The temperature dependence of solar active region outflows

Abstract

Spectroscopic observations with the EUV Imaging Spectrometer (EIS) on Hinode have revealed large areas of high-speed outflows at the periphery of many solar active regions. These outflows are of interest because they may connect to the heliosphere and contribute to the solar wind. In this paper, we use slit rasters from EIS in combination with narrowband slot imaging to study the temperature dependence and morphology of an outflow region and show that it is more complicated than previously thought. Outflows are observed primarily in emission lines from Fe XI to Fe XV. Observations at lower temperatures (Si VII), in contrast, show bright fan-like structures that are dominated by inflows. These data also indicate that the morphology of the outflows and the fans is different, outflows are observed in regions where there is no emission in Si VII. This suggests that the fans, which are often associated with outflows in studies involving imaging data, are not directly related to the active region outflows. © 2011. The American Astronomical Society.