No Arabic abstract
To investigate the excitation of kink oscillations in coronal loops and filaments, a C3.4 circular-ribbon flare (CRF) associated with a blowout jet in active region 12434 on 2015 October 16 is analyzed. The flare excited small-amplitude kink oscillation of a remote coronal loop. The oscillation lasted for $ge$4 cycles without significant damping. The amplitude and period are 0.3$pm$0.1 Mm and 207$pm$12 s. Interestingly, the flare also excited transverse oscillation of a remote filament. The oscillation lasted for $sim$3.5 cycles with decaying amplitudes. The initial amplitude is 1.7$-$2.2 Mm. The period and damping time are 437$-$475 s and 1142$-$1600 s. The starting times of simultaneous oscillations of coronal loop and filament were concurrent with the hard X-ray peak time. Though small in size and short in lifetime, the flare set off a chain reaction. It generated a bright secondary flare ribbon (SFR) in the chromosphere, remote brightening (RB) that was cospatial with the filament, and intermittent, jet-like flow propagating in the northeast direction. The loop oscillation is most probably excited by the flare-induced blast wave at a speed of $ge$1300 km s$^{-1}$. The excitation of the filament oscillation is more complicated. The blast wave triggers secondary magnetic reconnection far from the main flare, which not only heats the local plasma to higher temperatures (SFR and RB), but produces jet-like flow (i.e., reconnection outflow) as well. The filament is disturbed by the secondary magnetic reconnection and experiences transverse oscillation. The findings give new insight into the excitation of transverse oscillations of coronal loops and filaments.
We report our multiwavelength observations of two homologous circular-ribbon flares (CRFs) in active region 11991 on 2014 March 5, focusing on the transverse oscillations of an extreme-ultraviolet (EUV) loop excited by the flares. The transverse oscillations are of fast standing kink-mode. The first-stage oscillation triggered by the C2.8 flare is decayless with lower amplitudes (310$-$510 km). The periods (115$-$118 s) in different wavelengths are nearly the same, indicating coherent oscillations. The magnetic field of the loop is estimated to be 65$-$78 G. The second-stage oscillation triggered by the M1.0 flare is decaying with larger amplitudes (1250$-$1280 km). The periods decreases from 117 s in 211 {AA} to 70 s in 171 {AA}, implying a decrease of loop length or an implosion after a gradual expansion. The damping time, being 147$-$315 s, increases with the period, so that the values of $tau/P$ are close to each other in different wavelengths. The thickness of the inhomogeneous layer is estimated to be $sim$0farcs45 under the assumption of resonant absorption. This is the first observation of the excitation of two kink-mode loop oscillations by two sympathetic flares. The results are important for understanding of the excitation of kink oscillations of coronal loops and hence the energy balance in the solar corona. Our findings also validate the prevalence of significantly amplified amplitudes of oscillations by successive drivers.
In this paper, multiwavelength observations of remote coronal dimmings related to an M1.1 circular-ribbon flare (CRF) in active region (AR) 12434 are reported. The confined flare without a CME was observed by AIA and HMI on board SDO on 2015 October 16. Global three-dimensional (3D) magnetic fields before flare were obtained using the potential field source surface modeling. A few minutes before the flare hard X-ray peak time (06:13:48 UT), small-scale, weak dimming appeared $sim$240$arcsec$ away from the flare site, which can be observed by AIA only in 131 and 171 {AA}. Afterwards, long and narrow dimmings became evident in all AIA EUV passbands except 304 {AA}, while localized core dimming was not clearly observed near the flare site. The large-area dimmings extended southeastward and the areas increased gradually. The total area of dimmings reaches (1.2$pm0.4$)$times$10$^4$ Mm$^2$ in 193 {AA}. The maximal relative intensity decreases in 171 and 193 {AA} reach 90% and 80%, respectively. Subsequently, the dimmings began to replenish and the area decreased slowly, lasting for $geq$3 hr. The remote dimmings and AR 12434 were connected by large-scale coronal loops. The remote dimmings were associated with the southwest footpoints of coronal loops with weak negative polarities. Possible origins of remote dimmings are discussed.
In this work, we report our multi-wavelength observations of the transverse oscillation of a large scale coronal loop with a length of 350 Mm. The oscillation was induced by a blowout coronal jet, which was related to a circular ribbon flare (CRF) in AR 12434 on 2015 October 16. We aim to determine the physical parameters in the coronal loop, including the Alfven speed and magnetic field strength. The jet induced kink oscillation was observed in extreme-ultraviolet (EUV) wavelengths by the Atmospheric Imaging Assembly (AIA) on board the Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO). Line of sight magnetograms were observed by the Helioseismic and Magnetic Imager (HMI) on board SDO. We took several slices along the loop to assemble time-distance diagrams, and used an exponentially decaying sine function to fit the decaying oscillation. The initial amplitude, period, and damping time of kink oscillation were obtained. Coronal seismology of the kink mode was applied to estimate the Alfven speed and magnetic field strength in the oscillating loop. In addition, we measured the magnetic field of the loop through non-linear force free field (NLFFF) modeling using the flux rope insertion method. The oscillation is most pronounced in AIA 171 and 131. The oscillation is almost in phase along the loop with a peak initial amplitude of 13.6 Mm, meaning that the oscillation belong to the fast standing kink mode. The oscillation lasts for 3.5 cycles with an average period of 462 s and average damping time of 976 s. The values of t/P lie in the range of 1.5-2.5. Based on coronal seismology, the Alfven speed in the oscillating loop is estimated to be 1210 km. Two independent methods are applied to calculate the magnetic field strength of the loop, resulting in 30043 G using the coronal seismology and 21123 G using the NLFFF modeling, respectively.
We studied a circular-ribbon flare, SOL2014-12-17T04:51, with emphasis on its thermal evolution as determined by the Differential Emission Measure (DEM) inversion analysis of the extreme ultraviolet (EUV) images of the Atmospheric Imaging Assembly (AIA) instrument onboard the Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO). Both temperature and emission measure start to rise much earlier than the flare, along with an eruption and formation of a hot halo over the fan structure. In the main flare phase, another set of ribbons forms inside the circular ribbon, and expands as expected for ribbons at the footpoints of a postflare arcade. An additional heating event further extends the decay phase, which is also characteristic of some eruptive flares. The basic magnetic configuration appears to be a fan-spine topology, rooted in a minority-polarity patch surrounded by majority-polarity flux. We suggest that reconnection at the null point begins well before the impulsive phase, when the null is distorted into a breakout current sheet, and that both flare and breakout reconnection are necessary in order to explain the subsequent local thermal evolution and the eruptive activities in this confined magnetic structure. Using local DEMs, we found a postflare temperature increase inside the fan surface, indicating that the so-called EUV late phase is due to continued heating in the flare loops.
We study a complex GOES M1.1 circular ribbon flare and related pre-flare activity on 26 January 2015 [SOL26-01-2015] in solar active region NOAA 12268. This flare activity was observed by the AIA on board SDO and the RHESSI. The examination of photospheric magnetograms during the extended period, prior to the event, suggests the successive development of a so-called anemone type magnetic configuration. NLFFF extrapolation reveals a fan-spine magnetic configuration with the presence of a coronal null-point. We found that the pre-flare activity in the active region starts ~15 min prior to the main flare in the form of localized bright patches at two locations. A comparison of locations and spatial structures of the pre-flare activity with magnetic configuration of the corresponding region suggests onset of magnetic reconnection at the null-point along with the low-atmosphere magnetic reconnection caused by the emergence and the cancellation of the magnetic flux. The main flare of M1.1 class is characterized by the formation of a well-developed circular ribbon along with a region of remote brightening. Remarkably, a set of relatively compact parallel ribbons formed inside the periphery of the circular ribbon which developed lateral to the brightest part of the circular ribbon. During the peak phase of the flare, a coronal jet is observed at the north-east edge of the circular ribbon which suggests interchange reconnection between large-scale field lines and low-lying closed field lines. Our investigation suggests a combination of two distinct processes in which ongoing pre-flare null-point reconnection gets further intensified as the confined eruption along with jet activity proceeded from within the circular ribbon region which results to the formation of inner parallel ribbons and corresponding post-reconnection arcade.