XRT Picture of the Week (XPOW)

XRT Home XRT Mission Ops YouTube



2019 January 30

Polar Jets
Click for movie.


Polar Coronal Jets

As the Sun returns to solar minimum, active regions and flares decrease dramatically in frequency and intensity. In fact, the Sun may be devoid of both active regions and flares for weeks on end. Still, this fact does not preclude the Sun from producing dynamic features. Hinode/XRT frequently observes coronal jets emanating from coronal holes at the North and South Pole. Here we show an observation at the South Pole that contains multiple jets. The first two jets are short, synchronous jets whose spires quickly widen after eruption. Another large jet slowly, by comparison, erupts over a bright region east (left) of the pole. The slow jet persists more than twice as long as the previous jets with little broadening of the spire. Exactly how and why these jets form is an area of active research. As such, Hinode/XRT will continue to help understand dynamic and poorly understood phenomena in solar minimum.


Keywords: Jet, Coronal Hole, Pole
Filters: Al-poly, Open


(Prepared by Jakub Prchlik)

Back Archive Next