Lijia Guo | Searcharxiv

arXiv2016

Magnetic reconnection between a solar filament and nearby coronal loops

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.

astro-ph.SR↗

arXiv2014

Observations of supra-arcade fans: instabilities at the head of reconnection jets

Supra-arcade fans are bright, irregular regions of emission that develop during eruptive flares, above flare arcades. The underlying flare arcades are thought to be a consequence of magnetic reconnection along a current sheet in the corona. At the same time, theory predicts plasma jets from the reconnection site which would be extremely difficult to observe directly because of their low density. It has been suggested that the dark supra-arcade downflows (SADs) seen falling through supra-arcade fans may be low density jet plasma. The head of a low density jet directed towards higher density plasma would be Rayleigh-Taylor unstable, and lead to the development of rapidly growing low and high density fingers along the interface. Using SDO/AIA 131A images, we show details of SADs seen from three different orientations with respect to the flare arcade and current sheet, and highlight features that have been previously unexplained, such as the splitting of SADs at their heads, but are a natural consequence of instabilities above the arcade. Comparison with 3-D magnetohydrodynamic simulations suggests that supra-arcade downflows are the result of secondary instabilities of the Rayleigh-Taylor type in the exhaust of reconnection jets.

astro-ph.SR↗