The physical processes that heat the solar corona and accelerate the solar wind remain unknown after many years of study. Some have suggested that the wind is driven by waves and turbulence in open magnetic flux tubes, and others have suggested that plasma is injected into the open tubes by magnetic reconnection with closed loops. In order to test the latter idea, we developed Monte Carlo simulations of the photospheric "magnetic carpet" and extrapolated the time-varying coronal field. These models were constructed for a range of different magnetic flux imbalance ratios. Completely balanced models represent quiet regions on the Sun and source regions of slow solar wind streams. Highly imbalanced models represent coronal holes and source regions of fast wind streams. The models agree with observed emergence rates, surface flux densities, and number distributions of magnetic elements. Despite having no imposed supergranular motions, a realistic network of magnetic "funnels" appeared spontaneously. We computed the rate at which closed field lines open up (i.e., recycling times for open flux), and we estimated the energy flux released in reconnection events involving the opening up of closed flux tubes. For quiet regions and mixed-polarity coronal holes, these energy fluxes were found to be much lower than required to accelerate the solar wind. For the most imbalanced coronal holes, the energy fluxes may be large enough to power the solar wind, but the recycling times are far longer than the time it takes the solar wind to accelerate into the low corona. Thus, it is unlikely that either the slow or fast solar wind is driven by reconnection and loop-opening processes in the magnetic carpet.
The solar corona is a hot, dynamic, and highly magnetized plasma environment whose source of energy is not yet well understood. One leading contender for that energy source is the dissipation of magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) waves or turbulent fluctuations. Many wave-heating models for the corona and the solar wind presume that these fluctuations originate at or below the Sun's photosphere. However, this paper investigates the idea that magnetic reconnection may generate an additional source of MHD waves over a gradual range of heights in the low corona. A time-dependent Monte Carlo simulation of …
In the quiet solar photosphere, the mixed polarity fields form a magnetic carpet, which continuously evolves due to dynamical interaction between the convective motions and magnetic field. This interplay is a viable source to heat the solar atmosphere. In this work, we used the line-of-sight (LOS) magnetograms obtained from the Helioseismic and Magnetic Imager (HMI) on the \textit{Solar Dynamics Observatory} (\textit{SDO}), and the Imaging Magnetograph eXperiment (IMaX) instrument on the \textit{Sunrise} balloon-borne observatory, as time dependent lower boundary conditions, to study the evolu…
The solar wind is connected to the Sun's atmosphere by flux tubes that are rooted in an ever-changing pattern of positive and negative magnetic polarities on the surface. Observations indicate that the magnetic field is filamentary and intermittent across a wide range of spatial scales. However, we do not know to what extent the complex flux tube topology seen near the Sun survives as the wind expands into interplanetary space. In order to study the possible long-distance connections between the corona and the heliosphere, we developed new models of turbulence-driven solar wind acceleration al…
Our understanding of the process of fast reconnection has undergone a dramatic change in the last 10 years driven, in part, by the availability of high-resolution numerical simulations that have consistently demonstrated the break-up of current sheets into magnetic islands, with reconnection rates that become independent of Lundquist number, challenging the belief that fast magnetic reconnection in flares proceeds via the Petschek mechanism that invokes pairs of slow-mode shocks connected to a compact diffusion region. The reconnection sites are too small to be resolved with images but these r…
We report a different type of three-minute chromospheric oscillations above a sunspot in association with a small-scale impulsive event in a light bridge. During our observations, we found a transient brightening in the light bridge. The brightening was composed of elementary bursts that may be a manifestation of fast repetitive magnetic reconnections in the light bridge. Interestingly, the oscillations in the nearby sunspot umbra were impulsively excited when the intensity of the brightening reached its peak. The initial period of the oscillations was about 2.3 minutes and then gradually incr…
Magnetic reconnection in the quiet Sun is a phenomenon that is consistently observed, and it has recently become feasible to simulate via 3D numerical models of realistically stratified and convection-driven reconnection. We aim to illustrate ways by which quiet Sun fields may contribute to solar atmospheric heating via magnetic reconnection that is driven by convective motion. We also aim to compare our stratified model to earlier idealized coronal models in terms of reconnection drivers and topological conditions. We analyzed a simulation of the quiet Sun in which a complex coronal magnetic …
Transient collimated plasma ejections (jets) occur frequently throughout the solar corona, in active regions, quiet Sun, and coronal holes. Although magnetic reconnection is generally agreed to be the mechanism of energy release in jets, the factors that dictate the location and rate of reconnection remain unclear. Our previous studies demonstrated that the magnetic breakout model explains the triggering and evolution of most jets over a wide range of scales, through detailed comparisons between our numerical simulations and high-resolution observations. An alternative explanation, the resisti…
This paper is the third in a series of papers working towards the construction of a realistic, evolving, non-linear force-free coronal field model for the solar magnetic carpet. Here, we present preliminary results of 3D time-dependent simulations of the small-scale coronal field of the magnetic carpet. Four simulations are considered, each with the same evolving photospheric boundary condition: a 48 hr time series of synthetic magnetograms produced from the model of Meyer, Mackay, van Ballegooijen and Parnell, 2011, Solar Phys., 272, 29. Three simulations include a uniform, overlying coronal …
Penumbral filaments and light bridges are prominent structures inside sunspots and are important for understanding the nature of sunspot magnetic fields and magneto-convection underneath. We investigate an interesting event where several penumbral filaments intruded into a sunspot light bridge for more insights into magnetic fields of the sunspot penumbral filament and light bridge, as well as their interaction. The emission, kinematic, and magnetic topology characteristics of the penumbral filaments intruding into the light bridge and the resultant jets are studied. At the west part of the li…
We report evolution of an atypical X-shaped flare ribbon which provides novel observational evidence of three-dimensional (3D) magnetic reconnection at a separator. The flare occurred on 2014 November 9. High-resolution slit-jaw 1330 A images from the Interface Region Imaging Spectrograph reveal four chromospheric flare ribbons that converge and form an X-shape. Flare brightening in the upper chromosphere spreads along the ribbons toward the center of the "X" (the X-point), and then spreads outward in a direction more perpendicular to the ribbons. These four ribbons are located in a quadrupola…
We report on the formation of small solar flares produced by patchy magnetic reconnection between interacting magnetic loops. A three-dimensional (3D) magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) numerical experiment was performed, where a uniform magnetic flux sheet was injected into a fully developed convective layer. The gradual emergence of the field into the solar atmosphere results in a network of magnetic loops, which interact dynamically forming current layers at their interfaces. The formation and ejection of plasmoids out of the current layers leads to patchy reconnection and the spontaneous formation …
Magnetic clouds (MCs) are flux-rope magnetic structures forming a subset of solar coronal mass ejections which have significant space weather impacts. The geoeffectiveness of MCs depends on their properties which evolve during their interplanetary passage. Based on an analysis of observations spanning two solar cycles we establish that MCs interacting with the ambient solar wind magnetic field (i.e., heliospheric open flux) lose a substantial amount of their initial magnetic flux via magnetic reconnection, which in some cases, reduce their geoeffectiveness. We find a linear correlation between…
We present the results of high resolution co-temporal and co-spatial photospheric and chromospheric observations of sunspot penumbral intrusions. The data was taken with the Swedish Solar Telescope (SST) on the Canary Islands. Time series of Ca\,II H images show a series of transient jets extending roughly 3000 km above a penumbral intrusion into the umbra. For most of the time series jets were seen along the whole length of the intruding bright filament. Some of these jets develop a clear $λ$-shaped structure, with a small loop appearing at their footpoint and lasting for around a minute. In …
We present a detailed study of the formation of an inverse S-shaped filament prior to its eruption in active region NOAA 11884 from October 31 to November 2, 2013. In the initial stage, clockwise rotation of a small positive sunspot around the main negative trailing sunspot formed a curved filament. Then the small sunspot cancelled with negative magnetic flux to create a longer active-region filament with an inverse S-shape. At the cancellation site a brightening was observed in UV and EUV images and bright material was transferred to the filament. Later the filament erupted after cancellation…
The focus of this investigation is to quantify the conversion of magnetic to thermal energy initiated by a quiet Sun cancellation event and to explore the resulting dynamics from the interaction of the opposite polarity magnetic features. We used imaging spectroscopy in the H$α$ line, along with spectropolarimetry in the \ion{Fe}{I} 6173~Å and \ion{Ca}{II} 8542~Å lines from the Swedish Solar Telescope (SST) to study a reconnection-related cancellation and the appearance of a quiet Sun Ellerman bomb (QSEB). We observed, for the first time, QSEB signature in both the wings and core of the \ion{F…
Global magnetic field extrapolations are now revealing the huge complexity of the Sun's corona, and in particular the structure of the boundary between open and closed magnetic flux. Moreover, recent developments indicate that magnetic reconnection in the corona likely occurs in highly fragmented current layers, and that this typically leads to a dramatic increase in the topological complexity beyond that of the equilibrium field. In this paper we investigate the consequences of reconnection at the open-closed flux boundary ("interchange reconnection") in a fragmented current layer. We demonst…
We report on a fan-shaped set of high-speed jets above a strongly magnetized light bridge (LB) of a sunspot observed in the H$α$ line. We study the origin, dynamics and thermal properties of the jets using high-resolution imaging spectroscopy in H$α$ from the Swedish 1-m Solar Telescope and data from the Solar Dynamics Observatory and Hinode. The H$α$ jets have lengths of 7-38 Mm, are impulsively accelerated to a speed of $\sim 100$ km/s close to photospheric footpoints in the LB, and exhibit a constant deceleration consistent with solar effective gravity. They are predominantly launched from …
Ellerman bombs are regions with enhanced Balmer line wing emission and mark magnetic reconnection in the deep solar atmosphere in active regions and quiet Sun. They are often found in regions where opposite magnetic polarities are in close proximity. Recent high resolution observations suggest that Ellerman bombs are more prevalent than thought before. We aim to determine the occurrence of Ellerman bombs in the penumbra of sunspots. We analyze high spatial resolution observations of sunspots in the Balmer H-alpha and H-beta lines as well as auxiliary continuum channels obtained with the Swedis…
Recurrent Coronal Jets and QPPs: Periodic Reconnection and Localized Heating Across Quiet-Sun to Active Regions
Astronomical Observatory, Kyoto University(京都大学天文观测所);Key Laboratory of Solar Activity and Space Weather, School of Aerospace, Harbin Institute of Technology, Shenzhen(哈尔滨工业大学(深圳)航天学院太阳活动与空间天气重点实验室);Division of Mathematics, School of Science and Engineering, University of Dundee(邓迪大学科学与工程学部数学系);Department of Physics, Indian Institute of Technology (BHU), Varanasi(瓦拉纳西印度技术学院(贝拿勒斯 Hindu 大学)物理系)
We study the energy release process of a set of 51 flares (32 confined, 19 eruptive) ranging from GOES class B3 to X17. We use H$α$ filtergrams from Kanzelhöhe Observatory together with SDO HMI and SOHO MDI magnetograms to derive magnetic reconnection fluxes and rates. The flare reconnection flux is strongly correlated with the peak of the GOES 1-8 Å soft X-ray flux (c=0.92, in log-log space), both for confined and eruptive flares. Confined flares of a certain GOES class exhibit smaller ribbon areas but larger magnetic flux densities in the flare ribbons (by a factor of 2). In the largest even…
Multi-Viewpoint Observation of a Failed Prominence Eruption on the Sun
NASA Goddard Space Flight Center(美国国家航空航天局戈达德太空飞行中心);Northumbria University(诺森比亚大学);University of Graz(格拉茨大学);New Jersey Institute of Technology(新泽西理工学院);University of New Hampshire(新罕布什尔大学)
Solid evidence of magnetic reconnection is rarely reported within sunspots, the darkest regions with the strongest magnetic fields and lowest temperatures in the solar atmosphere. Using the world's largest solar telescope, the 1.6-meter Goode Solar Telescope, we detect prevalent reconnection through frequently occurring fine-scale jets in the H$α$ line wings at light bridges, the bright lanes that may divide the dark sunspot core into multiple parts. Many jets have an inverted Y-shape, shown by models to be typical of reconnection in a unipolar field environment. Simultaneous spectral imaging …
Three-dimensional magnetic reconnection in unipolar regions. A case study of coronal bright points in the Sun
Université Paris-Saclay, Université Paris Cité, CEA, CNRS, AIM(巴黎萨克雷大学、巴黎西岱大学、法国原子能和替代能源委员会、法国国家科学研究中心);Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias(加那利群岛天体物理研究所);Universidad de La Laguna, Dept. Astrofísica(拉古纳大学,天体物理学系);European Space Agency (ESA), European Space Research and Technology Centre (ESTEC)(欧洲空间局(ESA),欧洲空间研究与技术中心(ESTEC))
Chromospheric brighten and H$α$ surge are the evident and common phenomena along sunspot light bridge. In this paper, a coronal jet ejects from sunspot light bridge is presented. Using the data from the Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) and Hinode satellites, it is confirmed that the jet has the root near light bridge, this suggests that the jet may be a result of reconnection between main sunspot and light bridge. Due to the processing of jet ejects, the intensity and width of light bridge have some changes at some extent. This also suggests that jet is related to the interaction between light…
Magnetic reconnection is a fundamental plasma process that plays a critical role not only in energy release in the solar atmosphere, but also in fusion, astrophysical, and other space plasma environments. One of the challenges in explaining solar observations in which reconnection is thought to play a critical role is to account for the transition of the dynamics from a slow quasi-continuous phase to a fast and impulsive energetic burst of much shorter duration. Despite the theoretical progress in identifying mechanisms that might lead to rapid onset, a lack of observations of this transition …
During eruptive flares, vector magnetograms show increasing horizontal magnetic field and downward Lorentz force in the Sun's photosphere around the polarity-inversion line. Such behavior has often been associated with the implosion conjecture and interpreted as the result of either momentum conservation while the eruption moves upward, or of the contraction of flare loops. We characterize the physical origin of these observed behaviors by analyzing a generic 3D MHD simulation of an eruptive flare. Even though the simulation was undesigned to recover the magnetic field and Lorentz force proper…
It is shown that the holographic principle of quantum gravity (in the hologram of the Universe, and therefore in our Galaxy, and of course on the Sun!), in which the conflict between the theory of gravitation and quantum mechanics disappears, gives rise to the Babcock-Leighton holographic mechanism. Unlike the solar dynamo models, it generates a strong toroidal magnetic field by means of the thermomagnetic Ettingshausen-Nernst (EN) effect in the tachocline. Hence, it can be shown that with the help of the thermomagnetic EN effect, a simple estimate of the magnetic pressure of an ideal gas in t…
The near-Sun kinematics of coronal mass ejections (CMEs) determine the severity and arrival time of associated geomagnetic storms. We investigate the relationship between the deprojected speed and kinetic energy of CMEs and magnetic measures of their solar sources, reconnection flux of associated eruptive events and intrinsic flux rope characteristics. Our data covers the period 2010-2014 in solar cycle 24. Using vector magnetograms of source active regions we estimate the size and nonpotentiality. We compute the total magnetic reconnection flux at the source regions of CMEs using the post-eru…
This paper is the second in a series of studies working towards constructing a realistic, evolving, non-potential coronal model for the solar magnetic carpet. In the present study, the interaction of two magnetic elements is considered. Our objectives are to study magnetic energy build up, storage and dissipation as a result of emergence, cancellation, and flyby of these magnetic elements. In the future these interactions will be the basic building blocks of more complicated simulations involving hundreds of elements. Each interaction is simulated in the presence of an overlying uniform magnet…
Parker Solar Probe Observations of Compound Reconnection Exhaust Boundaries and Mirror-Mode Structures in the Near-Sun Heliospheric Current Sheet
Space Sciences Laboratory, University of California, Berkeley(加州大学伯克利分校空间科学实验室);Department of Physics and Astronomy, Dartmouth College(达特茅斯学院物理与天文学系);Department of Climate and Space Sciences and Engineering, University of Michigan(密歇根大学气候与空间科学与工程系);Earth, Planetary and Space Sciences, and Institute of Geophysics and Space Physics, University of California, Los Angeles(加州大学洛杉矶分校地球、行星与空间科学及地球物理与空间物理研究所);Department of Astrophysical Sciences, Princeton University(普林斯顿大学天体物理科学系)
Repeated Sunspot Light Bridge Jets Associated with Slipping Base Brightenings
Yunnan Observatories, Chinese Academy of Sciences(中国科学院云南天文台);Yunnan Key Laboratory of Solar Physics and Space Science(云南省太阳物理与空间科学重点实验室);School of Earth and Space Sciences, Peking University(北京大学地球与空间科学学院);Centre for Mathematical Plasma Astrophysics, Department of Mathematics, KU Leuven(荷语鲁汶大学数学系数学等离子体天体物理中心)
We use observations of quiet Sun (QS) regions in the H$α$ 6563 Å, Ca~{\sc ii} 8542 Å\, and Fe~{\sc i} 6302 Å lines. We observe brightenings in the wings of the H$α$ and Ca~{\sc ii} combined with observations of the interacting magnetic concentrations observed in the Stokes signals of Fe~{\sc i}. These brightenings are similar to Ellerman bombs (EBs), i.e. impulsive bursts in the wings of the Balmer lines which leave the line cores unaffected. Such enhancements suggest that these events have similar formation mechanisms to the classical EBs found in active regions, with the reduced intensity en…
Solar flares are often associated with coronal eruptions, but there are confined ones without eruption, even for some X-class flares. How such large flares occurred and why they are confined are still not well understood. Here we studied a confined X2.2 flare in NOAA 12673 on 2017 September 6. It exhibits two episodes of flare brightening with rather complex, atypical ribbons. Based on topology analysis of extrapolated coronal magnetic field, we revealed that there is a two-step magnetic reconnection process during the flare. Prior to the flare, there is a magnetic flux rope (MFR) with one leg…
We describe a new quiet-Sun phenomenon which we call "Quiet-Sun Ellerman-like Brightenings" (QSEB). QSEBs are similar to Ellerman bombs (EB) in some respects but differ significantly in others. EBs are transient brightenings of the wings of the Balmer H-alpha line that mark strong-field photospheric reconnection in complex active regions. QSEBs are similar but smaller and less intense Balmer-wing brightenings that occur in quiet areas away from active regions. In the H-alpha wing we measure typical lengths of less than 0.5 arcsec, widths of 0.21 arcsec, and lifetimes of less than a minute. We …
We present an investigation of partial filament eruption on 2012 June 17 in the active region NOAA 11504. For the first time, we observed the vertical splitting process during the partial eruption with high resolution narrow band images at 10830 . The active filament was rooted in a small sunspot of the active region. Particularly, it underwent the partial eruption in three steps, i.e. the precursor, the first eruption, and the second eruption, while the later two were associated with a C1.0 flare and a C3.9 flare, respectively. During the precursor, slow magnetic reconnection took place betwe…
Ellerman Bomb-like brightenings of the hydrogen Balmer line wings in the quiet Sun (QSEBs) are a signature of the fundamental process of magnetic reconnection at the smallest observable scale in the solar lower atmosphere. We analyze high spatial resolution observations (0.1 arcsec) obtained with the Swedish 1-m Solar Telescope to explore signatures of QSEBs in the H$β$ line. We find that QSEBs are ubiquitous and uniformly distributed throughout the quiet Sun, predominantly occurring in intergranular lanes. We find up to 120 QSEBs in the FOV for a single moment in time; this is more than an or…
Magnetic reconnection plays a crucial role in powering solar flares, production of energetic particles, and plasma heating. However, where the magnetic reconnections occur, how and where the released magnetic energy is transported, and how it is converted to other forms remain unclear. Here we report recurring bi-directional plasma outflows located within a large-scale plasma sheet observed in extreme ultraviolet emission and scattered white light during the post-impulsive gradual phase of the X8.2 solar flare on 2017 September 10. Each of the bi-directional outflows originates in the plasma s…
Recent space based observations of the Sun revealed that magnetic reconnection is ubiquitous in the solar atmosphere, ranging from small scale reconnection (observed as nanoflares) to large scale one (observed as long duration flares or giant arcades). Often the magnetic reconnection events are associated with mass ejections or jets, which seem to be closely related to multiple plasmoid ejections from fractal current sheet. The bursty radio and hard X-ray emissions from flares also suggest the fractal reconnection and associated particle acceleration. We shall discuss recent observations and t…
Magnetic reconnection is thought to be a key process in most of solar eruptions. Thanks to high-resolution observations and simulations, the studied scale of reconnection process has become smaller and smaller. Spectroscopic observations show that the reconnection site can be very small, which always exhibits a bright core and two extended wings with fast speeds, i.e., transition-region explosive events. In this paper, using the PLUTO code, we perform a 2-D magnetohydrodynamic simulation to investigate the small-scale reconnection in double current sheets. Based on our simulation results, such…
Magnetic reconnection in the deep solar atmosphere can give rise to enhanced emission in the Balmer hydrogen lines, a phenomenon referred to as Ellerman bombs. Recent high quality H$β$ observations indicate that Ellerman bombs are more common than previously thought and it was estimated that at any time about half a million Ellerman bombs are present in the quiet Sun. We performed an extensive statistical characterization of the quiet Sun Ellerman bombs (QSEBs) in these new H$β$ observations. We analyzed a 1 h dataset of quiet Sun observed with the Swedish 1-m Solar Telescope that consists of …
Within the coronae of stars, abundances of those elements with low first ionization potential (FIP) often differ from their photospheric values. The coronae of the Sun and solar-type stars mostly show enhancements of low- FIP elements (the FIP effect) while more active stars such as M-dwarfs have coronae generally characterized by the inverse-FIP effect (I-FIP). Here we observe patches of I-FIP effect solar plasma in AR 12673, a highly complex beta/gamma/delta active region. We argue that the umbrae of coalescing sunspots and more specifically strong light bridges within the umbrae, are prefer…
Recent high-resolution observations reveal that subarcsecond bright dots (BDs) with sub-minute lifetimes appears ubiquitously in the transition region (TR) above sunspot penumbra. The presence of penumbral micro-jets (PMJs) in the chromosphere have also been reported earlier. It was proposed that both the PMJs and BDs are formed due to magnetic reconnection process and may play an important role in heating of the penumbra. Using simultaneous observation of the chromosphere from the Solar Optical Telescope (SOT) aboard Hinode and the TR from the Interface Region Imaging Spectrograph (IRIS), we …
Solar flares are powerful radiations occuring in the Sun's atmosphere. They are powered by magnetic reconnection, a phemonenon that can convert magnetic energy into other forms of energy such as heat and kinetic energy, and it is believed to be ubiquitous in the universe. With the ever increasing spatial and temporal resolutions of solar observations, as well as numerical simulations benefiting from increasing computer power, we can now probe into the nature and the characteristics of magnetic reconnection in 3D to better understand its consequences during eruptive flares in our star's atmosph…
Magnetic field reconnection is often invoked to explain electromagnetic energy conversion in planetary magnetospheres, stellar coronae, and other astrophysical objects. Because of the huge dynamic range of magnetic fields in these bodies, it is important to understand energy conversion as a function of magnetic field strength and related parameters. It is conjectured theoretically and shown experimentally that the energy conversion rate per unit area in reconnection scales as the cube of an appropriately weighted magnetic field strength divided by the square root of an appropriately weighted d…
We analyze H-alpha images, soft X-ray profiles, magnetograms, extreme ultra-violet images and radio observations of two homologous flare events (M1.4/1N and M9.6/2B) on 20 November 2003 in the active region NOAA 10501 and study properties of reconnection between twisted filament systems, energy release and associated launch of coronal mass ejections (CMEs). During both events twisted filaments observed in H-alpha approached each other and initiated the flare processes. However, the second event showed the formation of cusp as the filaments interacted. The rotation of sunspots of opposite polar…
Using high spatial and temporal data from the \emph{Solar Dynamics Observatory} (\emph{SDO}) and the \emph{Interface Region Imaging Spectrograph} (\emph{IRIS}), several observational signatures of magnetic reconnection in the course of magnetic flux cancellation are presented, including two loop-loop interaction processes, multiple plasma blob ejections, and a sheet-like structure that appeared above the flux cancellation sites with a Y-shaped and an inverted Y-shaped ends. The \emph{IRIS} 1400 Å observations show that the plasma blobs were ejected from the tip of the Y-shaped ends of the shee…
We report on three-dimensional (3D) MHD simulations of recurrent mini CME-like eruptions in a small active region (AR), which is formed by the dynamical emergence of a twisted (not kink unstable) flux tube from the solar interior. The eruptions are developed as a result of repeated formation and expulsion of new flux ropes due to continous emergence and reconnection of sheared fieldlines along the polarity inversion line (PIL) of the AR. The acceleration of the eruptions is triggered by tether-cutting reconnection at the current sheet underneath the erupting field. We find that each explosive …