太阳耀斑区磁场和电流研究的一些新进展

在太阳耀斑区磁场和电流研究方面，文中将着重介绍太阳横向磁场方位的确定，太阳活动区磁场的非热性表示、太阳耀斑前后的活动区磁场变化、以及耀斑核块与活动区纵向电流密度极大点位置的关系等几个重要问题的研究现状。     

光球物质的水平运动对暗条激活和耀斑爆发的影响

本文作者用数值方法讨论光球物质水平运动的两种基本模式－剪切运动和会聚运动对活动区背景磁场及暗条电流的影响，并由此分析它们与暗条激活以及耀斑爆发的物理关系，所得结果表明：（１）光球物质的水平运动在激活暗条和驱动耀斑爆发中具有重要的作用；（２）作为耀斑现象先兆之一的暗条激活过程，主要是由暗条电流的增强和背景磁场的演化所决定，这个过程的复杂性导致了耀斑现象物理机制和形态的多样性。     

两个活动区电流暗条的平衡

本文利用Ｋｕｐｅｒｕ－Ｒａａｄｕ模型下电流暗条在垂直方向上的力平衡方程，研究ＭｃＭａｔｈ１０６６２和ＭｃＭａｔｈ１０６０７两个活动区中暗条电流的变化及其垂直运动的规律，探讨暗条和耀斑的关系。结果表明：用具有镜象电流日珥模型来描述爆发日珥是合适的；暗条长度可能与耀斑高度关系不密切，但电流暗条越长，对应的临界电流值越大。     

1986年2月初太阳活动区的形态研究

根据Marshall空间飞行中心(MSFC)太阳天文台的矢量磁场测量和云南天文台的黑子细节照相资料,作者们详细研究了1986年2月初太阳大活动区(AR4711)的形态和演化。主要结论如下: i)几乎在活动区中每处地方,相距五小时观测到横向磁场排列方向和黑子半影纤维形态之间存在良好的相似性。 ii)利用文[4]的方法,推断了本活动区强的垂直电流源和强的水平电流渠道。 iii)与1972年8月初著名的太阳活动区(McMath 11976)相类似,沿老活动区的中性线的新浮磁通管的两足点(偶极黑子)的分离运动导致了一个密集四极磁结构的形成。 iv)新浮磁通管似乎是本活动区最强的电流系统。 上述结论将为进一步研究本区电流/磁场环系的演化及其与耀斑活动的关系提供一个基础数据。     

两个活动区电流暗条的平衡

本文利用Ｋｕｐｅｒｕ—Ｒａａｄｕ模型下电流暗条在垂直方向上的力平衡方程，研究ＭｃＭａｔｈ１０６６２和ＭｃＭａｔｈ１０６０７两个活动区中暗条电流的变化及其垂直运动的规律，探讨暗条和耀斑的关系。结果表明：用具有镜象电流的日珥模型来描述爆发日珥是合适的；暗条长度可能与耀斑高度关系不密切，但电流暗条越长，对应的临界电流值越大。     

与耀斑相关的磁场演化

本文利用紫金山天文台太阳光谱仪缝前附属Ｄａｙｓｔａｒ滤光器拍摄的，发生在ＮＯＡＡ５３９５活动区中的三个耀斑的Ｈα单色光资料，对比北京天文台怀柔观测站取得的光球磁场资料，研究耀斑产生位置与光球磁场演化的关系，结果表明：（１）在所研究的５０个耀斑亮核中，有３８个位于新浮磁流区附近，另有少数亮核出现在磁对消区；（２）耀斑亮核多集中在横场方向交叉，剪切角大的复杂磁区，耀斑后多数区域磁场结构简化；（３）耀斑     

具有螺旋结构的爆发日珥的电流描述

集中分析了几个具有螺旋结构的爆发日珥的观测资料，用相同的理论框架，讨论它们内部电流分布的演化特征，以及与活动区背景磁场相互作用的动力学性质；并探讨日珥爆发时的磁能转化机制。结果表明：（ｉ）爆发日珥内部的磁场和电流分布具有无力性质；（ｉｉ）利用Ｋｕｐｅｒｕｓ－Ｒａａｄｕ日珥模型可以较好地日珥电流和背景磁场相互作用的基本特征；（ｉｉｉ）日珥等离子体的宏观ｋｉｎｋ不稳定性可能是日珥磁能转化的主要机制。理     

AR6659光球色球的磁场速度场的演化特征及其与大耀斑的关系

ＡＲ６６５９是２２周以来最重要的一个活动区，它爆发了２２周最强大的高能事件。本文用云南天文台的光球、色球精细结构照片和北京天文台怀柔站的磁场速度场资料，分析了该活动区磁场速度场的二维位形和大耀斑期间的演化特征。本文分析的４个大耀斑均爆发在中性线附近的Ｎ极区磁场梯度大的地方及色球速度场的红移区。偏带观测也显示耀斑物质是向红端移动的。耀斑波沿横场传播在离本黑子群几万至十几万公里的地方激起感生耀斑，在原生耀斑与感生耀斑之间往往有耀斑环相连。此外，本文还从演化特征出发分析了耀斑爆发前活动区等离子体的宏观不稳定性。     

1978年4月底大黑子群的磁场和耀斑

本文分析了云台78126活动区的五天的磁场等高斯图资料后得出,倒置的磁极性排列和纵场中性线变得迂回曲折与高能质子耀斑爆发紧密相关。在耀斑爆发后,无论是磁极性排列和纵场中性线都趋于相对稳定状态。我们发现,活动区的净磁通量φ在4月28—30日期间有急剧的变化,而在这期间发生了二个重大耀斑。我们猜想,可能是磁通量的迅速变化引起的强大电动势造成了电子和质子加速的条件。分析了耀斑结点在磁图中的分布后得出;本活动区的耀斑亮点大多数离中性线区域较远,而出现在中性线附近的亮结点,可以大致分为两种情形,一种是在中性线两侧的磁场梯度很大且具有相反电流密度的区域;另一种是出现在磁场的“中性点”附近。     

AR5229活动区中耀斑和磁场的关系(英文)

本文研究了活动区5229中的H_β耀斑和磁场的关系。所用资料为北京天文台怀柔太阳观测站1988年11月13—18日期间获得的(时值活动区5229位于E40°W40°)。按活动区磁场演化情况,考察了新浮现磁流、磁剪切和磁对消与耀斑形成的关系。 图1a-1f给出了怀柔站观测到的11个H_β耀斑及87个耀斑核在纵向磁图上的情况。磁图以等高斯线形式给出,图中虚线表示负极,实线表示正极,等高斯线由外向内分别为20,40,80,160,320,640,960,1280,1600,1920,2240,2580,2800高斯。黑色小块表示Hβ耀斑核。其中有四分之三的Hβ耀斑核离开极性反变线的距离在10弧秒之内。发生在该活动区的耀斑超过80个,而怀柔站观测的仅是很小一部分。这对于耀斑建立过程的研究是很不够的,必需补充其他天文台的资料。注意到周报上已列出该活动区的软X射线(1～8A)M1.0级以上的高能耀斑事件,将它们补充进图1,用黑色三角形表示,画其位置时考虑到耀斑、黑子及磁特征之间的关系和它们彼此之间的时间差,并按Howard和Harvey给出的较差自转公式进行了改正。10个高能耀斑事件中有6个可能与磁特征N_3,N_7和P_2的衰减(即对消,另一极性在复杂活动区中衰减不明显)有关;另外的事件可能与发生在磁特征N_2、P_2之间的磁剪切有关。     

An interpretation of rapid changes in the magnetic field associated with solar flares

The energy source of a flare is the magnetic field in the corona. A topological model of the magnetic field is used here for interpreting the recently discovered drastic changes in magnetic field associated with solar flares. The following observational results are self‐consistently explained: (1) the transverse field strength decreases at outer part of active regions and increases significantly in their centers; (2) the center‐of‐mass positions of opposite magnetic polarities converge towards the magnetic neutral line just after flares onset; (3) the magnetic flux of active regions decreases steadily during the course of flares. For X‐class flares, almost 50% events show such changes. (© 2008 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

Flare ribbon expansion and energy release

We report a detailed examination about the relationship between the evolution of the Hα flare ribbons and the released magnetic energy during the April 10 2001 flare. In the Hα images, several bright kernels are observed in the flare ribbons. We identified the conjugated foot-points, by analyzing the lightcurves at each Hα kernels, and showed their connectivities during the flare. Then, based on the magnetic reconnection model, we calculated quantitatively the released energy by using the photospheric magnetic field strengths and separation speeds of the Hα flare ribbons. Finally, we examined the downward motions which are observed at the Hα kernels. We found that the stronger the red-asymmetry tends to be associated with the brighter the Hα kernel.     

A comparison between magnetic shear and flare shear in a well-observed M-class flare

We give an extensive multi-wavelength analysis of an eruptive M1.0/1N class solar flare, which occurred in the active region NOAA 10044 on 2002 July 26. Our empha-sis is on the relationship between magnetic shear and flare shear. Flare shear is defined as the angle formed between the line connecting the centroids of the two ribbons of the flare and the line perpendicular to the magnetic neutral line. The magnetic shear is computed from vector magnetograms observed at Big Bear Solar Observatory (BBSO), while the flare shear is computed from Transition Region and Coronal Explorer (TRACE) 1700A images. By a detailed comparison, we find that: 1) The magnetic shear and the flare shear of this event are basically consistent, as judged from the directions of the transverse mag-netic field and the line connecting the two ribbons' centroids. 2) During the period of the enhancement of magnetic shear, flare shear had a fast increase followed by a fluctuated decrease. 3) When the magnetic shear stopped its enhancement, the fluctuated decreasing behavior of the flare shear became very smooth. 4) Hard X-ray (HXR) spikes are well correlated with the unshearing peaks on the time profile of the rate of change of the flare shear. We give a discussion of the above phenomena.     

Magnetic field, helicity and the 2000 July 14 flare in solar active region 9077

In this paper we analyse the non-potential magnetic field and the relationship with current (helicity) in the active region NOAA 9077 in 2000 July, using photospheric vector magnetograms obtained at different solar observatories and also coronal extreme-ultraviolet 171-Å images from the TRACE satellite.
We note that the shear and squeeze of magnetic field are two important indices for some flare-producing regions and can be confirmed by a sequence of photospheric vector magnetograms and EUV 171-Å features in the solar active region NOAA 9077. Evidence on the release of magnetic field near the photospheric magnetic neutral line is provided by the change of magnetic shear, electric current and current helicity in the lower solar atmosphere. It is found that the 'Bastille Day' 3B/5.7X flare on 2000 July 14 was triggered by the interaction of the different magnetic loop systems, which is relevant to the ejection of helical magnetic field from the lower solar atmosphere. The eruption of the large-scale coronal magnetic field occurs later than the decay of the highly sheared photospheric magnetic field and also current in the active region.     

Variations of magnetic fields and electric currents associated with a solar flare

The high-resolution vector magnetograms obtained with the solar telescope magnetograph of the Beijing Astronomical Observatory of the active region AR 4862 on 7 October, 1987, close before and after a solar flare, were used to calculate the electric current densities in the region. Then the relations between the flare and the magnetic fields as well as the electric currents were studied. The results are: (i) the transverse magnetic fields, and hence the longitudinal electric currents in the region before and after the flare, are evidently different, while the longitudinal magnetic fields remain unchanged; (ii) this confirms the result obtained previously that the flare kernels coincide with the peaks of longitudinal electric density in active regions; (iii) the close relation between the flare kernels and the electric currents indicates that the variations of the transverse magnetic fields and the longitudinal electric currents arise not from the general global evolution of the active region, but from the flare. These results tend to the conclusion that the triggering of a solar flare might be related with the plasma instability caused by the surplus longitudinal electric currents at some local regions in the solar atmosphere.     

The Relationship between Magnetic Gradient and Magnetic Shear in Five Super Active Regions Producing Great Flares

We study the magnetic structure of five well-known active regions that produced great flares (X5 or larger). The six flares under investigation are the X12 flare on 1991 June 9 in AR 6659, the X5.7 flare on 2000 July 14 in AR 9077, the X5.6 flare on 2001 April 6 in AR 9415, the X5.3 flare on 2001 August 25 in AR 9591, the X17 flare on 2003 October 28 and the X10 flare on 2003 October 29, both in AR 10486. The last five events had corresponding LASCO observations and were all associated with Halo CMEs. We analyzed vector magne-tograms from Big Bear Solar Observatory, Huairou Solar Observing Station, Marshall Space Right Center and Mees Solar Observatory. In particular, we studied the magnetic gradient derived from line-of-sight magnetograms and magnetic shear derived from vector magne-tograms, and found an apparent correlation between these two parameters at a level of about 90%. We found that the magnetic gradient could be a better proxy than the shear for predicting where a major flare might occur: all six flares occurred in neutral lines with maximum gradient. The mean gradient of the flaring neutral lines ranges from 0.14 to 0.50 G km-1, 2.3 to 8 times the average value for all the neutral lines in the active regions. If we use magnetic shear as the proxy, the flaring neutral line in at least one, possibly two, of the six events would be mis-identified.     

Solar Flare Activity and Variability of Electric Current Helicity

1 INTRODUCTIONRecently Bao, Zhang, Ai, and Zhang (1999), using Huairou vector magnetograph data,have shown that the average current helicity (h.) or the curreflt helicity imbalance ph of activeregions change rapidly after so1ar flares. Up'an the onset of flares it tends to decrease for a fewhours and then to increase again, whereas ifQ some cases the flare promotes an increase in thecurrent helicity The observations led to tbe fol1owing conclusions: (1) raPid and substantialchanges of c…     

Coincidence between Hα flare kernels and peaks of observed longitudinal electric current densities

We compare large-scale filtergrams of a hitherto neglected class 1B flare with previously published vector magnetograms and maps of photospheric longitudinal electric current density (Hagyard et al., 1985). The vector magnetic fields were mapped simultaneously with the eruption of this flare. We find a coincidence, to within the ±2″ registration accuracy of the data, between the flare kernels and the locations of maximum shear and of peak values in the longitudinal electric current density. The kernels brighten in a way which implies that the preflare heating and the main release of flare energy are spatially coincident within the limits of resolution (≈2″). A pronounced magnetic shear exists in the vertical direction at the location of the strongest flare kernels. We provide evidence that the electric currents could be maintained by the energy stored in the sheared transverse magnetic field and that the amount of energy released is proportional to the amount stored. These circumstances are consistent with theories in which flares are triggered by plasma instabilities due to surplus electric currents.     

Observational study of solar magnetic active phenomena

The electric current separated into two parts reflected the quantative properties of heterogeneity and chirality of magnetic field, and defined them as the shear and twist components of current. We analyze the basic configuration and evolution of superactive region NOAA 6580-6619-6659. It is found that the contribution of the twist component of current cannot be reflected in the normal analysis of the magnetic shear and gradient of the active regions. The observational evidence of kink magnetic ropes generated from the subatmosphere cannot be found completely in some super delta active regions.     

Horizontal flows concurrent with an X2.2 flare in the active region NOAA 11158

Horizontal proper motions were measured with local correlation tracking (LCT) techniques in active region NOAA 11158 on 2011 February 15 at a time when a major (X2.2) solar flare occurred. The measurements are based on continuum images and magnetograms of the Helioseismic and Magnetic Imager on board the Solar Dynamics Observatory. The observed shear flows along the polarity inversion line were rather weak (a few 100 m s^–1). The counter‐streaming region shifted toward the north after the flare. A small circular area with flow speeds of up to 1.2 km s^–1 appeared after the flare near a region of rapid penumbral decay. The LCT signal in this region was provided by small‐scale photospheric brigthenings, which were associated with fast traveling moving magnetic features. Umbral strengthening and rapid penumbral decay was observed after the flare. Both phenomena were closely tied to kernels of white‐light flare emission. The white‐light flare only lasted for about 15 min and peaked 4 min earlier than the X‐ray flux. In comparison to other major flares, the X2.2 flare in active region NOAA 11158 only produced diminutive photospheric signatures (© 2011 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)