Coronal Cells

We have recently noticed cellular features in Fe xii 193 Å images of the 1.2 MK corona. They occur in regions bounded by a coronal hole and a filament channel, and are centered on flux elements of the photospheric magnetic network. Like their neighboring coronal holes, these regions have minority-polarity flux that is ∼0.1–0.3 times their flux of majority polarity. Consequently, the minority-polarity flux is “grabbed” by the majority-polarity flux to form low-lying loops, and the remainder of the network flux escapes to connect with its opposite-polarity counterpart in distant active regions of the Sun. As these regions are carried toward the limb by solar rotation, the cells disappear and are replaced by linear plumes projecting toward the limb. In simultaneous views from the Solar Terrestrial Relations Observatory and Solar Dynamics Observatory spacecraft, these plumes project in opposite directions, extending away from the coronal hole in one view and toward the hole in the other view, suggesting that they are sky-plane projections of the same radial structures. We conclude that these regions are composed of closely spaced radial plumes, extending upward like candles on a birthday cake and visible as cells when seen from above. We suppose that a coronal hole has this same discrete, cellular magnetic structure, but that it is not seen until the encroachment of opposite-polarity flux closes part or all of the hole.