Abstract
The Extreme Ultraviolet Imaging Telescope (EIT) on board the SOHO spacecraft has been operational since 2 January 1996. EIT observes the Sun over a 45 x 45 arc min field of view in four emission line groups: Feix, x, Fexii, Fexv, and Heii. A post-launch determination of the instrument flatfield, the instrument scattering function, and the instrument aging were necessary for the reduction and analysis of the data. The observed structures and their evolution in each of the four EUV bandpasses are characteristic of the peak emission temperature of the line(s) chosen for that bandpass. Reports on the initial results of a variety of analysis projects demonstrate the range of investigations now underway: EIT provides new observations of the corona in the temperature range of 1 to 2 MK. Temperature studies of the large-scale coronal features extend previous coronagraph work with low-noise temperature maps. Temperatures of radial, extended, plume-like structures in both the polar coronal hole and in a low latitude decaying active region were found to be cooler than the surrounding material. Active region loops were investigated in detail and found to be isothermal for the low loops but hottest at the loop tops for the large loops.
Variability of solar EUV structures, as observed in the EIT time sequences, is pervasive and leads to a re-evaluation of the meaning of the term ‘quiet Sun’. Intensity fluctuations in a high cadence sequence of coronal and chromospheric images correspond to a Kolmogorov turbulence spectrum. This can be interpreted in terms of a mixed stochastic or periodic driving of the transition region and the base of the corona. No signature of the photospheric and chromospheric waves is found in spatially averaged power spectra, indicating that these waves do not propagate to the upper atmosphere or are channeled through narrow local magnetic structures covering a small fraction of the solar surface. Polar coronal hole observing campaigns have identified an outflow process with the discovery of transient Fexii jets. Coronal mass ejection observing campaigns have identified the beginning of a CME in an Fexii sequence with a near simultaneous filament eruption (seen in absorption), formation of a coronal void and the initiation of a bright outward-moving shell as well as the coronal manifestation of a ‘Moreton wave’.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Ahmad, I. A. and Webb, D. F.: 1978, Solar Phys. 58, 323.
Bohlin, J. D., Sheeley, N. R., and Tousey, R.: 1975, in M. J. Rycroft (ed.), Space Research, p. 651.
Bumba, V. and Howard, R.: 1965, Astrophys. J. 141, 1492.
Cheng, C. C., Smith, J. B., and TandbergHanssen, E.: 1980, Solar Phys. 45, 393.
Deeming, T. J.: 1975, Astrophys. Space Sci. 36, 137.
Defise, J.M. et al.: 1997, SPIE 3114, in preparation.
DeForest et al.: 1997, Solar Phys. 175, 393 (this issue).
Delaboudiniére, J.P.: 1998, Solar Phys., submitted.
Delaboudiniére, J.P., Artzner, G. E., Brunaud, J., Gabriel, A. H., Hochedez, J.F., Millier, F., Song, X.Y., Au, B., Dere, K. P., Howard, R. A., Kreplin, R., Michels, D. J., Moses, J. D., Defise, J.M., Jamar, C., Rochus, P., Chauvineau, J.P., Marioge, J.P., Catura, R. C., Lemen, J. R., Shing, L., Stern, R. A., Gurman, J. B., Neupert, W. M., Maucherat, A., Clette, F., Cugnon, P., Van Dessel, E. L. et al.: 1995, Solar Phys. 162, 291.
Dere, K. P.: 1989, Astrophys. J. 340, 599.
Dere, K. P. et al.: 1997, Solar Phys. 175, 601 (this issue).
Foukal, P.: 1978, Astrophys. J. 223, 1046.
Groth, E. J.: 1975, Astrophys. J. Suppl., No. 286, 29, 289.
Guhathakurta, M. and Fisher, R.R.: 1994, Solar Phys. 152, 81.
Gurman, J. B. et al.: 1996, EOS 77, (46), F557.
Janesick, J. R., Klassen, K. P., and Elliot, T.: 1987, Opt. Eng. 26(10), 972.
Klimchuk, J. A., Moses, D., and Portier-Fozzani, F.: 1997, in preparation.
Klimchuk, J. A., Lemen, J. R., Feldman, U., Tsuneta, S., and Uchida, Y.: 1992, Publ. Astron. Soc. Japan 44, L181.
Kuhn, J. R., Lin, H., and Loranz, D.: 1991, Publ. Astron. Soc. Pacific 103, 1097.
Landau, L. and Lifchitz, E.: 1971, Mécanique des fluides, Editions de Moscou.
Moses, D. et al.: 1994, Astrophys. J. 430, 913.
Neupert W. M. et al.: 1997, EOS 78(17), S256.
Newmark, J.: 1996, EOS 77(46), F557.
Schmahl, E. J. and Orrall, F. Q.: 1979, Astrophys. J. 231, L41.
Schuster, H. G.: 1984, Deterministic Chaos: An Introduction, PhysikVerlag, Weinheim.
Schwenn, R. et al.: 1997, Solar Phys. 175, 667 (this issue).
Sheeley, N. R.: 1980, Solar Phys. 66, 79.
Shibata, K., Ishido, Y., Acton, L.W., Strong, K.T., Hirayama, T., Uchida, Y.: 1992, Publ. Astron. Soc. Pacific 44, L173.
Shimojo, M., Hashimoto, S., Shibata, K., Hirayama, T., Hudson, H., and Acton, L. W.: 1996, Publ. Astron. Soc. Pacific 48, 123.
Uchida, Y.: 1974, Solar Phys. 39, 431.
Walker, A. B. C., DeForest, C. E., Hoover, R. B., and Barbee, T. D. W.: 1993, Solar Phys. 148, 239.
Webb, D. F.: 1981, in F. Q. Orrall (ed.), Solar Active Regions, Colorado Associated University Press, Boulder, p. 165.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Electronic supplementary material
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Moses, D., Clette, F., Delaboudinière, JP. et al. Eit Observations of the Extreme Ultraviolet Sun. Sol Phys 175, 571–599 (1997). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1004902913117
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1004902913117