Hbeta Spicules, Small-scale Jets, and Hbeta Microflashes: Sub-arcsecond Dynamic Events and their Magnetic Origins in the Lower Solar Chromosphere Observed by DKIST
Abstract
We examine an on-disk solar quiet region of enhanced magnetic network using Hbeta images from Daniel K. Inouye Solar Telescopes (DKISTs) Visible Broadband Imager (VBI) and line-of-sight magnetograms from DKISTs Visible Spectro-Polarimeter (ViSP). We also compare the ViSP magnetograms with co-aligned co-temporal line-of-sight magnetograms from the Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO)/Helioseismic and Magnetic Imager (HMI). We find:(i) Two types of chromospheric jet-like features: Hbeta spicules, and small-scale jets. Both are rooted near edges of magnetic network lanes. Several sit close to ViSP-detected tiny islands of either minority-polarity flux or dips in majority-polarity flux. Hence, those several plausibly stem from mixed-polarity magnetic flux, and are caused by chromospheric magnetic reconnection. For H\b{eta} spicules, the average width, length, lifetimes, and speeds are 420±400 km, 2600±1600 km, 4.3±0.25 min, and 12±4.7 kms. For small-scale jets, those are 385±100 km, 620±40 km, 5±3min, and 4.4±1.5 kms. (ii) Hβ microflashes sit in evidently unipolar flux. Their widths, lengths, lifetimes, and speeds are 180±65 km, 365±100 km, 4.3±2.6 min, and 3.1±0.2 kms. (iii) At the base of a coronal plume, due to its higher spatial resolution than HMI, ViSP shows both some very strong (>800 G) majority-polarity flux not shown by HMI and some sub-arc-second minority-polarity-flux inclusions not shown by HMI. These sub-arcsecond chromospheric transients carry sufficient energy (10^{24}erg) to transiently heat the local chromosphere and corona and potentially contribute to solar-wind acceleration. They may represent the small-scale end of a continuum of magnetic-reconnection-driven activity, highlighting the importance of DKIST's high-resolution magnetic-field measurements for understanding small-scale chromospheric dynamics.
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BibTeX
@misc{panesar2026hbeta,
title = {{Hbeta Spicules, Small-scale Jets, and Hbeta Microflashes: Sub-arcsecond Dynamic Events and their Magnetic Origins in the Lower Solar Chromosphere Observed by DKIST}},
author = {Navdeep K. Panesar and V. Aparna and Sanjiv K. Tiwari and Alphonse C. Sterling and Ronald L. Moore and J. M. da Silva Santos},
howpublished = {arXiv},
year = {2026},
month = sep,
doi = {10.48550/arxiv.2609.10766},
eprint = {2609.10766},
archivePrefix = {arXiv},
url = {https://arxiv.org/abs/2609.10766},
}
RIS
TY - UNPB
TI - Hbeta Spicules, Small-scale Jets, and Hbeta Microflashes: Sub-arcsecond Dynamic Events and their Magnetic Origins in the Lower Solar Chromosphere Observed by DKIST
AU - Navdeep K. Panesar
AU - V. Aparna
AU - Sanjiv K. Tiwari
AU - Alphonse C. Sterling
AU - Ronald L. Moore
AU - J. M. da Silva Santos
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/09/09
PB - arXiv
DO - 10.48550/arxiv.2609.10766
UR - https://arxiv.org/abs/2609.10766
AB - We examine an on-disk solar quiet region of enhanced magnetic network using Hbeta images from Daniel K. Inouye Solar Telescopes (DKISTs) Visible Broadband Imager (VBI) and line-of-sight magnetograms from DKISTs Visible Spectro-Polarimeter (ViSP). We also compare the ViSP magnetograms with co-aligned co-temporal line-of-sight magnetograms from the Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO)/Helioseismic and Magnetic Imager (HMI). We find:(i) Two types of chromospheric jet-like features: Hbeta spicules, and small-scale jets. Both are rooted near edges of magnetic network lanes. Several sit close to ViSP-detected tiny islands of either minority-polarity flux or dips in majority-polarity flux. Hence, those several plausibly stem from mixed-polarity magnetic flux, and are caused by chromospheric magnetic reconnection. For H\b{eta} spicules, the average width, length, lifetimes, and speeds are 420±400 km, 2600±1600 km, 4.3±0.25 min, and 12±4.7 kms. For small-scale jets, those are 385±100 km, 620±40 km, 5±3min, and 4.4±1.5 kms. (ii) Hβ microflashes sit in evidently unipolar flux. Their widths, lengths, lifetimes, and speeds are 180±65 km, 365±100 km, 4.3±2.6 min, and 3.1±0.2 kms. (iii) At the base of a coronal plume, due to its higher spatial resolution than HMI, ViSP shows both some very strong (>800 G) majority-polarity flux not shown by HMI and some sub-arc-second minority-polarity-flux inclusions not shown by HMI. These sub-arcsecond chromospheric transients carry sufficient energy (10^{24}erg) to transiently heat the local chromosphere and corona and potentially contribute to solar-wind acceleration. They may represent the small-scale end of a continuum of magnetic-reconnection-driven activity, highlighting the importance of DKIST's high-resolution magnetic-field measurements for understanding small-scale chromospheric dynamics.
ER -