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Science 7 December 2007:
Vol. 318. no. 5856, pp. 1577 - 1580
DOI: 10.1126/science.1145447
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Reports

Coronal Transverse Magnetohydrodynamic Waves in a Solar Prominence

T. J. Okamoto,1,2* S. Tsuneta,1 T. E. Berger,3 K. Ichimoto,1 Y. Katsukawa,1 B. W. Lites,4 S. Nagata,2 K. Shibata,2 T. Shimizu,5 R. A. Shine,3 Y. Suematsu,1 T. D. Tarbell,3 A. M. Title3

Solar prominences are cool 104 kelvin plasma clouds supported in the surrounding 106 kelvin coronal plasma by as-yet-undetermined mechanisms. Observations from Hinode show fine-scale threadlike structures oscillating in the plane of the sky with periods of several minutes. We suggest that these represent Alfvén waves propagating on coronal magnetic field lines and that these may play a role in heating the corona.

1 National Astronomical Observatory (NAOJ), Mitaka, Tokyo 181-8588, Japan.
2 Kwasan and Hida Observatories, Kyoto University, Yamashina, Kyoto 607-8471, Japan.
3 Lockheed Martin Solar and Astrophysics Laboratory, B/252, 3251 Hanover Street, Palo Alto, CA 94304, USA.
4 High Altitude Observatory, National Center for Atmospheric Research, Post Office Box 3000, Boulder CO 80307–3000, USA.
5 Institute of Space and Astronautical Science, Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (ISAS/JAXA), Sagamihara, Kanagawa 229-8510, Japan.

* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: joten.okamoto{at}nao.ac.jp

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THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES:
Are There Alfven Waves in the Solar Atmosphere?.
R. Erdelyi and V. Fedun (2007)
Science 318, 1572-1574
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Chromospheric Anemone Jets as Evidence of Ubiquitous Reconnection.
K. Shibata, T. Nakamura, T. Matsumoto, K. Otsuji, T. J. Okamoto, N. Nishizuka, T. Kawate, H. Watanabe, S. Nagata, S. UeNo, et al. (2007)
Science 318, 1591-1594
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »


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Science. ISSN 0036-8075 (print), 1095-9203 (online)