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arXiv · 1307.4527

Imaging coronal magnetic-field reconnection in a solar flare

Yang Su·Astrid M. Veronig·Gordon D. Holman·Brian R. Dennis·Tongjiang Wang·Manuela Temmer·Weiqun Gan
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Abstract

Magnetic-field reconnection is believed to play a fundamental role in magnetized plasma systems throughout the Universe1, including planetary magnetospheres, magnetars and accretion disks around black holes. This letter present extreme ultraviolet and X-ray observations of a solar flare showing magnetic reconnection with a level of clarity not previously achieved. The multi-wavelength extreme ultraviolet observations from SDO/AIA show inflowing cool loops and newly formed, outflowing hot loops, as predicted. RHESSI X-ray spectra and images simultaneously show the appearance of plasma heated to >10 MK at the expected locations. These two data sets provide solid visual evidence of magnetic reconnection producing a solar flare, validating the basic physical mechanism of popular flare models. However, new features are also observed that need to be included in reconnection and flare studies, such as three-dimensional non-uniform, non-steady and asymmetric evolution.

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Yang Su, Astrid M. Veronig, Gordon D. Holman, Brian R. Dennis, Tongjiang Wang, Manuela Temmer, Weiqun Gan. 2015-02-05. Imaging coronal magnetic-field reconnection in a solar flare. https://doi.org/10.1038/nphys2675

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