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Notes: Abstract The Sun is not a rigid body and it is well known that its surface rotation is differential, the polar regions rotating substantially slower than the equator. This differential rotation has been demonstrated by helioseismology to continue down to the base of the convective zone, below which it becomes closer to a rigid body rotation. Far deeper, inside the energy generating core, the rotation has generally been assumed to be much faster, keeping memory of the presumably high speed of the young Sun. However, several recent results of helioseismology have decreased this likelihood more and more, so that the core rotation could be suspected to be only marginally, or even not at all faster than the envelope. Certain results would even imply a core rotation slower than the envelope, an interesting but unlikely possibility. We present here a complete analysis of the rotational splitting of the low degree modes measured in three different time series obtained in 1990, 1991, and 1992 by the IRIS full-disk network. With a time of integration slightly longer than 4 months, the splitting has been measured by 4 different global methods on 42 doublets of l = 1, 35 triplets of l = 2, and 30 quadruplets of l = 3. With a high level of confidence, our result is consistent with a rigid solar core rotation.

Notes: Abstract In time-distance helioseismology, the travel time of acoustic waves is measured between various points on the solar surface. To some approximation, the waves can be considered to follow ray paths that depend only on a mean solar model, with the curvature of the ray paths being caused by the increasing sound speed with depth below the surface. The travel time is affected by various inhomogeneities along the ray path, including flows, temperature inhomogeneities, and magnetic fields. By measuring a large number of times between different locations and using an inversion method, it is possible to construct 3-dimensional maps of the subsurface inhomogeneities. The SOI/MDI experiment on SOHO has several unique capabilities for time-distance helioseismology. The great stability of the images observed without benefit of an intervening atmosphere is quite striking. It has made it possible for us to detect the travel time for separations of points as small as 2.4 Mm in the high-resolution mode of MDI (0.6 arc sec pixel-1). This has enabled the detection of the supergranulation flow. Coupled with the inversion technique, we can now study the 3-dimensional evolution of the flows near the solar surface.

Notes: Abstract The Solar Oscillations Investigation (SOI) uses the Michelson Doppler Imager (MDI) instrument to probe the interior of the Sun by measuring the photospheric manifestations of solar oscillations. Characteristics of the modes reveal the static and dynamic properties of the convection zone and core. Knowledge of these properties will improve our understanding of the solar cycle and of stellar evolution. Other photospheric observations will contribute to our knowledge of the solar magnetic field and surface motions. The investigation consists of coordinated efforts by several teams pursuing specific scientific objectives. The instrument images the Sun on a 10242 CCD camera through a series of increasingly narrow spectral filters. The final elements, a pair of tunable Michelson interferometers, enable MDI to record filtergrams with a FWHM bandwidth of 94 mÅ. Normally 20 images centered at 5 wavelengths near the Ni I 6768 spectral line are recorded each minute. MDI calculates velocity and continuum intensity from the filtergrams with a resolution of 4″ over the whole disk. An extensive calibration program has verified the end-to-end performance of the instrument. To provide continuous observations of the longest-lived modes that reveal the internal structure of the Sun, a carefully-selected set of spatial averages are computed and downlinked at all times. About half the time MDI will also be able to downlink complete velocity and intensity images each minute. This high rate telemetry (HRT) coverage is available for at least a continuous 60-day interval each year and for 8 hours each day during the rest of the year. During the 8-hour HRT intervals, 10 of the exposures each minute can be programmed for other observations, such as measurements in MDI's higher resolution (1.25″) field centered about 160″ north of the equator; meanwhile, the continuous structure program proceeds during the other half minute. Several times each day, polarizers will be inserted to measure the line-of-sight magnetic field. MDI operations will be scheduled well in advance and will vary only during the daily 8-hour campaigns. Quick-look and summary data, including magnetograms, will be processed immediately. Most high-rate data will be delivered only by mail to the SOI Science Support Center (SSSC) at Stanford, where a processing pipeline will produce 3 Terabytes of calibrated data products each year. These data products will be analyzed using the SSSC and the distributed resources of the co-investigators. The data will be available for collaborative investigations.

Notes: Abstract The three helioseismology instruments aboard SOHO observe solar p modes in velocity (GOLF and MDI) and in intensity (VIRGO and MDI). Time series of two months duration are compared and confirm that the instruments indeed observe the same Sun to a high degree of precision. Power spectra of 108 days are compared showing systematic differences between mode frequencies measured in intensity and in velocity. Data coverage exceeds 97% for all the instruments during this interval. The weighted mean differences (V-I) are −0.1 µHz for l=0, and −0.16 µHz for l=1. The source of this systematic difference may be due to an asymmetry effect that is stronger for modes seen in intensity. Wavelet analysis is also used to compare the shape of the forcing functions. In these data sets nearly all of the variations in mode amplitude are of solar origin. Some implications for structure inversions are discussed.

Notes: Abstract The medium-l program of the Michelson Doppler Imager instrument on board SOHO provides continuous observations of oscillation modes of angular degree, l, from 0 to ∽ 300. The data for the program are partly processed on board because only about 3% of MDI observations can be transmitted continuously to the ground. The on-board data processing, the main component of which is Gaussian-weighted binning, has been optimized to reduce the negative influence of spatial aliasing of the high-degree oscillation modes. The data processing is completed in a data analysis pipeline at the SOI Stanford Support Center to determine the mean multiplet frequencies and splitting coefficients. The initial results show that the noise in the medium-l oscillation power spectrum is substantially lower than in ground-based measurements. This enables us to detect lower amplitude modes and, thus, to extend the range of measured mode frequencies. This is important for inferring the Sun's internal structure and rotation. The MDI observations also reveal the asymmetry of oscillation spectral lines. The line asymmetries agree with the theory of mode excitation by acoustic sources localized in the upper convective boundary layer. The sound-speed profile inferred from the mean frequencies gives evidence for a sharp variation at the edge of the energy-generating core. The results also confirm the previous finding by the GONG (Gough et al., 1996) that, in a thin layer just beneath the convection zone, helium appears to be less abundant than predicted by theory. Inverting the multiplet frequency splittings from MDI, we detect significant rotational shear in this thin layer. This layer is likely to be the place where the solar dynamo operates. In order to understand how the Sun works, it is extremely important to observe the evolution of this transition layer throughout the 11-year activity cycle.

Notes: Abstract On 7 and 8 March 1996, the SOHO spacecraft and several other space- and ground-based observatories cooperated in the most comprehensive observation to date of solar polar plumes. Based on simultaneous data from five instruments, we describe the morphology of the plumes observed over the south pole of the Sun during the SOHO observing campaign. Individual plumes have been characterized from the photosphere to approximately 15 R⊙ yielding a coherent portrait of the features for more quantitative future studies. The observed plumes arise from small (∼ 2-5 arc sec diameter) quiescent, unipolar magnetic flux concentrations, on chromospheric network cell boundaries. They are denser and cooler than the surrounding coronal hole through which they extend, and are seen clearly in both Feix and Fexii emission lines, indicating an ionization temperature between 1.0–1.5 x 106 K. The plumes initially expand rapidly with altitude, to a diameter of 20–30 Mm about 30 Mm off the surface. Above 1.2 R⊙ plumes are observed in white light (as ‘coronal rays’) and extend to above 12 R⊙. They grow superradially throughout their observed height, increasing their subtended solid angle (relative to disk center) by a factor of ∼10 between 1.05 R⊙ and 4–5 R⊙ and by a total factor of 20–40 between 1.05 R⊙ and 12 R⊙. On spatial scales larger than 10 arc sec, plume structure in the lower corona (R 〈 1.3 R⊙) is observed to be steady-state for periods of at least 24 hours; however, on spatial scales smaller than 10 arc sec, plume XUV intensities vary by 10–20% (after background subtraction) on a time scale of a few minutes.

Notes: Abstract The ‘CrAO-WSO’-network experiment was designed for detection of low-degree oscillations of the Sun representing either its normal g -modes or those driven by, e.g., rapid (hypothetical) rotation of the central solar core. The Doppler-shift measurements were made in 1974–1995 at both sites during about 13600 hr, in all. Taking into account the upper limit (≈0.08 m s-1) for amplitudes of potential g-modes, attention is paid to the Sun's behaviour at frequencies near the 9th daily harmonic (period P ≈160. The two main issues follow from analysis of the combined CrAO-WSO data: (a) in 1974–1982 the primary period of solar pulsation was P 0160.0099 ± 0.0016 ± 0.0016 min, but (b) during the last 13 yr it attained a new value, P 1 ≈ 159.9654 ± 0.0010 min, which happens to be a near-annual sidelobe of P 0. We find therefore that the phase stability of the 160-min mode is no longer present: it appears to be splitted at least into a pair of oscillations,P 0 and P 1, having perhaps different physical origins. But the most striking is the fair coincidence of the strongest peaks in the two data sets: CrAO (1974–1995): P = 159.9662 ±0.0006 min, WSO (1977–1994): P = 159.9663 ± 0.0007 min. The existence of two frequencies,P -1 0 and P -1 1, with their separation corresponding to ≈1-yr period, seems to be difficult to explain in terms of gravity g modes.

Notes: Abstract The Wilcox Solar Observatory at Stanford University houses one of the International Research on the Interior of the Sun (IRIS) network observing stations. The instrument has observed the global oscillations of the Sun continually since it was installed in August 1987. Each site and instrument are different; here we report the details unique to the Stanford site.