Heating of the Solar Corona

Abstract

The maintenance of the million degree solar corona continues to be a challenging and an inspiring problem. There are basically two different mechanisms of heating depending upon the dominance or otherwise of the magnetic field. The nonmagnetic or mechanical heating processes operate when mechanical energy in the form of acoustic waves is available for dissipation. The magnetic heating mechanisms consist of dissipation of hydromagnetic waves, anomalous dissipation of currents and magnetic reconnection. The role of bright points in providing large scale heating through numerous small scale magnetic reconnections is emerging in a forceful manner. The motion of foot points of these bright points perhaps gives clues to the periods of waves which may also be contributing to the heating.