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Kink oscillations of coronal loops, i.e., standing kink waves, is one of the most studied dynamic phenomena in the solar corona. The oscillations are excited by impulsive energy releases, such as low coronal eruptions. Typical periods of the oscillations are from a few to several minutes, and are found to increase linearly with the increase in the major radius of the oscillating loops. It clearly demonstrates that kink oscillations are natural modes of the loops, and can be described as standing fast magnetoacoustic waves with the wavelength determined by the length of the loop. Kink oscillations are observed in two different regimes. In the rapidly decaying regime, the apparent displacement amplitude reaches several minor radii of the loop. The damping time which is about several oscillation periods decreases with the increase in the oscillation amplitude, suggesting a nonlinear nature of the damping. In the decayless regime, the amplitudes are smaller than a minor radius, and the driver is still debated. The review summarises major findings obtained during the last decade, and covers both observational and theoretical results. Observational results include creation and analysis of comprehensive catalogues of the oscillation events, and detection of kink oscillations with imaging and spectral instruments in the EUV and microwave bands. Theoretical results include various approaches to modelling in terms of the magnetohydrodynamic wave theory. Properties of kink oscillations are found to depend on parameters of the oscillating loop, such as the magnetic twist, stratification, steady flows, temperature variations and so on, which make kink oscillations a natural probe of these parameters by the method of magnetohydrodynamic seismology.

The investigation of the wind in the solar corona initiated with the observations of the resonantly scattered UV emission of the coronal plasma obtained with UVCS-SOHO, designed to measure the wind outflow speed by applying the Doppler dimming diagnostics. Metis on Solar Orbiter complements the UVCS spectroscopic observations, performed during solar activity cycle 23, by simultaneously imaging the polarized visible light and the HI Ly-alpha corona in order to obtain high-spatial and temporal resolution maps of the outward velocity of the continuously expanding solar atmosphere. The Metis observations, on May 15, 2020, provide the first HI Ly-alpha images of the extended corona and the first instantaneous map of the speed of the coronal plasma outflows during the minimum of solar activity and allow us to identify the layer where the slow wind flow is observed. The polarized visible light (580-640 nm), and the UV HI Ly-alpha (121.6 nm) coronal emissions, obtained with the two Metis channels, are combined in order to measure the dimming of the UV emission relative to a static corona. This effect is caused by the outward motion of the coronal plasma along the direction of incidence of the chromospheric photons on the coronal neutral hydrogen. The plasma outflow velocity is then derived as a function of the measured Doppler dimming. The static corona UV emission is simulated on the basis of the plasma electron density inferred from the polarized visible light. This study leads to the identification, in the velocity maps of the solar corona, of the high-density layer about +/-10 deg wide, centered on the extension of a quiet equatorial streamer present at the East limb where the slowest wind flows at about (160 +/- 18) km/s from 4 Rs to 6 Rs. Beyond the boundaries of the high-density layer, the wind velocity rapidly increases, marking the transition between slow and fast wind in the corona.

Context. Transverse oscillations of coronal structures are currently intensively studied to explore the associated magnetohydrodynamic wave physics and perform seismology of the local medium. Aims. We make a first attempt to measure the thermodynamic evolution of a sample of coronal loops that undergo decaying kink oscillations in response to an eruption in the corresponding active region. Methods. Using data from the six coronal wavelengths of SDO/AIA, we performed a differential emission measure (DEM) analysis of 15 coronal loops before, during, and after the eruption and oscillation. Results. We find that the emission measure, temperature, and width of the DEM distribution undergo significant variations on time scales relevant for the study of transverse oscillations. There are no clear collective trends of increases or decreases for the parameters we analysed. The strongest variations of the parameters occur during the initial perturbation of the loops, and the influence of background structures may also account for much of this variation. Conclusions. The DEM analysis of oscillating coronal loops in erupting active regions shows evidence of evolution on time scales important for the study of the oscillations. Further work is needed to separate the various observational and physical mechanisms that may be responsible for the variations in temperature, DEM distribution width, and total emission measure., Comment: Accepted in A&A

Context. During their journey to perihelion, comets may appear in the field-of-view of space-borne optical instruments, showing in some cases a nicely developed plasma tail extending from their coma and exhibiting an oscillatory behaviour. Aims. The oscillations of cometary tails may be explained in terms of vortex shedding because of the interaction of the comet with the solar wind streams. Therefore, it is possible to exploit these oscillations in order to infer the value of the Strouhal number $St$, which quantifies the vortex shedding phenomenon, and the physical properties of the local medium. Methods. We used the Heliospheric Imager (HI) data of the Solar TErrestrial Relations Observatory (STEREO) mission to study the oscillations of the tails of the comets 2P/Encke and C/2012 S1 (ISON) during their perihelion in Nov 2013, determining the Strouhal numbers from the estimates of the halo size, the relative speed of the solar wind flow and the period of the oscillations. Results. We found that the estimated Strouhal numbers are very small, and the typical value of $St\sim0.2$ would be extrapolated for size of the halo larger than $\sim10^6$ km. Conclusions. Despite the vortex shedding phenomenon has not been unambiguously revealed, the findings suggest that some MHD instability process is responsible for the observed behaviour of cometary tails, which can be exploited for probing the physical conditions of the near-Sun region., Comment: 10 pages, 9 figures, accepted for publication in A&A, Sect. 10

Radio emission observations from the Learmonth and Bruny Island radio spectrographs are analysed to determine the nature of a train of discrete, periodic radio \lq sparks\rq (finite-bandwidth, short-duration isolated radio features) which precede a type II burst. We analyse extreme ultraviolet (EUV) imaging from SDO/AIA at multiple wavelengths and identify a series of quasi-periodic rapidly-propagating enhancements, which we interpret as a fast wave train, and link these to the detected radio features. The speeds and positions of the periodic rapidly propagating fast waves and the coronal mass ejection (CME) were recorded using running-difference images and time-distance analysis. From the frequency of the radio sparks the local electron density at the emission location was estimated for each. Using an empirical model for the scaling of density in the corona, the calculated electron density was used to obtain the height above the surface at which the emission occurs, and the propagation velocity of the emission location. The period of the radio sparks, $\delta t_\mathrm{r}$=1.78$\pm$0.04 min, matches the period of the fast wave train observed at 171 $\AA$, $\delta t_\mathrm{EUV}$=1.7 $\pm$ 0.2 min. The inferred speed of the emission location of the radio sparks, 630 km s$^{-1}$, is comparable to the measured speed of the CME leading edge, 500 km s$^{-1}$, and the speeds derived from the drifting of the type II lanes. The calculated height of the radio emission (obtained from the density) matches the observed location of the CME leading edge. From the above evidence we propose that the radio sparks are caused by the quasi-periodic fast waves, and the emission is generated as they catch up and interact with the leading edge of the CME., Comment: Accepted for publication in A&A

We investigate the decayless regime of coronal kink oscillations recently discovered in the Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO)/AIA data. In contrast to decaying kink oscillations that are excited by impulsive dynamical processes, this type of transverse oscillations is not connected to any external impulsive impact, such as a flare or CME, and does not show any significant decay. Moreover the amplitude of these decayless oscillations is typically lower than that of decaying oscillations. The aim of this research is to estimate the prevalence of this phenomenon and its characteristic signatures. We analysed 21 active regions (NOAA 11637--11657) observed in January 2013 in the 171 A channel of SDO/AIA. For each active region we inspected six hours of observations, constructing time-distance plots for the slits positioned across pronounced bright loops. The oscillatory patterns in time-distance plots were visually identified and the oscillation periods and amplitudes were measured. We also estimated the length of each oscillating loop. Low-amplitude decayless kink oscillations are found to be present in the majority of the analysed active regions. The oscillation periods lie in the range from 1.5 to 10~minutes. In two active regions with insufficient observation conditions we did not identify any oscillation patterns. The oscillation periods are found to increase with the length of the oscillating loop. The considered type of coronal oscillations is a common phenomenon in the corona. The established dependence of the oscillation period on the loop length is consistent with their interpretation in terms of standing kink waves., Comment: Submited to A&A, 9 pages, 7 figures

Collimated ejections of plasma called "coronal hole jets" are commonly observed in polar coronal holes. However, such coronal jets are not only a specific features of polar coronal holes but they can also be found in coronal holes appearing at lower heliographic latitudes. In this paper we present some observations of "equatorial coronal hole jets" made up with data provided by the STEREO/SECCHI instruments during a period comprising March 2007 and December 2007. The jet events are selected by requiring at least some visibility in both COR1 and EUVI instruments. We report 15 jet events, and we discuss their main features. For one event, the uplift velocity has been determined as about 200 km/s, while the deceleration rate appears to be about 0.11 km/s2, less than solar gravity. The average jet visibility time is about 30 minutes, consistent with jet observed in polar regions. On the basis of the present dataset, we provisionally conclude that there are not substantial physical differences between polar and equatorial coronal hole jets., Comment: 9 pages, 8 figures, 1 table, accepted for publication in Annales Geophysicae, Special Issue:'Three eyes on the Sun-multi-spacecraft studies of the corona and impacts on the heliosphere'

In this paper we present the first comprehensive statistical study of EUV coronal jets observed with the SECCHI imaging suites of the two STEREO spacecraft. A catalogue of 79 polar jets is presented, identified from simultaneous EUV and white-light coronagraph observations, taken during the time period March 2007 to April 2008. The appearances of the coronal jets were always correlated with underlying small-scale chromospheric bright points. A basic characterisation of the morphology and identification of the presence of helical structure were established with respect to recently proposed models for their origin and temporal evolution. A classification of the events with respect to previous jet studies shows that amongst the 79 events there were 37 Eiffel tower-type jet events commonly interpreted as a small-scale (about 35 arcsec) magnetic bipole reconnecting with the ambient unipolar open coronal magnetic fields at its looptops, and 12 lambda-type jet events commonly interpreted as reconnection with the ambient field happening at the bipoles footpoints. Five events were termed micro-CME type jet events because they resembled the classical coronal mass ejections (CMEs) but on much smaller scales. A few jets are also found in equatorial coronal holes. The typical lifetimes in the SECCHI/EUVI (Extreme UltraViolet Imager) field of view between 1.0 to 1.7 solar radius and in SECCHI/COR1 field of view between 1.4 to 4 solar radius are obtained, and the derived speed are roughly estimated. In summary, the observations support the assumption of continuous small-scale reconnection as an intrinsic feature of the solar corona, with its role for the heating of the corona, particle acceleration, structuring and acceleration of the solar wind remaining to be explored in more details in further studies., Comment: 20 pages, 7 tables of figures, 2 tables of plots, an appendix with list events