We present imaging and spectroscopic observations from the Interface Region Imaging Spectrograph (IRIS) of the evolution of the flare ribbon in the SOL2014-04-18T13:03 M-class flare event, at high spatial resolution and time cadence. These observations reveal small-scale substructure within the ribbon, which manifests as coherent quasi-periodic oscillations in both position and Doppler velocities. We consider various alternative explanations for these oscillations, including modulation of chromospheric evaporation flows. Among these we find the best support for some form of wave localized to the coronal current sheet, such as a tearing mode or Kelvin-Helmholtz instability.
Observations of solar flare ribbons show significant fine structure in the form of breaking wave-like perturbations and spirals. The origin of this structure is not well understood, but one possibility is that it is related to the tearing instability in the flare current sheet. Here we study this connection by constructing an analytical three-dimensional magnetic field representative of an erupting flux rope with a flare current sheet below it. We introduce small-scale flux ropes representative of those formed during a tearing instability in the current layer, and use the squashing factor on t…
Evolution of Spatial Complexity in Flare Ribbon Substructure and Its Relationship to Magnetic Reconnection Dynamics
University of Colorado Boulder（科罗拉多大学博尔德分校）；National Solar Observatory（国家太阳观测台）；Catholic University of America（美利坚天主教大学）；NASA Goddard Space Flight Center（美国宇航局戈达德太空飞行中心）；Predictive Science Inc.（预测科学公司）
Multi-wavelength observations of substructures in solar flare ribbons
Northumbria University（诺森比亚大学）；University of Sheffield（谢菲尔德大学）；Leibniz-Institut für Astrophysik Potsdam (AIP)（波茨坦阿波罗尼乌斯天文研究所）；Trinity College, Dublin（都柏林三一学院）；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））；Armagh Observatory and Planetarium（阿马赫天文台和天文馆）
The presence of current sheet instabilities, such as the tearing mode instability, are needed to account for the observed rate of energy release in solar flares. Insights into these current sheet dynamics can be revealed by the behaviour of flare ribbon substructure, as magnetic reconnection accelerates particles down newly reconnected field lines into the chromosphere to mark the flare footpoints. Behaviour in the ribbons can therefore be used to probe processes occurring in the current sheet. In this study, we use high-cadence (1.7 s) IRIS Slit Jaw Imager observations to probe for the growth…
We present an extensive analysis of the X2.0-class confined flare on 2014 October 27 in the great active region AR 12192, observed by the \emph{Interface Region Imaging Spectrograph} and the \emph{Solar Dynamics Observatory}. The slipping motion of the substructures within the negative-polarity flare ribbon (R1) and continual reconnection-induced flows during the confined flare are first presented. The substructures within ribbon R1 were observed to slip in opposite directions at apparent speeds of 10-70 km s$^{-1}$. The slipping motion exhibited the quasi-periodic pattern with a period of 80-…
We present an analysis of the apparent elongation motion of flare ribbons along the polarity inversion line (PIL) as well as the shear of flare loops in several two-ribbon flares. Flare ribbons and loops spread along the PIL at a speed ranging from a few to a hundred km/s. The shear measured from conjugate foot-points is consistent with the measurement from flare loops, and both show the decrease of shear toward a potential field as a flare evolves and ribbons and loops spread along the PIL. Flares exhibiting fast bi-directional elongation appear to have a strong shear, which may indicate a la…
We analyze the structure and evolution of ribbons from the M7.3 SOL2014-04-18T13 flare using ultraviolet (UV) images from IRIS and SDO/AIA, magnetic data from SDO/HMI, hard X-ray (HXR) images from RHESSI, and light curves from Fermi/GBM, in order to infer properties of coronal magnetic reconnection. As the event progresses, two flare ribbons spread away from the magnetic polarity inversion line. The width of the newly brightened front along the extension of the ribbon is highly intermittent in both space and time, presumably reflecting non-uniformities in the structure and/or dynamics of the f…
Automatic detection of Flare Ribbon Fine Structures as Proxies for Plasmoid Dynamics in Flare Reconnection
Department of Mathematical Sciences, Durham University（达勒姆大学数学科学系）；Heliophysics Science Division, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center（NASA戈达德太空飞行中心日球物理学部）；Astronomy Department, University of Maryland, College Park（马里兰大学天文学系）；Scottish Universities Physics Alliance, School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Glasgow（格拉斯哥大学物理与天文学学院苏格兰大学物理联盟）；Rosseland Centre for Solar Physics, University of Oslo（奥斯陆大学罗瑟兰太阳物理学中心）
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 attempt to model magnetic reconnection during the two-ribbon flare in the gravitationally stratified solar atmosphere with the Lundquist number of $S=10^6$ using 2D simulations. We found that the tearing mode instability leads to the inhomogeneous turbulence inside the reconnecting current sheet (CS) and invokes the fast phase of reconnection. Fast reconnection brings an extra dissipation of magnetic field which enhances the reconnection rate in an apparent way. The energy spectrum in the CS shows the power-law pattern and the dynamics of plasmoids governs the associated spectral index. We …
Employing Solar Dynamic Observatory/Atmosphertic Imaging Assembly (AIA) multi-wavelength images, we study an eruption of two crossing filaments, and firstly report the current sheets (CSs) connecting the lower flare ribbons and the upper erupting filaments. On July 8, 2014, two crossing filaments are observed in the NOAA active region (AR) 12113. The lower-lying filament rises first, and then meets the higher-lying one. Thereafter, both of them erupt together. The filament eruption draws the overlying magnetic field lines upward, leading to the approach of two legs, with opposite magnetic pola…
As a fundamental magnetic structure in the solar corona, electric current sheets (CSs) can form either prior to or during solar flare, and they are essential for magnetic energy dissipation in the solar corona by enabling magnetic reconnection. However static reconstruction of CS is rare, possibly due to limitation inherent in available coronal field extrapolation codes. Here we present the reconstruction of a large-scale pre-flare CS in solar active region 11967 using an MHD-relaxation model constrained by SDO/HMI vector magnetogram. The CS is found to be associated with a set of peculiar hom…
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 footpoin…
We report a detailed examination of the fine structure inside flare ribbons and the temporal evolution of this fine structure during the X2.5 solar flare that occurred on 2004 November 10. We examine elementary bursts of the C IV (1550Å) emission lines seen as local transient brightenings inside the flare ribbons in the ultraviolet (1600Å) images taken with Transition Region and Coronal Explorer, and we call them C IV kernels. This flare was also observed in Ha with the Sartorius 18 cm Refractor telescope at Kwasan observatory, Kyoto University, and in hard X-rays (HXR) with Reuven Ramaty High…
Magnetic reconnection is believed to be the prime mechanism to trigger solar flares and accelerate electrons up to energies of MeV. In the classical two-dimensional reconnection model, the separation motion of chromospheric ribbons manifests the successive reconnection that takes place higher up in the corona. Meanwhile, downward traveling energetic electrons bombard the dense chromosphere and create hard X-ray (HXR) emissions, which provide a valuable diagnostic of electron acceleration. Analyses of ribbon dynamics and HXR spectrum have been carried out separately. In this Letter, we report a…
On April 18, 2014 (SOL2014-04-18T13:03) an M-class flare was observed by IRIS. The associated flare ribbon contained a quasi-periodic sawtooth pattern that was observed to propagate along the ribbon, perpendicular to the IRIS spectral slit, with a phase velocity of $\sim 15$ km s$^{-1}$. This motion resulted in periodicities in both intensity and Doppler velocity along the slit. These periodicities were reported to be approximately $\pm0.5$ arcseconds in position and $\pm20$ km s$^{-1}$ in velocity and were measured to be $\sim180^{\circ}$ out of phase with one another. This quasi-periodic beh…
Quasiperiodic Slipping Motion of Flare Ribbon Fine Structures Anchored in a Sunspot Light Bridge
Yunnan Observatories, Chinese Academy of Sciences（中国科学院云南天文台）；University of Chinese Academy of Sciences（中国科学院大学）；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）
Solar flare ribbons structured by uncombed chromospheric loops
Max-Planck-Institut für Sonnensystemforschung（马克斯·普朗克太阳系统研究所）；University of St Andrews（圣安德鲁斯大学）；Instituto de Astrofísica de Andalucía, CSIC（安达卢西亚天体物理研究所，西班牙国家研究委员会）；Universitat de Valencia（瓦伦西亚大学）；Instituto Nacional de Técnica Aeroespacial (INTA)（国家航空航天技术研究所）
Unprecedent fast winking of solar flares triggered by bursty magnetic reconnection
National Space Science Center, Chinese Academy of Sciences（中国科学院国家空间科学中心）；University of Chinese Academy of Sciences（中国科学院大学）；Observatoire de Paris-PSL（巴黎天文台-PSL）；Institut Polytechnique de Paris（巴黎理工学院）；CNRS（法国国家科学研究中心）；Laboratoire de physique des plasmas (LPP)（等离子体物理实验室）；Rosseland Center for Solar Physics, University of Oslo（奥斯陆大学罗斯兰太阳物理学中心）；Institute of Theoretical Astrophysics, University of Oslo（奥斯陆大学理论天体物理研究所）；Space Research Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences (IKI)（俄罗斯科学院太空研究所）；Anhui University（安徽大学）；Bay Area Environmental Research Institute, NASA Research Park（NASA研究园湾区环境研究所）；Lockheed Martin Solar and Astrophysics Laboratory（洛马太阳与天体物理实验室）；Institute of Solar-Terrestrial Physics SB RAS（西伯利亚分支俄罗斯科学院太阳地球物理研究所）；Purple Mountain Observatory, Chinese Academy of Sciences（中国科学院紫金山天文台）；Nanjing University（南京大学）；Macau University of Science and Technology（澳门科技大学）
In the paper by Bárta et al. (arXive:astro-ph:/1011.4035, 2010) the authors addressed some open questions of the CSHKP scenario of solar flares by means of high-resolution MHD simulations. They focused, in particular, on the problem of energy transfer from large to small scales in decaying flare current sheet (CS). Their calculations suggest, that magnetic flux-ropes (plasmoids) are formed in full range of scales by a cascade of tearing and coalescence processes. Consequently, the initially thick current layer becomes highly fragmented. Thus, the tearing and coalescence cascade can cause an ef…
Small-Scale and Transient EUV Kernels in Solar Flare Ribbons
University of Applied Sciences and Arts Northwestern Switzerland (FHNW)（西北瑞士应用科学与艺术大学）；ETH Zürich（苏黎世联邦理工学院）；Space Sciences Laboratory, University of California（加州大学空间科学实验室）；Astronomy & Astrophysics Section, School of Cosmic Physics, Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies, DIAS Dunsink Observatory（都柏林高等研究院宇宙物理学校天文学与天体物理学系邓辛克天文台）；Solar-Terrestrial Centre of Excellence (SIDC), Royal Observatory of Belgium（比利时皇家观测站太阳-地球卓越中心）；University College London, Mullard Space Science Laboratory（伦敦大学学院穆拉德空间科学实验室）
We present high spatial resolution observations of short lived transients, ribbon and jets like events above a pore in Ca II H images where fine structure like umbral dots, lightbridge and penumbral micro filaments are present in the underlying photosphere. We found that current layers are formed at the edges of convective fine structure due to the shear between their horizontal field and the ambient vertical field. High vertical electric current density patches are observed in the photosphere around these events which indicates the formation of a current sheet at the reconnection site. In the…
We propose a mechanism for quasi-periodic oscillations of both coronal mass ejections (CMEs) and flare loops as related to magnetic reconnection in eruptive solar flares. We perform two-dimensional numerical MHD simulations of magnetic flux rope eruption, with three different values of the global Lundquist number. In the low Lundquist number run, no oscillatory behavior is found. In the moderate Lunquist number run, on the other hand, quasi-periodic oscillations are excited both at the bottom of the flux rope and at the flare loop-top. In the high Lundquist number run, quasi-periodic oscillati…
Multi-instrument observations of two filament eruptions on 24 February and 11 May 2011 suggest the following updated scenario for eruptive flare, CME and shock wave evolution. An initial destabilization of a filament results in stretching out of magnetic threads belonging to its body and rooted in the photosphere along the inversion line. Their reconnection leads to i) heating of parts of the filament or its environment, ii) initial development of the flare arcade cusp and ribbons, and iii) increasing similarity of the filament to a curved flux rope and its acceleration. Then the pre-eruption …
Coronal jets are ubiquitous in active regions (ARs) and coronal holes. In this paper, we study a coronal jet related to a C3.4 circular-ribbon flare in active region 12434 on 2015 October 16. Two minifilaments were located under a 3D fan-spine structure before flare. The flare was generated by the eruption of one filament. The kinetic evolution of the jet was divided into two phases: a slow rise phase at a speed of $\sim$131 km s$^{-1}$ and a fast rise phase at a speed of $\sim$363 km s$^{-1}$ in the plane-of-sky. The slow rise phase may correspond to the impulsive reconnection at the breakout…
We study the physical mechanism of a major X-class solar flare that occurred in the super NOAA active region (AR) 12192 using a data-driven numerical magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) modeling complemented with observations. With the evolving magnetic fields observed at the solar surface as bottom boundary input, we drive an MHD system to evolve self-consistently in correspondence with the realistic coronal evolution. During a two-day time interval, the modeled coronal field has been slowly stressed by the photospheric field evolution,which gradually created a large-scale coronal current sheet, i.e., …
We study flare processes in the solar atmosphere using observational data for a M1-class flare of June 12, 2014, obtained by New Solar Telescope (NST/BBSO) and Helioseismic Magnetic Imager (HMI/SDO). The main goal is to understand triggers and manifestations of the flare energy release in the photosphere and chromosphere using high-resolution optical observations and magnetic field measurements. We analyze optical images, HMI Dopplergrams and vector magnetograms, and use Non-Linear Force-Free Field (NLFFF) extrapolations for reconstruction of the magnetic topology and electric currents. The NL…
Transverse magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) waves are ubiquitous in the solar atmosphere and may be responsible for generating the Sun's million-degree outer atmosphere. However, direct evidence of the dissipation process and heating from these waves remains elusive. Through advanced numerical simulations combined with appropriate forward modeling of a prominence flux tube, we provide the observational signatures of transverse MHD waves in prominence plasmas. We show that these signatures are characterized by thread-like substructure, strong transverse dynamical coherence, an out-of-phase difference …
Three-dimensional magnetic topology is crucial to understanding the explosive release of magnetic energy in the corona during solar flares. Much attention has been given to the pre-flare magnetic topology to identify candidate sites of magnetic reconnection, yet it is unclear how the magnetic reconnection and its attendant topological changes shape the eruptive structure and how the topology evolves during the eruption. Here we employed a realistic, data-constrained magnetohydrodynamic simulation to study the evolving magnetic topology for an X9.3 eruptive flare that occurred on 2017 September…
