Abstract
Recent high-resolution observations from the Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) have reawakened interest in the old and fascinating phenomenon of solar tornado-like prominences. This class of prominences was first introduced by Pettit (Astrophys. J. 76, 9, 1932), who studied them over many years. Observations of tornado prominences similar to the ones seen by SDO had already been documented by Secchi (Le Soleil, 1877). High-resolution and high-cadence multiwavelength data obtained by SDO reveal that the tornado-like appearance of these prominences is mainly an illusion due to projection effects. We discuss two different cases where prominences on the limb might appear to have a tornado-like behavior. One case of apparent vortical motions in prominence spines and barbs arises from the (mostly) 2D counterstreaming plasma motion along the prominence spine and barbs together with oscillations along individual threads. The other case of apparent rotational motion is observed in a prominence cavity and results from the 3D plasma motion along the writhed magnetic fields inside and along the prominence cavity as seen projected on the limb. Thus, the “tornado” impression results either from counterstreaming and oscillations or from the projection on the plane of the sky of plasma motion along magnetic-field lines, rather than from a true vortical motion around an (apparent) vertical or horizontal axis. We discuss the link between tornado-like prominences, filament barbs, and photospheric vortices at their base.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Attie, R., Innes, D.E., Potts, H.E.: 2009, Astron. Astrophys. 493, L13. doi: 10.1051/0004-6361:200811258 .
Berger, T.E., Shine, R.A., Slater, G.L., Tarbell, T.D., Title, A.M., Okamoto, T.J., et al.: 2008, Astrophys. J. Lett. 676, L89. doi: 10.1086/587171 .
Brandenburg, A., Jennings, R.L., Nordlund, Å., Rieutord, M., Stein, R.F., Tuominen, I.: 1996, J. Fluid Mech. 306, 325. doi: 10.1017/S0022112096001322 .
Cirtain, J.W., Golub, L., Winebarger, A.R., de Pontieu, B., Kobayashi, K., Moore, R.L., et al.: 2013, Nature 493, 501. doi: 10.1038/nature11772 .
Engvold, O.: 1998, In: Webb, D.F., Schmieder, B., Rust, D.M. (eds.) IAU Colloq. 167: New Perspectives on Solar Prominences CS-150, Astron. Soc. Pac., San Francisco, 23.
Gaizauskas, V., Zirker, J.B., Sweetland, C., Kovacs, A.: 1997, Astrophys. J. 479, 448. doi: 10.1086/512788 .
Handy, B.N., Acton, L.W., Kankelborg, C.C., Wolfson, C.J., Akin, D.J., Bruner, M.E., et al.: 1999, Solar Phys. 187, 229. doi: 10.1023/A:1005166902804 .
Howard, R.A., Moses, J.D., Vourlidas, A., Newmark, J.S., Socker, D.G., Plunkett, S.P., et al.: 2008, Space Sci. Rev. 136, 67. doi: 10.1007/s11214-008-9341-4 .
Hudson, H.S.: 2000, Astrophys. J. Lett. 531, L75. doi: 10.1086/312516 .
Kaiser, M.L., Kucera, T.A., Davila, J.M., St. Cyr, O.C., Guhathakurta, M., Christian, E.: 2008, Space Sci. Rev. 136, 5. doi: 10.1007/s11214-007-9277-0 .
Kitiashvili, I.N., Kosovichev, A.G., Lele, S.K., Mansour, N.N., Wray, A.A.: 2013, arXiv:1301.0018 .
Lemen, J.R., Title, A.M., Akin, D.J., Boerner, P.F., Chou, C., Drake, J.F., et al.: 2012, Solar Phys. 275, 17. doi: 10.1007/s11207-011-9776-8 .
Li, X., Morgan, H., Leonard, D., Jeska, L.: 2012, Astrophys. J. Lett. 752, L22. doi: 10.1088/2041-8205/752/2/L22 .
Liewer, P.C., Panasenco, O., Hall, J.R.: 2013, Solar Phys. 282, 201. doi: 10.1007/s11207-012-0145-z .
Lin, Y.: 2011, Space Sci. Rev. 158, 237. doi: 10.1007/s11214-010-9672-9 .
Lin, Y., Engvold, O., Rouppe van der Voort, L.H.M.: 2012, Astrophys. J. 747, 129. doi: 10.1088/0004-637X/747/2/129 .
Lin, Y., Engvold, O.R., Wiik, J.E.: 2003, Solar Phys. 216, 109. doi: 10.1023/A:1026150809598 .
Lin, Y., Martin, S.F., Engvold, O.: 2008, In: Howe, R., Komm, R.W., Balasubramaniam, K.S., Petrie, G.J.D. (eds.) Subsurface and Atmospheric Influences on Solar Activity CS-383, Astron. Soc. Pac., San Francisco, 235.
Lin, Y., Engvold, O., Rouppe van der Voort, L., Wiik, J.E., Berger, T.E.: 2005a, Solar Phys. 226, 239. doi: 10.1007/s11207-005-6876-3 .
Lin, Y., Wiik, J.E., Engvold, O., Rouppe van der Voort, L., Frank, Z.A.: 2005b, Solar Phys. 227, 283. doi: 10.1007/s11207-005-1111-9 .
Lin, Y., Engvold, O., Rouppe van der Voort, L.H.M., van Noort, M.: 2007, Solar Phys. 246, 65. doi: 10.1007/s11207-007-0402-8 .
Lin, Y., Soler, R., Engvold, O., Ballester, J.L., Langangen, Ø., Oliver, R., et al.: 2009, Astrophys. J. 704, 870. doi: 10.1088/0004-637X/704/1/870 .
Litvinenko, Y.E.: 1999, Astrophys. J. 515, 435. doi: 10.1086/307001 .
Litvinenko, Y.E.: 2010, Astrophys. J. 720, 948. doi: 10.1088/0004-637X/720/1/948 .
Martin, S.F.: 1990, In: Rudzjak, V., Tandberg-Hanssen, E. (eds.) Dynamics of Quiescent Prominences, IAU Colloq, Lecture Notes in Physics 117, Springer, Berlin, 1. doi: 10.1007/BFb0025641 .
Martin, S.F.: 1998, Solar Phys. 182, 107. doi: 10.1023/A:1005026814076 .
Martin, S.F., Bilimoria, R., Tracadas, P.W.: 1994, In: Rutten, R.J., Schrijver, C.J. (eds.) Solar Surface Magnetism, Kluwer Academic, Dordrecht, 303.
Martin, S.F., Echols, C.R.: 1994, In: Rutten, R.J., Schrijver, C.J. (eds.) Solar Surface Magnetism, Kluwer Academic, Dordrecht, 339.
Martin, S.F., Lin, Y., Engvold, O.: 2008, Solar Phys. 250, 31. doi: 10.1007/s11207-008-9194-8 .
Martin, S.F., McAllister, A.H.: 1997, In: Crooker, N., Joselyn, J.A., Feynman, J. (eds.) Geophys. Monogr. Ser. 99, 127, AGU, Washington.
Martin, S.F., Panasenco, O., Berger, M.A., Engvold, O., Lin, Y., Pevtsov, A.A., et al.: 2012, In: Rimmele, T.R., Tritschler, A., Wöger, F., Collados Vera, M., Socas-Navarro, H., Schlichenmaier, R., et al. (eds.) Second ATST-EAST Meeting: Magnetic Fields from the Photosphere to the Corona CS-463, Astron. Soc. Pac., San Francisco, 157.
Orozco Suárez, D., Asensio Ramos, A., Trujillo Bueno, J.: 2012, Astrophys. J. Lett. 761, L25. doi: 10.1088/2041-8205/761/2/L25 .
Panasenco, O., Martin, S.F.: 2008, In: Howe, R., Komm, R.W., Balasubramaniam, K.S., Petrie, G.J.D. (eds.) Subsurface and Atmospheric Influences on Solar Activity CS-383, Astron. Soc. Pac, San Francisco, 243.
Panasenco, O., Velli, M.: 2009, In: Lites, B., Cheung, M., Magara, T., Mariska, J., Reeves, K. (eds.) The Second Hinode Science Meeting: Beyond Discovery-Toward Understanding CS-415, Astron. Soc. Pac, San Francisco, 196.
Panasenco, O., Martin, S.F., Velli, M., Vourlidas, A.: 2012, Solar Phys. 321. doi: 10.1007/s11207-012-0194-3 .
Panesar, N.K., Innes, D.E., Tiwari, S.K., Low, B.C.: 2013, Astron. Astrophys. 549, A105. doi: 10.1051/0004-6361/201220503 .
Pettit, E.: 1925, Publ. Yerkes Obs. 3, 4.
Pettit, E.: 1932, Astrophys. J. 76, 9.
Pettit, E.: 1941, Publ. Astron. Soc. Pac. 53, 289.
Pettit, E.: 1943, Astrophys. J. 98, 6.
Pettit, E.: 1946, Publ. Astron. Soc. Pac. 58, 150.
Pettit, E.: 1950, Publ. Astron. Soc. Pac. 62, 144.
Rappazzo, A.F., Velli, M., Einaudi, G.: 2013, Astrophys. J. 771, 76. doi: 10.1088/0004-637X/771/2/76 .
Secchi, P.A.: 1877, Le Soleil 1, Gauthier-Villars, Paris.
Sheeley, N.R. Jr., Warren, H.P.: 2012, Astrophys. J. 749, 40. doi: 10.1088/0004-637X/749/1/40 .
Simon, G.W., Weiss, N.O.: 1997, Astrophys. J. 489, 960. doi: 10.1086/304800 .
Su, Y., Wang, T., Veronig, A., Temmer, M., Gan, W.: 2012, Astrophys. J. Lett. 756, L41. doi: 10.1088/2041-8205/756/2/L41 .
Török, T., Berger, M.A., Kliem, B.: 2010, Astron. Astrophys. 516, A49. doi: 10.1051/0004-6361/200913578 .
Velli, M., Liewer, P.: 1999, Space Sci. Rev. 87, 339. doi: 10.1023/A:1005110315988 .
Verdini, A., Velli, M., Matthaeus, W.H., Oughton, S., Dmitruk, P.: 2010, Astrophys. J. Lett. 708, L116. doi: 10.1088/2041-8205/708/2/L116 .
Wang, Y.-M., Muglach, K.: 2007, Astrophys. J. 666, 1284. doi: 10.1086/520623 .
Wedemeyer-Böhm, S., Scullion, E., Steiner, O., Rouppe van der Voort, L., de La Cruz Rodriguez, J., Fedun, V., et al.: 2012, Nature 486, 505. doi: 10.1038/nature11202 .
Young, C.A.: 1896, The Sun, 2nd edn. D. Appleton & Company, New York, 224.
Zirker, J.B., Engvold, O., Martin, S.F.: 1998, Nature 396, 440. doi: 10.1038/24798 .
Acknowledgements
OP and SM are supported in this research under the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) grant NNX09AG27G and NSF SHINE grant 0852249. The work of MV was conducted at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, under a contract from NASA. We are thankful to Aram Panasenco for contributions in image processing. The SECCHI data are produced by an international consortium of the NRL, LMSAL and NASA GSFC (USA), RAL and University of Birmingham (UK), MPS (Germany), CSL (Belgium), IOTA, and IAS (France). The AIA data used here are courtesy of SDO (NASA) and the AIA consortium. The Dutch Open Telescope (DOT) is located at Observatorio del Roque de los Muchachos (ORM) on La Palma. The DOT was designed and built by Rob H. Hammerschlag. We thank the referee for interesting comments and suggestions.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
Solar Origins of Space Weather and Space Climate
Guest Editors: J. González Hernández, R. Komm, and A. Pevtsov
Electronic Supplementary Material
Below are the links to the electronic supplementary material.
(MOV 2.0 MB)
(MOV 273.7 MB)
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Panasenco, O., Martin, S.F. & Velli, M. Apparent Solar Tornado-Like Prominences. Sol Phys 289, 603–622 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11207-013-0337-1
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11207-013-0337-1