Coronal Magnetometry

Captures advances being made in the field of coronal magnetism, from theory to observations and instrumentation. This volume is a collection of research articles on the subject of the solar corona, and particularly, coronal magnetism. The book was motivated by the Workshop on Coronal Magnetism: Connecting Models to Data and the Corona to the Earth, which was held 21 - 23 May 2012 in Boulder, Colorado, USA. This workshop was attended by approximately 60 researchers. Articles from this meeting are contained in this topical issue, but the topical issue also contains contributions from researchers not present at the workshop. This volume is aimed at researchers and graduate students active in solar physics. Originally published in Solar Physics, Vol. 288, Issue 2, 2013 and Vol. 289, Issue 8, 2014.

Magnetism defines the complex and dynamic solar corona. It determines the magnetic loop structure that dominates images of the corona, and stores the energy necessary to drive coronal eruptive phenomena and flare explosions. At great heights the corona transitions into the ever-outflowing solar wind, whose speed and three-dimensional morphology are controlled by the global coronal magnetic field. Coronal magnetism is thus at the heart of any understanding of the nature of the corona, and essential for predictive capability of how the Sun affects the Earth. Coronal magnetometry is a subject that requires a concerted effort to draw together the different strands of research happening around the world. Each method provides some information about the field, but none of them can be used to determine the full 3D field structure in the full volume of the corona. Thus, we need to combine them to understand the full picture. The purpose of this Frontiers Research Topic on Coronal Magnetometry is to provide a forum for comparing and coordinating these research methods, and for discussing future opportunities.

This book highlights fundamentals and advances in the theories and observations of solar magnetic fields. Solar magnetism is an important part of solar physics and space weather research. It covers the formation, development, and relaxation of the magnetic fields in the solar eruptive process. The book discusses topics ranging from measurement facilities for solar observations to the evolution of solar magnetic fields, the storage of magnetic energy, and the magnetic helicity in the solar atmosphere and its relation with solar cycles. The book also presents recent advances in measurements and observations of solar magnetic shear, currents, magnetic helicity, and solar cycles. The book intends for astronomy-majored students and researchers interested in solar magnetism and its role in astrophysics.

This is a follow-on book to the introductory textbook "Physics of the Solar Corona" previously published in 2004 by the same author, which provided a systematic introduction and covered mostly scientific results from the pre-2000 era. Using a similar structure as the previous book the second volume provides a seamless continuation of numerous novel research results in solar physics that emerged in the new millennium (after 2000) from the new solar missions of RHESSI, STEREO, Hinode, CORONAS, and the Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) during the era of 2000-2018. The new solar space missions are characterized by unprecedented high-resolution imaging, time resolution, spectral capabilities, stereoscopy and tomography, which reveal the intricate dynamics of magneto-hydrodynamic processes in the solar corona down to scales of 100 km. The enormous amount of data streaming down from SDO in Terabytes per day requires advanced automated data processing methods. The book focuses exclusively on new research results after 2000, which are reviewed in a comprehensive manner, documented by over 3600 literature references, covering theory, observations, and numerical modeling of basic physical processes that are observed in high-temperature plasmas of the Sun and other astrophysical objects, such as plasma instabilities, coronal heating, magnetic reconnection processes, coronal mass ejections, plasma waves and oscillations, or particle acceleration.

Electric currents are fundamental to the structure and dynamics of space plasmas, including our own near-Earth space environment, or “geospace.”This volume takes an integrated approach to the subject of electric currents by incorporating their phenomenology and physics for many regions in one volume. It covers a broad range of topics from the pioneers of electric currents in outer space, to measurement and analysis techniques, and the many types of electric currents. First volume on electric currents in space in over a decade that provides authoritative up-to-date insight on the current status of research Reviews recent advances in observations, simulation, and theory of electric currents Provides comparative overviews of electric currents in the space environments of different astronomical bodies Electric Currents in Geospace and Beyond serves as an excellent reference volume for a broad community of space scientists, astronomers, and astrophysicists who are studying space plasmas in the solar system. Read an interview with the editors to find out more: https://eos.org/editors-vox/electric-currents-in-outer-space-run-the-show

This advanced textbook reviews the complex interaction between the Sun's plasma atmosphere and its magnetic field.

"The 5th Solar Polarization Workshop (SPW5) continues the series of workshops on 'solar polarization' and related topics"--p. xv.