Formation of Transient Coronal Holes during the Eruption of a Quiescent Filament and its Overlying Sigmoid

By using Hα, He I 10830, EUV and soft X-ray (SXR) data, we examined a filament eruption that occurred on a quiet-sun region near the center of the solar disk on 2006 January 12, which disturbed a sigmoid overlying the filament channel observed by the GOES-12 SXR Imager (SXI), and led to the eruption of the sigmoid. The event was associated with a partial halo coronal mass ejection (CME) observed by the Large Angle and Spectrometric Coronagraphs (LASCO) on board the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO), and resulted in the formation of two flare-like ribbons, post-eruption coronal loops, and two transient coronal holes (TCHs), but there were no significantly recorded GOES or Hα flares corresponding to the eruption. The two TCHs were dominated by opposite magnetic polarities and were located on the two ends of the eruptive sigmoid. They showed similar locations and shapes in He Ⅰ 10830, EUV and SXR observations. During the early eruption phase, brightenings first appeared on the locations of the two subsequent TCHs, which could be clearly identified on He Ⅰ 10830, EUV and SXR images. This eruption could be explained by the magnetic flux rope model, and the two TCHs were likely to be the feet of the flux rope.     

A Filament—Associated Halo Coronal Mass Ejection

1 INTRODUCTIONCoronal majss ejections (CMEs) are often seen as spectacular eruptions of matter fromthe Sun which propagate outward through the heliosphere and often interact with the Earth'smagnetosphere (Hundhausen, 1997; Gosling, 1997; and references herein). It is well known thatthese interactions can have substalltial consequences on the geomagnetic environment of theEarth, sometimes resulting in damage to satellites (e.g., McAllister et al., 1996; Berdichevskyet al., 1998). CMEs…     

Eruption of an Active-Region Filament Driven by an Emerging Bipole

1 INTRODUCTION Filaments are cool, dense material suspended in the hot, tenuous corona. It is widely accepted that the global magnetic field surrounding the filaments plays a key role in their formation, structure and stability (Tandberg-Hanssen1995). Fil…     

Coronal Shock Waves,EUV Waves,and Their Relation to CMEs. III. Shock-Associated CME/EUV Wave in an Event with a Two-Component EUV Transient

On 17 January 2010, STEREO-B observed in extreme ultraviolet (EUV) and white light a large-scale dome-shaped expanding coronal transient with perfectly connected off-limb and on-disk signatures. Veronig et al. (Astrophys. J. Lett. 716, L57, 2010) concluded that the dome was formed by a weak shock wave. We have revealed two EUV components, one of which corresponded to this transient. All of its properties found from EUV, white light, and a metric type II burst match expectations for a freely expanding coronal shock wave, including correspondence with the fast-mode speed distribution, while the transient sweeping over the solar surface had a speed typical of EUV waves. The shock wave was presumably excited by an abrupt filament eruption. Both a weak shock approximation and a power-law fit match kinematics of the transient near the Sun. Moreover, the power-law fit matches the expansion of the CME leading edge up to 24 solar radii. The second, quasi-stationary EUV component near the dimming was presumably associated with a stretched CME structure; no indications of opening magnetic fields have been detected far from the eruption region.     

The Role of Interchange Reconnection in Facilitating a Filament Eruption

We study the interaction between an erupting solar filament and a nearby coronal hole, based on multi-viewpoint observations from the Solar Dynamics Observatory and STEREO. During the early evolution of the filament eruption, it exhibits a clockwise rotation that brings its easternmost leg in contact with the oppositely aligned field at the coronal hole boundary. The interaction between the two magnetic-field systems is manifested as the development of a narrow contact layer in which we see enhanced EUV brightening and bi-directional flows, suggesting that the contact layer is a region of strong and ongoing magnetic reconnection. The coronal mass ejection (CME) resulting from this eruption is highly asymmetric, with its southern portion opening up to the upper corona, while the northern portion remains closed and connected to the Sun. We suggest that the erupting flux rope that made up the filament reconnected with both the open and closed fields at the coronal hole boundary via interchange reconnection and closed-field disconnection, respectively, which led to the observed CME configuration.     

Multi-wavelength observations of the onset phase of a coronal mass ejection

The structure and dynamics of the initial phases of a coronal mass ejection (CME) seen in soft X-ray, extreme ultraviolet and optical emission are described. The event occurred on the SW limb of the Sun in active region AR 8026 on 9 April 1997. Just prior to the CME there was a class C1.5 flare. Images taken with the Extreme Ultraviolet Imaging Telescope (EIT) reveal the emergence of a candle-flame shaped extreme ultraviolet (EUV) cavity at the time of the flare. Yohkoh images, taken about 15 min later, show that this cavity is filled with hot X-ray emitting gas. It is most likely that this is the site of the flare. Almost simultaneous to the flare, an H surge or small filament eruption occurs about 50 arc sec northwards along the limb from the EUV cavity. At both the site of the core of the hot, EUV cavity and the filament ejection are X-ray jets. These jets seem to be connected by hot loops near their bases. Both jets disappear within a few minutes of one another.Clear evidence of the CME first appeared in the Large Angle Spectrometric Coronagraph (LASCO) and EIT images 40 min after the flare and onset of the filament ejection. It seems to come from a region between the two X-ray jets. This leads to the speculation that magnetic field reconnection near one footpoint of a loop system triggers reconnection near its other footpoint. The loop system is destabilized and ultimately gives rise to the CME. This possibility is supported by magnetic field and H images taken when the active region was at disk center which show that the active region had a double bipole structure with dark H filaments between the bipoles.     

Observational Features of Large-Scale Structures as Revealed by the Catastrophe Model of Solar Eruptions

Large-scale magnetic structures are the main carrier of major eruptions in the solar atmosphere. These structures are rooted in the photosphere and are driven by the unceas-ing motion of the photospheric material through a series of equilibrium configurations. The motion brings energy into the coronal magnetic field until the system ceases to be in equilib-rium. The catastrophe theory for solar eruptions indicates that loss of mechanical equilibrium constitutes the main trigger mechanism of major eruptions, usually shown up as solar flares, eruptive prominences, and coronal mass ejections (CMEs). Magnetic reconnection which takes place at the very beginning of the eruption as a result of plasma instabilities/turbulence inside the current sheet, converts magnetic energy into heating and kinetic energy that are responsible for solar flares, and for accelerating both plasma ejecta (flows and CMEs) and energetic particles. Various manifestations are thus related to one another, and the physics behind these relationships is catastrophe and magnetic reconnection. This work reports on re- cent progress in both theoretical research and observations on eruptive phenomena showing the above manifestations. We start by displaying the properties of large-scale structures in the corona and the related magnetic fields prior to an eruption, and show various morphological features of the disrupting magnetic fields. Then, in the framework of the catastrophe theory, we look into the physics behind those features investigated in a succession of previous works, and discuss the approaches they used.     

An EUV Jet and Hα Filament Eruption Associated with Flux Cancelation in a Decaying Active Region

Using data from the Transition Region and Coronal Explorer (TRACE), Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO), Ramaty High Energy Solar Spectroscopic Imager (RHESSI), and Hida Observatory (HO), we present a detailed study of an EUV jet and the associated Hα filament eruption in a major flare in the active region NOAA 10044 on 29 July 2002. In the Hα line wings, a small filament was found to erupt out from the magnetic neutral line of the active region during the flare. Two bright EUV loops were observed rising and expanding with the filament eruption, and both hot and cool EUV plasma ejections were observed to form the EUV jet. The two thermal components spatially separated from each other and lasted for about 25 minutes. In the white-light corona data, a narrow coronal mass ejection (CME) was found to respond to this EUV jet. We cannot find obvious emerging flux in the photosphere accounting for the filament eruption and the EUV jet. However, significant sunspot decay and magnetic-flux cancelation owing to collision of opposite flux before the events were noticed. Based on the hard X-ray data from RHESSI, which showed evidence of magnetic reconnection along the main magnetic neutral line, we think that all of the observed dynamical phenomena, including the EUV jet, filament eruption, flare, and CME, should have a close relation to the flux cancelation in the low atmosphere.     

Coronal Mass Ejection of 15 May 2001: II. Coupling of the Cme Acceleration and the Flare Energy Release

We analyze the relationship between the dynamics of the coronal mass ejection (CME) of 15 May 2001 and the energy release in the associated flare. The flare took place behind the east limb and was disclosed by a growing system of hot soft X-ray (SXR) loops that appeared from behind the limb around the onset of the rapid acceleration of the CME. The highly correlated behavior of the SXR light-curve derivative and the time profile of the CME acceleration reveals an intrinsic relationship between the CME dynamics and the flare energy release. Furthermore, we found that the CME acceleration peak occurs simultaneously with the fastest growth (100 km s^-1) of X-ray loops, indicating that the reconnection plays an essential role in the eruption. Inspecting the CME/flare morphology we recognized in the Yohkoh-SXT images an oval feature that formed within the rising structure at the onset of the rapid acceleration phase, simultaneously with the appearance of the X-ray loops. The eruptive prominence was imbedded within the lower half of the oval, suggestive of a flux-rope/prominence magnetic configuration. We interpret the observed morphological evolution in terms of a reconnection process in the current sheet that presumably formed below the erupting flux-rope at the onset of the CME acceleration. Measurements of the tip-height of the cusped X-ray loop system and the height of the lower edge of the oval, enable us to trace the stretching of the current sheet. The initial distance between the oval and the loops amounted to 35 – 40 Mm. In about 1 h the inferred length of the current sheet increased to 150 – 200 Mm, which corresponds to a mean elongation speed of 35 – 45 km s^-1. The results are discussed in the framework of CME models that include the magnetic reconnection below the erupting flux-rope.     

Energetics and Propagation of Coronal Mass Ejections in Different Plasma Environments

Based on previous work, we investigate the propagation of CMEs in a more realistic plasma environment than the isothermal atmosphere, and find that it is a slightly faster reconnection for flux ropes to break free. The average Alfven Mach number MA for the inflow into the reconnection site has to be at least 0.013 in order to give a plausible eruption (compared to MA = 0.005 for the isothermal atmosphere). Taking MA = 0.1, we find that the energy output and the electric field induced inside the current sheet match the temporal behavior inferred from the energetic, long duration, CME-associated X-ray events. The results indicate that catastrophic loss of equilibrium in the coronal magnetic field provides the most promising mechanism for major solar eruptions, and that the more energetic the eruption is, the earlier the associated flare peaks. The variation of the output power with the background field strength revealed by our calculations implies the poor correlation between slow CMEs and solar flares. Th     

On-Disc Observations of Flux Rope Formation Prior to Its Eruption

Coronal mass ejections (CMEs) are one of the primary manifestations of solar activity and can drive severe space weather effects. Therefore, it is vital to work towards being able to predict their occurrence. However, many aspects of CME formation and eruption remain unclear, including whether magnetic flux ropes are present before the onset of eruption and the key mechanisms that cause CMEs to occur. In this work, the pre-eruptive coronal configuration of an active region that produced an interplanetary CME with a clear magnetic flux rope structure at 1 AU is studied. A forward-S sigmoid appears in extreme-ultraviolet (EUV) data two hours before the onset of the eruption (SOL2012-06-14), which is interpreted as a signature of a right-handed flux rope that formed prior to the eruption. Flare ribbons and EUV dimmings are used to infer the locations of the flux rope footpoints. These locations, together with observations of the global magnetic flux distribution, indicate that an interaction between newly emerged magnetic flux and pre-existing sunspot field in the days prior to the eruption may have enabled the coronal flux rope to form via tether-cutting-like reconnection. Composition analysis suggests that the flux rope had a coronal plasma composition, supporting our interpretation that the flux rope formed via magnetic reconnection in the corona. Once formed, the flux rope remained stable for two hours before erupting as a CME.     

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.     

Magnetic reconnection and coronal transients

Every two-ribbon flare observed during the Skylab period produced an observable coronal transient, provided the flare occurred close enough to the limb. The model presented here treats these two events as a combined process. Transients that occur without flares are believed to involve magnetic fields that are too weak to produce significant chromospheric emission. Adopting the hypothesis that the rising flare loop systems observed during two-ribbon flares are exhibiting magnetic reconnection, a model of a coronal transient is proposed which incorporates this reconnection process as the driving force. When two oppositely directed field lines reconnect a lower loop is created rooted to the solar surface (the flare loop) and an upper disconnected loop is produced which is free to rise. The magnetic flux of these upper loops is proposed as the driver for the transient. The force is produced by the increase in magnetic pressure under the filament and transient.A quantitative model is developed which treats the transient configuration in terms of four distinct parts- the transient itself with its magnetic field and material, the region just below the transient but above the filament, the filament with its magnetic field, and the reconnected flux beneath the filament. Two cases are considered - one in which all the prominence material rises with the transient and one in which the material is allowed to fall out of the transient. The rate of rise of the neutral line during the reconnection process is taken from the observations of the rising X-ray flare loop system during the 29 July, 1973 flare. The MHD equations for the system are reduced to four non-linear ordinary coupled differential equations which are solved using parameters believed to be realistic for solar conditions. The calculated velocity profiles, widths, etc., agree quite well with the observed properties of coronal transients as seen in white light. Since major flares are usually associated with a filament eruption about 10–15 min before the flare and since this model associates the transient with the filament eruption, we suspect that the transient is actually initiated some time before the actual flare itself.The National Center for Atmospheric Research is sponsored by the National Science Foundation.     

Extremely energetic 4B/X17.2 flare and associated phenomena

We observed 4B/X17.2 flare in Hα from super-active region NOAA 10486 at ARIES, Nainital. This is one of the largest flares of current solar cycle 23, which occurred near the Sun’s center and produced extremely energetic emission almost at all wavelengths from γ-ray to radio-waves. The flare is associated with a bright/fast full-halo earth directed CME, strong type II, type III and type IV radio bursts, an intense proton event and GLE. This flare is well observed by SOHO, RHESSI and TRACE. Our Hα observations show the stretching/de-twisting and eruption of helically twisted S shaped (sigmoid) filament in the south-west direction of the active region with bright shock front followed by rapid increase in intensity and area of the gigantic flare. The flare shows almost similar evolution in Hα, EUV and UV. We measure the speed of Hα ribbon separation and the mean value is ∼ 70 km s^-1. This is used together with photospheric magnetic field to infer a magnetic reconnection rate at three HXR sources at the flare maximum. In this paper, we also discuss the energetics of active region filament, flare and associated CME.     

CME Expansion as the Driver of Metric Type II Shock Emission as Revealed by Self-consistent Analysis of High-Cadence EUV Images and Radio Spectrograms

On 13 June 2010, an eruptive event occurred near the solar limb. It included a small filament eruption and the onset of a relatively narrow coronal mass ejection (CME) surrounded by an extreme ultraviolet (EUV) wave front recorded by the Solar Dynamics Observatory’s (SDO) Atmospheric Imaging Assembly (AIA) at high cadence. The ejection was accompanied by a GOES M1.0 soft X-ray flare and a Type-II radio burst; high-resolution dynamic spectra of the latter were obtained by the Appareil de Routine pour le Traitement et l’Enregistrement Magnetique de l’Information Spectral (ARTEMIS IV) radio spectrograph. The combined observations enabled a study of the evolution of the ejecta and the EUV wave front and its relationship with the coronal shock manifesting itself as metric Type-II burst. By introducing a novel technique, which deduces a proxy of the EUV compression ratio from AIA imaging data and compares it with the compression ratio deduced from the band-split of the Type-II metric radio burst, we are able to infer the potential source locations of the radio emission of the shock on that AIA images. Our results indicate that the expansion of the CME ejecta is the source for both EUV and radio shock emissions. Early in the CME expansion phase, the Type-II burst seems to originate in the sheath region between the EUV bubble and the EUV shock front in both radial and lateral directions. This suggests that both the nose and the flanks of the expanding bubble could have driven the shock.     

Transequatorial Filament Eruption and Its Link to a Coronal Mass Ejection

We revisit the Bastille Day flare/CME Event of 2000 July 14, and demonstrate that this flare/CME event is not related to only one single active region (AR). Activation and eruption of a huge transequatorial filament are seen to precede the simultaneous filament eruption and flare in the source active region, NOAA AR 9077, and the full halo-CME in the high corona. Evidence of reconfiguration of large-scale magnetic structures related to the event is illustrated by SOHO EIT and Yohkoh SXT observations, as well as, the reconstructed 3D magnetic lines of force based on the force-free assumption. We suggest that the AR filament in AR9077 was connected to the transequatorial filament. The large-scale magnetic composition related to the transequatorial filament and its sheared magnetic arcade appears to be an essential part of the CME parent magnetic structure. Estimations show that the filament-arcade system has enough magnetic helicity to account for the helicity carried by the related CMEs. In addition, rather global magnetic connectivity, covering almost all the visible range in longitude and a huge span in latitude on the Sun, is implied by the Nancay Radioheliograph (NRH) observations. The analysis of the Bastille Day event suggests that although the triggering of a global CME might take place in an AR, a much larger scale magnetic composition seems to be the source of the ejected magnetic flux, helicity and plasma. The Bastille Day event is the first described example in the literature, in which a transequatorial filament activity appears to play a key role in a global CME. Many tens of halo-CME are found to be associated with transequatorial filaments and their magnetic environment.     

Downflow-induced brightening following a filament eruption

The plasma from solar filament eruptions sometimes falls down to the lower solar atmosphere. These interesting events can help us to understand the properties of downflows, such as the temperature and the conversion between kinetic energy and thermal energy. We analyze the case of a filament eruption in active region NOAA 11283 and brightening caused by the return of filament material on September 7 and 8, 2011, observed by the Atmospheric Imaging Assembly (AIA) and the Helioseismic and Magnetic Imager (HMI) aboard the Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO). Magnetic flux cancellation was observed as a result of the eruption after the eruptive filament started to ascend. Another filament near the eruptive filament was disturbed by an extreme ultraviolet (EUV) wave that was triggered by the eruptive filament, causing it to oscillate. Based on coronal seismology, the mean magnetic field strength in the oscillatory filament was estimated to be approximately 18 ± 2 G. Some plasma separated from the filament and fell down to the solar northwest surface after the filament eruption. The velocities of the downflows increased at accelerations lower than the gravitational acceleration. The main characteristic temperature of the downflows was about 5 × 10⁴ K. When the plasma blobs fell down to lower atmospheric heights, the high-speed downward-travelling plasma collided with plasma at lower atmospheric heights, causing the plasma to brighten. The brightening was observed in all 8 AIA channels, demonstrating that the temperature of the plasma in the brightening covered a wide range of values, from 10⁵ K to 10⁷ K. This brightening indicates the conversion between kinetic energy and thermal energy.     

Relationship between CME dynamics and solar flare plasma

The relationship between the velocity of CMEs and the plasma temperature of the associated X-ray solar flares is investigated.The velocity of CMEs increases with plasma temperature(R=0.82)and photon index below the break energy(R=0.60)of X-ray flares.The heating of the coronal plasma appears to be significant with respect to the kinetics of a CME from the reconnection region where the flare also occurs.We propose that the initiation and velocity of CMEs perhaps depend upon the dominant process of conversion of the magnetic field energy of the active region to heating/accelerating the coronal plasma in the reconnected loops.Results show that a flare and the associated CME are two components of one energy release system,perhaps,magnetic field free energy.     

Solar coronal heating by magnetic cancellation – II. Disconnected and unequal bipoles

Two-dimensional numerical magnetohydrodynamic simulations of a cancelling magnetic feature (CMF) and the associated coronal X-ray bright point (XBP) are presented. Coronal magnetic reconnection is found to produce the Ohmic heating required for a coronal XBP. During the BP phase where reconnection occurs above the base, about 90–95 per cent of the magnetic flux of the converging magnetic bipole cancels at the base. The last ≈5 to 10 per cent of the base magnetic flux is cancelled when reconnection occurs at the base. Reconnection happens in a time-dependent way in response to the imposed converging footpoint motions. A potential field model gives a good first approximation to the qualitative behaviour of the system, but the magnetohydrodynamics (MHD) experiments reveal several quantitative differences: for example, the effects of plasma inertia and a pressure build-up in-between the converging bipole are to delay the onset of coronal reconnection above the base and to lower the maximum X -point height.     

The surge-like eruption of a miniature filament associated with circular flare ribbon

We present a study of a mini-filament erupting in association with a circular ribbon flare observed by NVST and SDO/AIA on 2014 March 17. The filament was located at one footpoint region of a large loops. The potential field extrapolation shows that it was embedded under a magnetic null point configuration. First, we observed a brightening of the filament at the corresponding EUV images, close to one end of the filament. With time evolution, a circular flare ribbon was observed around the filament at the onset of the eruption, which is regarded as a signature of reconnection at the null point. After the filament activation, its eruption took the form of a surge, which ejected along one end of a large-scale closed coronal loops with a curtain-like shape. We conjecture that the null point reconnection may facilitate the eruption of the filament.