arXiv subjects

Ruisheng Zheng

Publications and source records attributed to Ruisheng Zheng.

35 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

arXiv2021

Compound eruptions of twin flux ropes in a solar active region

Compound eruptions represent that multiple closely spaced magnetic structures erupt consecutively within a short interval, and then lead to a single flare and a single CME. However, it is still subtle for the links between multiple eruptions and the associated single flare or/and single CME. In this Letter, we report the compound eruptions of twin close flux ropes (FR1 and FR2) within a few minutes that resulted in a flare with a single soft X-ray peak and a CME with two cores. The successive groups of expanding loops and double peaks of intensity flux in AIA cool wavelengths indicate two episodes of internal magnetic reconnections during the compound eruptions. Following the eruption of FR2, the erupting FR1 was accelerated, and then the expanding loops overlying FR2 were deflected. Moreover, the eruption of FR2 likely involved the external magnetic reconnection between the bottom of the overlying stretching field lines and the rebounding loops that were previously pushed by the eruption of FR1, which was evidenced by a pair of groups of newly-formed loops. All results suggest that the compound eruptions involved both internal and external magnetic reconnections, and two erupting structures of twin FRs interacted at the initial stage. We propose that two episodes of internal magnetic reconnections were likely united within a few minutes to form the continuous impulsive phase of the single peaked flare, and two separated cores of the CME was possibly because that the latter core was too slow to merge with the former one.

astro-ph.SR↗

arXiv2021

The Inhomogeneity of Composition along the Magnetic Cloud Axis

It is generally accepted that CMEs result from eruptions of magnetic flux ropes, which are dubbed as magnetic clouds in interplanetary space. The composition (including the ionic charge states and elemental abundances) is determined prior to and/or during CME eruptions in the solar atmosphere, and does not alter during magnetic cloud propagation to 1 AU and beyond. It has been known that the composition is not uniform within a cross section perpendicular to magnetic cloud axis, and the distribution of ionic charge states within a cross section provides us an important clue to investigate the formation and eruption processes of flux ropes due to the freeze-in effect. The flux rope is a three dimensional magnetic structure intrinsically, and it remains unclear whether the composition is uniform along the flux rope axis as most magnetic clouds are only detected by one spacecraft. In this paper we report a magnetic cloud that was observed by ACE near 1 AU on 1998 March 4--6 and Ulysses near 5.4 AU on March 24--28 sequentially. At these times, both spacecraft were located around the ecliptic plane, and the latitudinal and longitudinal separations between them were $\sim$2.2$^{\circ}$ and $\sim$5.5$^{\circ}$, respectively. It provides us an excellent opportunity to explore the axial inhomogeneity of flux rope composition, as both spacecraft almost intersected the cloud center at different sites along its axis. Our study shows that the average values of ionic charge states exhibit significant difference along the axis for carbon, and the differences are relatively slight but still obvious for charge states of oxygen and iron, as well as the elemental abundances of iron and helium. Besides the means, the composition profiles within the cloud measured by both spacecraft also exhibit some discrepancies. We conclude that the inhomogeneity of composition exists along the cloud axis.

astro-ph.SR↗

arXiv2021

Solar Cycle Dependence of ICME Composition

Coronal mass ejections (CMEs) are one of the most energetic explosions in the solar atmosphere, and their occurrence rates exhibit obvious solar cycle dependence with more events taking place around solar maximum. Composition of interplanetary CMEs (ICMEs), referring to the charge states and elemental abundances of ions, opens an important avenue to investigate CMEs. In this paper, we conduct a statistical study on the charge states of five elements (Mg, Fe, Si, C, and O) and the relative abundances of six elements (Mg/O, Fe/O, Si/O, C/O, Ne/O, and He/O) within ICMEs from 1998 to 2011, and find that all the ICME compositions possess the solar cycle dependence. All of the ionic charge states and most of the relative elemental abundances are positively correlated with sunspot numbers (SSNs), and only the C/O ratios are inversely correlated with the SSNs. The compositions (except the C/O) increase with the SSNs during the ascending phase (1998--2000 and 2009--2011) and remain elevated during solar maximum and descending phase (2000--2005) compared to solar minimum (2007--2009). The charge states of low-FIP (first ionization potential) elements (Mg, Fe, and Si) and their relative abundances are correlated well, while no clear correlation is observed between the C$^{6+}$/C$^{5+}$ or C$^{6+}$/C$^{4+}$ and C/O. Most interestingly, we find that the Ne/O ratios of ICMEs and slow solar wind have the opposite solar cycle dependence.

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arXiv2020

Formation of a tiny flux rope in the center of an active region driven by magnetic flux emergence, convergence, and cancellation

Flux ropes are generally believed to be core structures of solar eruptions that are significant for the space weather, but their formation mechanism remains intensely debated. We report on the formation of a tiny flux rope beneath clusters of active region loops on 2018 August 24. Combining the high-quality multiwavelength observations from multiple instruments, we studied the event in detail in the photosphere, chromosphere, and corona. In the source region, the continual emergence of two positive polarities (P1 and P2) that appeared as two pores (A and B)is unambiguous. Interestingly, P2 and Pore B slowly approached P1 and Pore A, implying a magnetic flux convergence. During the emergence and convergence, P1 and P2 successively interacted with a minor negative polarity (N3) that emerged, which led to a continuous magnetic flux cancellation. As a result, the overlying loops became much sheared and finally evolved into a tiny twisted flux rope that was evidenced by a transient inverse S-shaped sigmoid, the twisted filament threads with blueshift and redshift signatures, and a hot channel. All the results show that the formation of the tiny flux rope in the center of the active region was closely associated with the continuous magnetic flux emergence, convergence, and cancellation in the photosphere. Hence, we suggest that the magnetic flux emergence, convergence, and cancellation are crucial for the formation of the tiny flux rope.

astro-ph.SR↗

arXiv2020

Do All Interplanetary Coronal Mass Ejections Have A Magnetic Flux Rope Structure Near 1 AU?

Interplanetary coronal mass ejections (ICMEs) often consist of a shock wave, sheath region, and ejecta region. The ejecta regions are divided into two broad classes: magnetic clouds (MC) that exhibit the characteristics of magnetic flux ropes and non-magnetic clouds (NMC) that do not. As CMEs result from eruption of magnetic flux ropes, it is important to answer why NMCs do not have the flux rope features. One claims that NMCs lose their original flux rope features due to the interactions between ICMEs or ICMEs and other large scale structures during their transit in the heliosphere. The other attributes this phenomenon to the geometric selection effect, i.e., when an ICME has its nose (flank, including leg and non-leg flanks) pass through the observing spacecraft, the MC (NMC) features will be detected along the spacecraft trajectory within the ejecta. In this Letter, we examine which explanation is more reasonable through the geometric properties of ICMEs. If the selection effect leads to different ejecta types, MCs should have narrower sheath region compared to NMCs from the statistical point of view, which is confirmed by our statistics. Besides, we find that NMCs have the similar size in solar cycles 23 and 24, and NMCs are smaller than MCs in cycle 23 but larger than MCs in cycle 24. This suggests that most NMCs have their leg flank pass through the spacecraft. Our geometric analyses support that all ICMEs should have a magnetic flux rope structure near 1 AU.

astro-ph.SR↗

arXiv2020

The initiation of a solar streamer blowout coronal mass ejection arising from the streamer flank

Streamer blowout (SBO) coronal mass ejections (CMEs) represent a particular class of CMEs that are characterized by a gradual swelling of the overlying streamer and a slow CME containing a flux-rope structure. SBO CMEs arising from the streamer flank fall into a special category of SBO CMEs involving three lower arches under the higher streamer arcade. However, the initiation mechanism for this special category of SBO CMEs remains elusive, due to the observational limitations. Here we report critical observations of a SBO CME associated with the eruption of a polar crown filament that originated from the streamer flank. The filament slowly rose toward the solar equator with the writhing motion, and underwent a sudden acceleration before its eruption. Interestingly, during the rising, the filament fields experienced gradual external reconnections, which is evidenced by the dip-shaped bottom of the enveloping flux-rope structure changing from a smooth concave, the slow inflows ($\sim$1.8 km s$^{-1}$) from both the filament fields and the coronal loops beneath, and the persistent brightenings around the interface between the filament fields and the coronal loops beneath. The newly formed lower loops at the filament source and the Y-shaped structure in the stretched tail fields indicate the internal reconnections for the filament eruption. The clear signatures of the external and internal reconnections shed light on the initiation mechanisms of SBO CMEs.

astro-ph.SR↗

arXiv2020

An Extreme Ultraviolet Wave Associated with A Solar Filament Activation

Extreme ultraviolet (EUV) waves are impressive coronal propagating disturbances. They are closely associated with various eruptions, and can used for the global coronal seismology and the acceleration of solar energetic particles. Hence, the study of EUV waves plays an important role in solar eruptions and Space Weather. Here we present an EUV wave associated with a filament activation that did not evolve into any eruption. Due to the continuous magnetic flux emergence and cancellation around its one end, the filament rose with untwisting motion, and the filament mass flowed towards another end along the rising fields. Intriguingly, following the filament activation, an EUV wave formed with a fast constant speed ($\sim$500 km s$^{-1}$) ahead of the mass flow, and the overlying coronal loops expanded both in lateral and radial directions. Excluding the possibility of a remote flare and an absent coronal mass ejection, we suggest that the EUV wave was only closely associated with the filament activation. Furthermore, their intimate spacial and temporal relationship indicates that the EUV wave was likely directly triggered by the lateral expansion of overlying loops. We propose that the EUV wave can be interpreted as linear fast-mode wave, and the most vital key for the successful generation of the EUV wave is the impulsive early-phase lateral expansion of overlying loops that was driven by the activated filament mass flow without any eruption.

astro-ph.SR↗

arXiv2019

Barrier Inhomogeneity of Schottky Diode on Nonpolar AlN Grown by Physical Vapor Transport

An aluminum nitride (AlN) Schottky barrier diode (SBD) was fabricated on a nonpolar AlN crystal grown on tungsten substrate by physical vapor transport. The Ni/Au-AlN SBD features a low ideality factor n of 3.3 and an effective Schottky barrier height (SBH) of 1.05 eV at room temperature. The ideality factor n decreases and the effective SBH increases at high temperatures. The temperature dependences of n and SBH were explained using an inhomogeneous model. A mean SBH of 2.105 eV was obtained for the Ni-AlN Schottky junction from the inhomogeneity analysis of the current-voltage characteristics. An equation in which the parameters have explicit physical meanings in thermionic emission theory is proposed to describe the current-voltage characteristics of inhomogeneous SBDs.

physics.app-ph↗

arXiv2018

The initial morphologies of the wavefronts of extreme ultraviolet waves

The morphologies of the wavefronts of extreme ultraviolet (EUV) waves can shed light on their physical nature and driving mechanism that are still strongly debated. In reality, the wavefronts always deform after interacting with ambient coronal structures during their propagation. Here, we focus on the initial wavefront morphologies of four selected EUV waves that are closely associated with jets or flux rope eruptions, using the high spatio-temporal resolution observations and different perspectives from the Solar Dynamics Observatory and the Solar-Terrestrial Relations Observatory. For the jet-driven waves, the jets originated from one end of the overlying closed loops, and the arc-shaped wavefront formed around the other far end of the expanding loops. The extrapolated field lines of the Potential Field Source Surface model show the close relationships between the jets, the wavefronts, and the overlying closed loops. For the flux-rope-driven waves, the flux ropes (sigmoids) lifted off beneath the overlying loops, and the circular wavefronts had an intimate spatio-temporal relation with the expanding loops. All the results suggest that the configuration of the overlying loops and their locations relative to the erupting cores are very important for the formation and morphology of the wavefronts, and both two jet-driven waves and two flux-rope-driven waves are likely triggered by the sudden expansion of the overlying closed loops. We also propose that the wavefront of EUV wave is possibly integrated by a chain of wave components triggered by a series of separated expanding loops.

astro-ph.SR↗

arXiv2018

Untwisting and Disintegration of a Solar Filament Associated with Photospheric Flux Cancellation

Using the high-resolution observations from New Vacuum Solar Telescope (NVST) jointly with the Solar Dynamics Observatory data, we investigate two successive confined eruptions (Erup1 and Erup2) of a small filament in a decaying active region on 2017 November 10. During the process of Erup1, the overlying magnetic arcade is observed to inflate with the rising filament at beginning and then stop the ongoing of the explosion. In the hot EUV channel, a coronal sigmoidal structure appears during the first eruption and fade away after the second one. The untwisting rotation and disintegration of the filament in Erup2 are clearly revealed by the NVST H_alpha intensity data, hinting at a pre-existing twisted configuration of the filament. By tracking two rotating features in the filament, the average rotational angular velocity of the unwinding filament is found to be ~10.5 degree/min. A total twist of ~1.3 pi is estimated to be stored in the filament before the eruption, which is far below the criteria for kink instability. In the course of several hours prior to the event, some photospheric flux activities, including the flux convergence and cancellation, are detected around the northern end of the filament, where some small-scale EUV brightenings are also captured. Moreover, strongly-sheared transverse fields are found in the cancelling magnetic features from the vector magnetograms. Our observational results support the flux cancellation model, in which the interaction between the converging and sheared opposite-polarity fluxes destabilizes the filament and triggers the ensuing ejection.

astro-ph.SR↗

arXiv2018

Two-sided-loop jets associated with magnetic reconnection between emerging loops and twisted filament threads

Coronal jets are always produced by magnetic reconnection between emerging flux and pre-existing overlying magnetic fields. When the overlying field is vertical/obilique or horizontal, the coronal jet will appear as anemone type or two-sided-loop type. Most of observational jets are of the anemone type, and only a few of two-sided-loop jets have been reported. Using the high-quality data from New Vacuum Solar Telescope, Interface Region Imaging Spectrograph, and Solar Dynamics Observatory, we present an example of two-sided-loop jets simultaneously observed in the chromosphere, transition region, and corona. The continuous emergence of magnetic flux brought in successively emerging of coronal loops and the slowly rising of an overlying horizontal filament threads. Sequentially, there appeared the deformation of the loops, the plasmoids ejection from the loop top, and pairs of loop brightenings and jet moving along the untwisting filament threads. All the observational results indicate there exist magnetic reconnection between the emerging loops and overlying horizontal filament threads, and it is the first example of two-sided-loop jets associated with ejected plasmoids and twisted overlying fields.

astro-ph.SR↗

arXiv2018

An extreme ultraviolet wave generating upward secondary waves in a streamer-like solar structure

Extreme ultraviolet (EUV) waves, spectacular horizontally propagating disturbances in the low solar corona, always trigger horizontal secondary waves (SWs) when they encounter ambient coronal structure. We present a first example of upward SWs in a streamer-like structure after the passing of an EUV wave. The event occurred on 2017 June 1. The EUV wave happened during a typical solar eruption including a filament eruption, a CME, a C6.6 flare. The EUV wave was associated with quasi-periodic fast propagating (QFP) wave trains and a type II radio burst that represented the existence of a coronal shock. The EUV wave had a fast initial velocity of $\sim$1000 km s$^{-1}$, comparable to high speeds of the shock and the QFP wave trains. Intriguingly, upward SWs rose slowly ($\sim$80 km s$^{-1}$) in the streamer-like structure after the sweeping of the EUV wave. The upward SWs seemed to originate from limb brightenings that were caused by the EUV wave. All the results show the EUV wave is a fast-mode magnetohydrodynamic shock wave, likely triggered by the flare impulses. We suggest that part of the EUV wave was probably trapped in the closed magnetic fields of streamer-like structure, and upward SWs possibly resulted from the release of trapped waves in the form of slow-mode. It is believed that an interplay of the strong compression of the coronal shock and the configuration of the streamer-like structure is crucial for the formation of upward SWs.

astro-ph.SR↗

arXiv2017

Interchange reconnection associated with a confined filament eruption: Implications for the source of transient cold-dense plasma in solar winds

The cold-dense plasma is occasionally detected in the solar wind with in situ data, but the source of the cold-dense plasma remains illusive. Interchange reconnections (IRs) between closed fields and nearby open fields are well known to contribute to the formation of solar winds. We present a confined filament eruption associated with a puff-like coronal mass ejection (CME) on 2014 December 24. The filament underwent successive activations and finally erupted, due to continuous magnetic flux cancellations and emergences. The confined erupting filament showed a clear untwist motion, and most of the filament material fell back. During the eruption, some tiny blobs escaped from the confined filament body, along newly-formed open field lines rooted around the south end of the filament, and some bright plasma flowed from the north end of the filament to remote sites at nearby open fields. The newly-formed open field lines shifted southward with multiple branches. The puff-like CME also showed multiple bright fronts and a clear southward shift. All the results indicate an intermittent IR existed between closed fields of the confined erupting filament and nearby open fields, which released a portion of filament material (blobs) to form the puff-like CME. We suggest that the IR provides a possible source of cold-dense plasma in the solar wind.

astro-ph.SR↗

arXiv2017

Interaction of two filaments in a long filament channel associated with twin coronal mass ejections

Using the high-quality observations of the Solar Dynamics Observatory, we present the interaction of two filaments (F1 and F2) in a long filament channel associated with twin coronal mass ejections (CMEs) on 2016 January 26. Before the eruption, a sequence of rapid cancellation and emergence of the magnetic flux has been observed, which likely triggered the ascending of the west filament (F1). The east footpoints of rising F1 moved toward the east far end of the filament channel, accompanying with post-eruption loops and flare ribbons. It likely indicated a large-scale eruption involving the long filament channel, resulted from the interaction between F1 and the east filament (F2). Some bright plasma flew over F2, and F2 stayed at rest during the eruption, likely due to the confinement of its overlying lower magnetic field. Interestingly, the impulsive F1 pushed its overlying magnetic arcades to form the first CME, and F1 finally evolved into the second CME after the collision with the nearby coronal hole. We suggest that the interaction of F1 and the overlying magnetic field of F2 led to the merging reconnection that form a longer eruptive filament loop. Our results also provide a possible picture of the origin of twin CMEs, and show the large-scale magnetic topology of the coronal hole is important for the eventual propagation direction of CMEs.

astro-ph.SR↗

arXiv2016

Slipping magnetic reconnections with multiple flare ribbons during an X-class solar flare

With the observations of the Solar Dynamics Observatory, we present the slipping magnetic reconnections with multiple flare ribbons (FRs) during an X1.2 eruptive flare on 2014 January 7. A center negative polarity was surrounded by several positive ones, and there appeared three FRs. The three FRs showed apparent slipping motions, and hook structures formed at their ends. Due to the moving footpoints of the erupting structures, one tight semi-circular hook disappeared after the slippage along its inner and outer edge, and coronal dimmings formed within the hook. The east hook also faded as a result of the magnetic reconnection between the arcades of a remote filament and a hot loop that was impulsively heated by the under flare loops. Our results are accordant with the slipping magnetic reconnection regime in 3D standard model for eruptive flares. We suggest that complex structures of the flare is likely a consequence of the more complex flux distribution in the photosphere, and the eruption involves at least two magnetic reconnections.

astro-ph.SR↗

arXiv2016

Solar jet-coronal hole collision and a related coronal mass ejection

Jets are defined as impulsive, well-collimated upflows, occurring in different layers of the solar atmosphere with different scales. Their relationship with coronal mass ejections (CMEs), another type of solar impulsive events, remains elusive. Using the high-quality imaging data of AIA/SDO, here we show a well-observed coronal jet event, in which part of the jets, with the embedding coronal loops, runs into a nearby coronal hole (CH) and gets bounced towards the opposite direction. This is evidenced by the flat-shape of the jet front during its interaction with the CH and the V-shaped feature in the time-slice plot of the interaction region. About a half-hour later, a CME initially with a narrow and jet-like front is observed by the LASCO C2 coronagraph, propagating along the direction of the post-collision jet. We also observe some 304 A dark material flowing from the jet-CH interaction region towards the CME. We thus suggest that the jet and the CME are physically connected, with the jet-CH collision and the large- scale magnetic topology of the CH being important to define the eventual propagating direction of this particular jet-CME eruption.

astro-ph.SR↗

arXiv2011

Observations of EUV and Soft X-ray Recurring Jets in an Active Region

We present simultaneous observations of three recurring jets in EUV and soft X-ray (SXR), which occurred in an active region on 2007 June 5. By comparing their morphological and kinematic characteristics in these two different wavelengths, we found that EUV and SXR jets had similar locations, directions, sizes and velocities. We also analyzed their spectral properties by using six spectral lines from the EUV Imaging Spectrometer (EIS) on board Hinode, and found that these jets had temperatures from 0.05 to 2.0 MK and maximum electron densities from 6.6$\times10^{9}$ to 3.4$\times10^{10}$ cm$^{-3}$. For each jet, an elongated blue-shifted component and a red-shifted component at the jet base were simultaneously observed in Fe{\sc xii} $λ$195 and He{\sc ii} $λ$256 lines. The three jets had maximum Doppler velocities from 25 to 121 km s$^{-1}$ in Fe{\sc xii} $λ$195 line and from 115 to 232 km s $^{-1}$ in He{\sc ii} $λ$256 line. They had maximum non-thermal velocities from 98 to 181 km s$^{-1}$ in Fe{\sc xii} $λ$195 line and from 196 to 399 km s$^{-1}$ in He{\sc ii} $λ$256 line. We also examined the relationship between averaged Doppler velocities and maximum ionization temperatures of these three jets, and found that averaged Doppler velocities decreased with the increase of maximum ionization temperatures. In the photosphere, magnetic flux emergences and cancellations continuously took place at the jet base. These observational results were consistent with the magnetic reconnection jet model that magnetic reconnection between emerging magnetic flux and ambient magnetic field occurred in the lower atmosphere.

astro-ph.SR↗