New Insights On The Dynamics Of The Inner And Middle Corona And Their Coupling To The Heliosphere

About this Research Topic

Background

The so-called solar middle corona that extends between ~1.5 to 6 solar radii holds many underlying questions about the physics of the dynamical events in the solar atmosphere. One of the reasons for poor understanding of this region is the lack of continuous observations from the ground- and space- based solar facilities at heights below 3 solar radii of the corona of the Sun. Recently, this part of the atmosphere has been explored using advanced space-based instruments with extended field-of-view. Despite recent advances, the dynamics of transients in the middle corona is not yet fully understood. For example, the initiation and impulsive acceleration of most eruptive events, like stealth CMEs, happen in the inner and middle corona. Also, the acceleration of the solar wind, magnetic reconnection outflows, and MHD wave dissipations happen in this region. Therefore, investigating the physics and the dynamics of the middle solar corona is crucial to understand several aspects, such as the coupling between the inner and outer part of the solar corona and, more in general, the mass and energy transport in the solar atmosphere.

The extended coronal imaging campaign of Solar Ultraviolet Imager (SUVI) has revealed many dynamic and transient events in the inner and middle corona. Recently launched, Solar Orbiter is equipped with the Full Sun Imager (FSI) detector which can observe the solar corona up to six solar radii in extreme ultraviolet (EUV) wavelengths at 174 and 304 Å, along with white light and Lyman-alpha observations from the Metis coronagraph. Existing observations from PROBA-2/SWAP, STEREO/COR-1, MLSO/KCor, LASCO/C1, SoHO/UVCS can be also used to explore the dynamics of the inner and middle corona. Such observations can bridge the gap in our understanding of the dynamics of the transients propagating from the inner and middle corona to the heliosphere.

In this issue we would like to specifically explore the following topics:
1.Magnetic reconnection and associated transients such as flows, plasmoids, current sheet, supra arcade downflows.
2.Origin and initial evolution of large-scale eruptions including coronal mass ejections (CMEs) and study of stealth CMEs.
3.Physics of the periodic density fluctuations, oscillations, waves, and propagating disturbances in the inner and middle corona.
5.Thermodynamics (density and plasma temperature) of the transient structures and the ambient plasma.
6.Study of the streamer dynamics, coronal cavities, prominence eruptions.
7.New techniques for analysis of novel observations of the extended corona observations.

We invite research articles on the study of dynamics and transients, from the existing solar facilities observing the inner to middle corona. The contributions can also include theory and/or numerical modelling exploring the latter region. The submissions should address (but not limit to) one or more of the mentioned topics to be covered in this issue.

Keywords: Corona, Magnetic Fields, Dynamics, Transients, Inner corona, Middle corona, Solar wind, Heliosphere

Important note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.

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