What heats the solar corona above 10^6 K? · revision history

Revision 2

Accepted · core change · record

Changes against revision 1:

Title · changed
Revision 1: What heats the solar corona above $1e6\ \mathrm{K}$?
Revision 2: What heats the solar corona above $10^{6}\ \mathrm{K}$?
Plain
Energy from churning gas below the surface must be carried up by magnetic fields and released in the corona; how it is released is unknown.
Precise · changed · core
Revision 1: The quiet corona requires an energy flux of $\sim 3e5\ \mathrm{erg}\ \mathrm{cm}^{-2}\ \mathrm{s}^{-1}$ and active regions $\sim 1e7\ \mathrm{erg}\ \mathrm{cm}^{-2}\ \mathrm{s}^{-1}$. Determine the dominant dissipation mechanism: Alfven-wave turbulence, resonant absorption and phase mixing of waves, or nanoflares (small reconnection events) in braided fields. Answer: mechanisms with energy fluxes matching these requirements, by region type.
Revision 2: The quiet corona requires an energy flux of $\sim 3 \times 10^{5}\ \mathrm{erg}\ \mathrm{cm}^{-2}\ \mathrm{s}^{-1}$ and active regions $\sim 10^{7}\ \mathrm{erg}\ \mathrm{cm}^{-2}\ \mathrm{s}^{-1}$. Determine the dominant dissipation mechanism: Alfven-wave turbulence, resonant absorption and phase mixing of waves, or nanoflares (small reconnection events) in braided fields. Answer: mechanisms with energy fluxes matching these requirements, by region type.
Settled by
Observations resolving the energy flux in waves and in small reconnection events at the base of the corona, matched to the required heating by region type.
Kind
phenomenon
Answer type
mechanism
References
(empty)
Literature status
open
Status note
(empty)
Posed since
(empty)

Decisions