Solar small-scale transient phenomena
and their role in coronal heating

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Abstract

The highly inhomogeneous appearance of the quiet Sun is characterised by a rich diversity of small-scale dynamic structures which have profound effects on the mass and energy flow to the outer solar atmosphere. The principal inhomogeneities are related to roughly cellular patterns that constitute the network, which is best observed in chromospheric lines and persists throughout the chromosphere-corona transition region and the low corona (at a considerably reduced contrast). Over the past decade many transient events have been discovered in association with the network boundaries, e.g. explosive events, network brightenings, chromospheric and X-ray jets, as well as different types of spicules. Common sense would dictate that some of these phenomena are physically tied to one another and to the constantly evolving photospheric magnetic concentrations at their core. However, the exact means of these connections, the plasma properties and structure of these features, as well as their formation process still remain unknown, mainly because the same event has a different appearance when observed in different spectral lines and with different instruments.

Aim

The aim of the proposed meetings is to consolidate our knowledge on the properties of small-scale transient phenomena, their association with the magnetic field, their inter-relationship, as well as their implications for the mass balance and heating of the upper atmosphere of the Sun.

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