Subscribe to the gold package and get unlimited access to Shamra Academy
Register a new userFormation of solar quiescent coronal loops through magnetic reconnection in an emerging active region
184
0
0.0
(
0
)
Ask ChatGPT about the research
No Arabic abstract
Coronal loops are building blocks of solar active regions. However, their formation mechanism is still not well understood. Here we present direct observational evidence for the formation of coronal loops through magnetic reconnection as new magnetic fluxes emerge into the solar atmosphere. Extreme-ultraviolet observations of the Atmospheric Imaging Assembly (AIA) onboard the Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) clearly show the newly formed loops following magnetic reconnection within a plasma sheet. Formation of the loops is also seen in the h{alpha} line-core images taken by the New Vacuum Solar Telescope. Observations from the Helioseismic and Magnetic Imager onboard SDO show that a positive-polarity flux concentration moves towards a negative-polarity one with a speed of ~0.4 km/s, before the formation of coronal loops. During the loop formation process, we found signatures of flux cancellation and subsequent enhancement of the transverse field between the two polarities. The three-dimensional magnetic field structure reconstructed through a magnetohydrostatic model shows field lines consistent with the loops in AIA images. Numerous bright blobs with an average width of 1.37 Mm appear intermittently in the plasma sheet and move upward with a projected velocity of ~114 km/s. The temperature, emission measure and density of these blobs are about 3 MK, 2.0x10^(28) cm^(-5) and 1.2x10^(10) cm^(-3), respectively. A power spectral analysis of these blobs indicates that the observed reconnection is likely not dominated by a turbulent process. We have also identified flows with a velocity of 20 to 50 km/s towards the footpoints of the newly formed coronal loops.
rate research
Read More
The characteristic electron densities, temperatures, and thermal distributions of 1MK active region loops are now fairly well established, but their coronal magnetic field strengths remain undetermined. Here we present measurements from a sample of coronal loops observed by the Extreme-ultraviolet Imaging Spectrometer (EIS) on Hinode. We use a recently developed diagnostic technique that involves atomic radiation modeling of the contribution of a magnetically induced transition (MIT) to the Fe X 257.262A spectral line intensity. We find coronal magnetic field strengths in the range of 60--150G. We discuss some aspects of these new results in the context of previous measurements using different spectropolarimetric techniques, and their influence on the derived Alfv{e}n speeds and plasma $beta$ in coronal loops.
Employing Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO)/Atmospheric Imaging Assembly (AIA) multi-wavelength images, we report the coronal condensation during the magnetic reconnection (MR) between a system of open and closed coronal loops. Higher-lying magnetically open structures, observed in AIA 171 A images above the solar limb, move downward and interact with the lower-lying closed loops, resulting in the formation of dips in the former. An X-type structure forms at the interface. The interacting loops reconnect and disappear. Two sets of newly-reconnected loops then form and recede from the MR region. During the MR process, bright emission appears sequentially in the AIA 131 A and 304 A channels repeatedly in the dips of higher-lying open structures. This indicates the cooling and condensation process of hotter plasma from ~0.9 MK down to ~0.6 MK, and then to ~0.05 MK, also supported by the light curves of the AIA 171 A, 131 A, and 304 A channels. The part of higher-lying open structures supporting the condensations participate in the successive MR. The condensations without support by underlying loops then rain back to the solar surface along the newly-reconnected loops. Our results suggest that the MR between coronal loops leads to the condensation of hotter coronal plasma and its downflows. MR thus plays an active role in the mass cycle of coronal plasma because it can initiate the catastrophic cooling and condensation. This underlines that the magnetic and thermal evolution has to be treated together and cannot be separated, even in the case of catastrophic cooling.
Coronal loops interconnecting two active regions, called as interconnecting loops (ILs), are prominent large-scale structures in the solar atmosphere. They carry a significant amount of magnetic flux, therefore are considered to be an important element of the solar dynamo process. Earlier observations show that eruptions of ILs are an important source of CMEs. It is generally believed that ILs are formed through magnetic reconnection in the high corona (>150-200), and several scenarios have been proposed to explain their brightening in soft X-rays (SXRs). Yet, the detailed IL formation process has not been fully explored and the associated energy release in the corona still remains unresolved. Here we report the complete formation process of a set of ILs connecting two nearby active regions, with successive observations by STEREO-A on the far side of the Sun and SDO and Hinode on the Earth side. We conclude that ILs are formed by gradual reconnection high in the corona, in line with earlier postulations. In addition, we show evidence supporting that ILs become brightened in SXRs and EUVs through heating at or close to the reconnection site in the corona (i.e., through direct heating process of reconnection), a process that has been largely overlooked in earlier studies on ILs
Magnetic reconnection, the rearrangement of magnetic field topology, is a fundamental physical process in magnetized plasma systems all over the universe1,2. Its process is difficult to be directly observed. Coronal structures, such as coronal loops and filament spines, often sketch the magnetic field geometry and its changes in the solar corona3. Here we show a highly suggestive observation of magnetic reconnection between an erupting solar filament and its nearby coronal loops, resulting in changes in connection of the filament. X-type structures form when the erupting filament encounters the loops. The filament becomes straight, and bright current sheets form at the interfaces with the loops. Many plasmoids appear in these current sheets and propagate bi-directionally. The filament disconnects from the current sheets, which gradually disperse and disappear, reconnects to the loops, and becomes redirected to the loop footpoints. This evolution of the filament and the loops suggests successive magnetic reconnection predicted by theories1 but rarely detected with such clarity in observations. Our results on the formation, evolution, and disappearance of current sheets, confirm three-dimensional magnetic reconnection theory and have implications for the evolution of dissipation regions and the release of magnetic energy for reconnection in many magnetized plasma systems.
We study the formation of transient loops in the core of the AR 11890. For this purpose, we have used the observations recorded by the Atmospheric Imaging Assembly (AIA) and the Interface Region Imaging Spectrograph (IRIS). For photospheric field configuration, we have used the line-of-sight (LOS) magnetograms obtained from the Helioseismic and Magnetic Imager (HMI). The transient is simultaneously observed in all the UV and EUV channels of AIA and the three slit-jaw images from IRIS. The co-existence of the transient in all AIA and IRIS SJI channels suggests the transients multi-thermal nature. The transient consists of short loops located at the base of the transient as well as longe loops. A differential emission measure (DEM) analysis shows that the transient has a clumpy structure. The highest emission observed at the base is within the temperature bin of $log, T = 6.65 - 6.95$. We observe the longer loops at a similar temperature, albeit very feeble. Using LOS magnetograms, we conclude that the magnetic reconnection may have caused the transient. Our observations further suggest that the physics of the formation of such transients may be similar to those of typical coronal jets, albeit in different topological configurations. Such multi-wavelength observations shed light on the formation of hot plasma in the solar corona and provide further essential constraints on modeling the thermodynamics of such transients.
Log in to be able to interact and post comments
comments
Fetching comments
Sign in to be able to follow your search criteria
