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Register a new userDynamics of Late-Stage Reconnection in the 2017 September 10 Solar Flare
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In this multi-instrument paper, we search for evidence of sustained magnetic reconnection far beyond the impulsive phase of the X8.2-class solar flare on 2017 September 10. Using Hinode/EIS, CoMP, SDO/AIA, K-Cor, Hinode/XRT, RHESSI, and IRIS, we study the late-stage evolution of the flare dynamics and topology, comparing signatures of reconnection with those expected from the standard solar flare model. Examining previously unpublished EIS data, we present the evolution of non-thermal velocity and temperature within the famous plasma sheet structure, for the first four hours of the flares duration. On even longer time scales, we use Differential Emission Measures and polarization data to study the longevity of the flares plasma sheet and cusp structure, discovering that the plasma sheet is still visible in CoMP linear polarization observations on 2017 September 11, long after its last appearance in EUV. We deduce that magnetic reconnection of some form is still ongoing at this time - 27 hours after flare onset.
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The Fermi-Large Area Telescope (LAT) detection of the X8.2 GOES class solar flare of 2017 September 10 provides for the first time observations of a long duration high-energy gamma-ray flare associated with a Ground Level Enhancement (GLE). The >100 MeV emission from this flare lasted for more than 12 hours covering both the impulsive and extended phase. We present the localization of the gamma-ray emission and find that it is consistent with the active region (AR) from which the flare occurred over a period lasting more than 6 hours contrary to what was found for the 2012 March 7 flares. The temporal variation of the proton index inferred from the gamma-ray data seems to suggest two phases in acceleration of the proton population. Based on timing arguments we interpret the second phase to be tied to the acceleration mechanism powering the GLE, believed to be particle acceleration at a coronal shock driven by the CME.
We report the first science results from the newly completed Expanded Owens Valley Solar Array (EOVSA), which obtained excellent microwave imaging spectroscopy observations of SOL2017-09-10, a classic partially-occulted solar limb flare associated with an erupting flux rope. This event is also well-covered by the Reuven Ramaty High Energy Solar Spectroscopic Imager (RHESSI) in hard X-rays (HXRs). We present an overview of this event focusing on microwave and HXR data, both associated with high-energy nonthermal electrons, and discuss them within the context of the flare geometry and evolution revealed by extreme ultraviolet (EUV) observations from the Atmospheric Imaging Assembly aboard the Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO/AIA). The EOVSA and RHESSI data reveal the evolving spatial and energy distribution of high-energy electrons throughout the entire flaring region. The results suggest that the microwave and HXR sources largely arise from a common nonthermal electron population, although the microwave imaging spectroscopy provides information over a much larger volume of the corona.
We examine spectropolarimetric data from the CoMP instrument, acquired during the evolution of the September 10th 2017 X8.2 solar flare on the western solar limb. CoMP captured linearly polarized light from two emission lines of Fe XIII at 1074.7 and 1079.8 nm, from 1.03 to 1.5 solar radii. We focus here on the hot plasma-sheet lying above the bright flare loops and beneath the ejected CME. The polarization has a striking and coherent spatial structure, with unexpectedly small polarization aligned with the plasma-sheet. By elimination, we find that small-scale magnetic field structure is needed to cause such significant depolarization, and suggest that plasmoid formation during reconnection (associated with the tearing mode instability) creates magnetic structure on scales below instrument resolution of 6 Mm. We conclude that polarization measurements with new coronagraphs, such as the upcoming DKIST, will further enhance our understanding of magnetic reconnection and development of turbulence in the solar corona.
In this study, we investigate motions in the hot plasma above the flare loops during the 2017 September 10 X8.2 flare event. We examine the region to the south of the main flare arcade, where there is data from the Interface Region Imaging Spectrograph (IRIS), and the Extreme ultraviolet Imaging Spectrometer (EIS) on Hinode. We find that there are initial blue shifts of 20--60 km/s observed in this region in the Fe XXI line in IRIS and the Fe XXIV line in EIS, and that the locations of these blue shifts move southward along the arcade over the course of about 10 min. The cadence of IRIS allows us to follow the evolution of these flows, and we find that at each location where there is an initial blue shift in the Fe XXIV line, there are damped oscillations in the Doppler velocity with periods of ~400 s. We conclude that these periods are independent of loop length, ruling out magnetoacoustic standing modes as a possible mechanism. Microwave observations from the Expanded Owens Valley Solar Array (EOVSA) indicate that there are non-thermal emissions in the region where the Doppler shifts are observed, indicating that accelerated particles are present. We suggest that the flows and oscillations are due to motions of the magnetic field that are caused by reconnection outflows disturbing the loop-top region.
On 2016 September 20, the Interface Region Imaging Spectrograph observed an active region during its earliest emerging phase for almost 7 hours. The Helioseismic and Magnetic Imager on board the Solar Dynamics Observatory observed continuous emergence of small-scale magnetic bipoles with a rate of $sim$10$^{16}$ Mx~s$^{-1}$. The emergence of magnetic fluxes and interactions between different polarities lead to frequent occurrence of ultraviolet (UV) bursts, which exhibit as intense transient brightenings in the 1400 AA{} images. In the meantime, discrete small patches with the same magnetic polarity tend to move together and merge, leading to enhancement of the magnetic fields and thus formation of pores (small sunspots) at some locations. The spectra of these UV bursts are characterized by the superposition of several chromospheric absorption lines on the greatly broadened profiles of some emission lines formed at typical transition region temperatures, suggesting heating of the local materials to a few tens of thousands of kelvin in the lower atmosphere by magnetic reconnection. Some bursts reveal blue and red shifts of $sim$100~km~s$^{-1}$ at neighboring pixels, indicating the spatially resolved bidirectional reconnection outflows. Many such bursts appear to be associated with the cancellation of magnetic fluxes with a rate of the order of $sim$10$^{15}$ Mx~s$^{-1}$. We also investigate the three-dimensional magnetic field topology through a magneto-hydrostatic model and find that a small fraction of the bursts are associated with bald patches (magnetic dips). Finally, we find that almost all bursts are located in regions of large squashing factor at the height of $sim$1 Mm, reinforcing our conclusion that these bursts are produced through reconnection in the lower atmosphere.
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