The solar transition region is a region of the
Sun's atmosphere, between the
chromosphere and
corona. It is visible from
space using telescopes that can sense
ultraviolet. It is important because it is the site of several unrelated but important transitions in the physics of the solar atmosphere:Below, gravity dominates the shape of most features, so that the Sun may be described in terms of layers and horizontal features (like sunspots); above, dynamic forces dominate the shape of most features, so that the transition region itself is not a well-defined layer at a particular altitude.Below, most of the helium is not fully ionized, so that it radiates energy very effectively; above, it is fully ionized. This has a profound effect on the equilibrium temperature (see below).Below, the material is opaque to the particular colors associated with
spectral lines, so that most spectral lines formed below the transition region are
absorption lines in
infrared,
visible light, and
near ultraviolet, while most lines formed at or above the transition region are
emission lines in the
far ultraviolet (FUV) and
X-rays. This makes
radiative transfer of energy within the transition region very complicated.Below,
gas pressure and
fluid dynamics dominate the motion and shape of structures; above,
magnetic forces dominate the motion and shape of structures, giving rise to different simplifications of
magnetohydrodynamics. The transition region itself is not well studied in part because it must be treated with the full complexity of both the
Navier-Stokes Equation and
Maxwell's Equations.
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