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Solar Cycle Observations of the Neon Abundance in the Sun-as-a-star

Brooks, DH; Baker, D; Van Driel-Gesztelyi, L; Warren, HP; (2018) Solar Cycle Observations of the Neon Abundance in the Sun-as-a-star. The Astrophysical Journal , 861 (1) , Article 42. 10.3847/1538-4357/aac6d8. Green open access

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Abstract

Properties of the Sun's interior can be determined accurately from helioseismological measurements of solar oscillations. These measurements, however, are in conflict with photospheric elemental abundances derived using 3D hydrodynamic models of the solar atmosphere. This divergence of theory and helioseismology is known as the "solar modeling problem." One possible solution is that the photospheric neon abundance, which is deduced indirectly by combining the coronal Ne/O ratio with the photospheric O abundance, is larger than generally accepted. There is some support for this idea from observations of cool stars. The Ne/O abundance ratio has also been found to vary with the solar cycle in the slowest solar wind streams and coronal streamers, and the variation from solar maximum to minimum in streamers (~0.1–0.25) is large enough to potentially bring some of the solar models into agreement with the seismic data. Here we use daily sampled observations from the EUV Variability Experiment on the Solar Dynamics Observatory taken in 2010–2014, to investigate whether the coronal Ne/O abundance ratio shows a variation with the solar cycle when the Sun is viewed as a star. We find only a weak dependence on, and moderate anti-correlation with, the solar cycle with the ratio measured around 0.2–0.3 MK falling from 0.17 at solar minimum to 0.11 at solar maximum. The effect is amplified at higher temperatures (0.3–0.6 MK) with a stronger anti-correlation and the ratio falling from 0.16 at solar minimum to 0.08 at solar maximum. The values we find at solar minimum are too low to solve the solar modeling problem.

Type: Article
Title: Solar Cycle Observations of the Neon Abundance in the Sun-as-a-star
Open access status: An open access version is available from UCL Discovery
DOI: 10.3847/1538-4357/aac6d8
Publisher version: http://dx.doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/aac6d8
Language: English
Additional information: This version is the version of record. For information on re-use, please refer to the publisher’s terms and conditions.
Keywords: stars: abundances; stars: coronae; Sun: abundances; Sun: corona; Sun: transition region; Sun: UV radiation
UCL classification: UCL
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS > Faculty of Maths and Physical Sciences
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS > Faculty of Maths and Physical Sciences > Dept of Space and Climate Physics
URI: https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10053837
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