6–10 Jul 2026
University of the Western Cape
Africa/Johannesburg timezone
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The manifestation of vorticity in the atmosphere of the Sun

9 Jul 2026, 11:30
30m
Lecture Hall C3 (University of the Western Cape)

Lecture Hall C3

University of the Western Cape

Oral Presentation Track D - Astrophysics & Space Science Astrophysics & Space Science

Speaker

Prof. Eamon Scullion (University of Northumbria Newcastle upon Tyne (UK))

Description

High-resolution observations of the solar chromosphere have revealed ubiquitous prominent spiralling structures. These structures have been linked to the swirling downflows present in the intergranular lanes of the solar photosphere, existing as vortex tubes. Vortex tubes have been proposed as conduits for energy transfer throughout the solar atmosphere, channelling energy in the form of Poynting flux. However, there is a vast discrepancy between the number of rotating flow structures found in the photosphere and the number found in the chromosphere. Furthermore, it is still debated whether the source of the vorticity originates in the photosphere and extends up to the chromosphere or manifests in the chromosphere and descends towards the photosphere. We investigate a three-dimensional Radiative MagnetoHydroDynamic (MHD) simulation, produced using the MURaM code for the flow properties of the solar atmosphere. To correlate our findings with previous observations of chromospheric swirls, we use the DESIRE Radiation Hydrodynamic (RH) code to synthesise images in the Fe I 630.2 nm and Ca II 854.2 nm line profiles. We compare the synthesised images with the simultaneous observation of a chromospheric swirl in Fe I 630.2 nm and Ca II 854.2 nm lines taken by the CRisp Imaging Spectro-Polarimeter (CRISP) instrument at the Swedish 1-m Solar Telescope (SST).

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Author

Prof. Eamon Scullion (University of Northumbria Newcastle upon Tyne (UK))

Co-authors

Dr Gert Botha (University of Northumbria Newcastle upon Tyne (UK)) Mr Shivdev Turkay (University of Northumbria Newcastle upon Tyne (UK)) Dr Thomas Rees-Crockford (University of Northumbria Newcastle upon Tyne (UK))

Presentation materials

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