circumstellar dust envelope.

Multifrequency spatially-resolved radio continuum observations of the M supergiants, α Ori (M2 Iab) and α Sco (M1.5 Iab + B2.5 V), have been obtained using the VLA A array and VLA+Pie Town configurations, to study changes in the extended (i.e. scale 1 − 10 stellar radii) atmospheres of these stars and to model the conditions in their wind acceleration regions. Strong modelling constraints on the atmospheric thermal properties are derived, because the radio emission is resolved at multiple wavelengths. Changes seen in the α Ori source flux density and radio visibility data occurring on several year timescales are described, based on observations obtained in 2002 February and April and in 1996 December. The need for multicomponent models of the plasma conditions in both the warm and cool gas around α Ori is discussed. The radio properties of the α Sco system, both of the M supergiant itself and in the H II region surrounding the B-type companion, provide important tools for estimating conditions within the M supergiant's wind.