Search

The partial eruption of a filament channel with bifurcated substructures is investigated using data sets obtained from both ground-based and space-borne facilities. Small-scale flux reconnection/cancellation events in the region triggered the pile-up of ambient magnetic field, observed as bright extreme ultraviolet (EUV) loops in close proximity to the filament channel. This led to the formation of a V-shaped cusp structure at the site of interaction between the coalesced EUV loops and the filament channel, with the presence of distinct plasmoid structures and associated bidirectional flows. Analysis of imaging data from SDO /AIA further suggests vertical splitting of the filament structure into two substructures. The perturbed upper branch of the filament structure rose up and erupted with the onset of an energetic GOES M1.4 flare at 04:30 ut on 2015 January 28. The estimated twist number and squashing factor obtained from non-linear force free-field extrapolation of the magnetic field data support the vertical split in the filament structure with high twist in the upper substructure. The loss in equilibrium of the upper branch due to torus instability implies that this is a potential triggering mechanism for the observed partial eruption. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the early 1990s, it was found that the strongest disturbances of the space-weather were associated with huge ejections of plasma from the solar corona, which took the form of magnetic clouds when moved from the Sun. It is the collisions of the magnetic clouds with the Earth's magnetosphere that lead to strong, sometimes catastrophic changes in space-weather. The onset of a coronal mass ejection (CME) is sudden and no reliable forerunners of CMEs have been found till date. The CME prediction methodologies are less developed compared to the methods developed for the prediction of solar flares. The most probable initial magnetic configuration of a CME is a flux rope consisting of twisted field lines which fill the whole volume of a dark coronal cavity. The flux ropes can be in stable equilibrium in the coronal magnetic field for weeks and even months, but suddenly they lose their stability and erupt with high speed. Their transition to the unstable phase depends on the parameters of the flux rope (i.e., total electric current, twist, mass loading, etc.), as well as on the properties of the ambient coronal magnetic field. One of the major governing factors is the vertical gradient of the coronal magnetic field, which is estimated as decay index ( n). Cold dense prominence material can be collected in the lower parts of the helical flux tubes. Filaments are, therefore, good tracers of the flux ropes in the corona, which become visible long before the beginning of the eruption. The perspectives of the filament eruptions and following CMEs can be estimated by a comparison of observed filament heights with calculated decay index distributions. The present paper reviews the formation of magnetic flux ropes, their stable and unstable phases, eruption conditions, and also discusses their physical implications in the solar corona. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We present the multiwavelength observations of a flux rope that was trying to erupt from NOAA AR 11045 and the associated M-class solar flare on 12 February 2010 using space-based and ground-based observations from TRACE, STEREO, SOHO/MDI, Hinode/XRT, and BBSO. While the flux rope was rising from the active region, an M1.1/2F class flare was triggered near one of its footpoints. We suggest that the flare triggering was due to the reconnection of a rising flux rope with the surrounding low-lying magnetic loops. The flux rope reached a projected height of ≈0.15 R with a speed of ≈90 km s while the soft X-ray flux enhanced gradually during its rise. The flux rope was suppressed by an overlying field, and the filled plasma moved towards the negative polarity field to the west of its activation site. We found the first observational evidence of the initial suppression of a flux rope due to a remnant filament visible both at chromospheric and coronal temperatures that evolved a couple of days earlier at the same location in the active region. SOHO/MDI magnetograms show the emergence of a bipole ≈12 h prior to the flare initiation. The emerged negative polarity moved towards the flux rope activation site, and flare triggering near the photospheric polarity inversion line (PIL) took place. The motion of the negative polarity region towards the PIL helped in the build-up of magnetic energy at the flare and flux rope activation site. This study provides unique observational evidence of a rising flux rope that failed to erupt due to a remnant filament and overlying magnetic field, as well as associated triggering of an M-class flare. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We present a multi-wavelength study of recurrent surges observed in Hα, UV (Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO)/EIT), and Radio (Learmonth, Australia) from the super-active region NOAA 10484 on 2003 October 25. Several bright structures visible in Hα and UV corresponding to subflares are also observed at the base of each surge. Type III bursts are triggered and RHESSI X-ray sources are evident with surge activity. The major surge consists of bunches of ejective paths forming a fan-shaped region with an angular size of (≈65°) during its maximum phase. The ejection speed reaches up to ∼200 km s–1. The SOHO/Michelson Doppler Imager magnetograms reveal that a large dipole emerges from the east side of the active region on 2003 October 18-20, a few days before the surges. On 2003 October 25, the major sunspots were surrounded by “moat regions” with moving magnetic features (MMFs). Parasitic fragmented positive polarities were pushed by the ambient dispersion motion of the MMFs and annihilated with negative polarities at the borders of the moat region of the following spot to produce flares and surges. A topology analysis of the global Sun using Potential Field Source Surface shows that the fan structures visible in the EIT 171 Å images follow magnetic field lines connecting the present active region to a preceding active region in the southeast. Radio observations of Type III bursts indicate that they are coincident with the surges, suggesting that magnetic reconnection is the driver mechanism. The magnetic energy released by the reconnection is transformed into plasma heating and provides the kinetic energy for the ejections. A lack of a radio signature in the high corona suggests that the surges are confined to follow the closed field lines in the fans. We conclude that these cool surges may have some local heating effects in the closed loops, but probably play a minor role in global coronal heating and the surge material does not escape to the solar wind. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]