Transient brightenings of interconnecting loops

We study sudden brightenings of coronal loops that interconnect active regions. Such brightenings often occur within one or two days after the birth of a new interconnecting loop, as well as in some old interconnections. The brightenings of young loops are obviously associated with the emergence of new magnetic flux near their footpoints, whereas some enhancements of old loops may be triggered by slowly moving disturbances propagating from other centers of activity. A few loop brightenings are associated with flares, but the loop does not brighten in consequence of energy supply from the flare. Both the flare and the loop brightening are independent consequences of one common agent, presumably newly emerging flux.Temperatures in brightened loops are between 3 and 4 × 10⁶ K and densities are < 2 × 10⁹ cm^–3, probably < 5 × 10⁸ cm^–3 in some old loops. The top part of a loop is the site of the most intense brightening in the initial phase of a loop enhancement. The most frequent lifetime of these brightenings is 6 to 7 hr.Hale Observatories are operated jointly by the Carnegie Institution of Washington and the California Institute of Technology.     

Transient brightenings of interconnecting loops

We present two alternative interpretations of the sudden X-ray brightenings observed in loops that interconnect active regions. A fast tearing mode may be excited in those newly formed interconnecting loops within which sufficient magnetic free energy is stored to drive the mode. Alternatively anomalous Joule heating driven by an inductive electric field parallel to the magnetic field varying on a time scale of order of a minute may cause the brightenings. We argue that it is plausible that the fast tearing mode may be the cause of brightenings in the young newly formed interconnecting loops, whereas the anomalous Joule heating might occur in old loop connections when an external disturbance propagates through them.     

Transient brightenings of interconnecting loops

We discuss three different kinds of dynamic events related to interconnecting loops observed in soft X-rays aboard Skylab: (1) A newly born transequatorial loop that was either emerging from subphotospheric layers or gradually filled in with hot plasma. (2) Large-scale twists of interconnecting loops which never relax, and often only form, after the loop brightenings. (3) Three events where the loop that later interconnected two active regions had been visible long before one of the interconnecting regions was born. Several impacts this observation might have upon our understanding of the process of flux emergence are suggested.     

Long transequatorial interconnecting loops of the new solar cycle

We study two long transequatorial loops connecting high-latitude regions of the new solar cycle. These loops (with lengths of 47 and 61 heliographic degrees) provide evidence that the upper length limit of 37° found by Chase et al. (1976) from Skylab data was determined simply by the typical distances between northern and southern active regions during the period of Skylab observations. We find strong support for the idea that these long interconnecting loops originate through reconnection of field lines extending from the two active regions towards and beyond the equator, and confirm the earlier finding by Canfield, Pevtsov, and McClymont (1996) that only field lines from active regions with the same chirality reconnect. As we are not aware of any longitudinal (E–W) loops of comparable lengths, we suggest that it is mainly the solar differential rotation which drives the reconnection of latitudinal (N–S) field lines.     

Asymmetric flux loops in active regions,I

We investigate asymmetries of bipolar sunspot groups. We find that the magnetic field distribution of simple bipolar sunspot groups is significantly asymmetrical: the polarity inversion line is usually nearer to the main following polarity spot than to the main preceding one. This asymmetry grows with the age of the sunspot group. We suggest that this asymmetry has a causal link with two long-established asymmetries- the one in the proper motions of young sunspots, the other in the relative stability of p and f spots.In our view, these asymmetries together indicate that emerging flux loops, making sunspot groups, are not symmetrical but tilted eastward. The tilt is presumably caused by drag forces due to radial differential rotation in subphotospheric layers. In this paper we present observational indications supporting this hypothesis.     

Asymmetric flux loops in active regions,II

We propose that magnetic flux loops in the subphotospheric layers of the Sun are seriously asymmetrical as a consequence of the drag force exerted on them because of the different rotational rate of the surrounding plasma. In numerical models of stationary slender flux loops in the plane parallel approximation we show that a serious tilt is both possible and probable. Observational facts (see van Driel-Gesztelyi and Petrovay, 1989; Paper I) strongly support the case for high asymmetry. The different stability of p and f spots may also be related to such an asymmetry.The tilts are very sensitive to the rotational profile and to the magnetic field structure. Nevertheless the characteristic maximal tilts can be tentatively estimated to be 20° for thin flux tubes and 5° for thick tubes.For two of the five observational consequences of such a tilt (described in detail in Paper I) order-of-magnitude estimates of the effects are given. The estimates are in reasonable accord with observations.We also explore the possibilities of an inverse treatment of the problem whereby subphotospheric rotation and/or flux tube shapes can be inferred from observations of velocities of photospheric spot motions. In particular we demonstrate how analytic inverse solutions can be obtained in special cases.     

A Statistical Study of Transequatorial Loops

We identify 356 transequatorial loops (TLs) from the data set of Yohkoh Soft X-Ray Telescope (SXT) in the period of solar cycles 22 and 23. The classification of the TLs can be made on two bases. One is according to the magnetic polarities of the footpoints of TLs, and the other is according to the number of TLs in the same region. Based on the first criterion, TLs fall into two categories: PTLs in which the magnetic polarities of the footpoints are the same as the preceding polarities and FTLs in which the footpoint polarities are the same as the following polarities of active regions, respectively. It is found that PTLs have a preference; about 66% of the TLs are PTLs, and this preference of PTLs is independent of the solar cycle. The percentage of FTLs is about 34%. Based on the second criterion, TLs are also divided into two categories: the number of TLs in a region is either single (STLs) or multiple (MTLs). In addition, we find that the number of TLs, PTLs, and FTLs have good correlations with solar cycle indices. By comparing the number of TLs and the number of active regions in each year, we obtain the ratio between them. The separation of footpoints and their yearly variations are calculated, and we find that our result is consistent with spörer's law.     

The temperature structure and pressure balance of magnetic loops in active regions

EUV observations show many active region loops in lines formed at temperatures between 10⁴K and 2×l0⁶K. The brightest loops are associated with flux tubes leading to the umbrae of sunspots. It is shown that the high visibility of certain loops in transition region lines is due principallly to a sharp radial decrease of temperature to chromospheric values toward the loop axis. The plasma density of these cool loops is not significantly greater than in the hot gas immediately surrounding it. Consequently, the internal gas pressure of the cool material is clearly lower. The hot material immediately surrounding the cool loops is generally denser than the external corona by a factor 3–4. When the active region is examined in coronal lines, this hot high pressure plasma shows up as loops that are generally parallel to the cool loops but significantly displaced laterally. In general the loop phenomenon in an active region is the result of temperature variations by two orders of magnitude and density variations of around a factor five between adjacent flux tubes in the corona.     

Cme Associated with Transequatorial Loops and a Bald Patch Flare

We study a flare which occurred on 3 November 1997 at 10:31 UT in the vicinity of a parasitic polarity of AR 8100. Using SOHO/EIT 195 Å observations, we identify the brightening of thin transequatorial loops connecting AR 8100 and AR 8102, and dimmings located between the two active regions. Difference images highlight the presence of a loop-like structure rooted near the flare location usually called an EIT wave. The coronal magnetic field derived from potential extrapolations from a SOHO/MDI magnetogram shows that the topology is complex near the parasitic polarity. There, a `bald patch' (defined as the locations where the magnetic field is tangent to the photosphere) is present. We conclude that the flare was a `bald patch flare'. Moreover, the extrapolation confirms that there is a large coronal volume filled with transequatorial field lines interconnecting AR 8100 and AR 8102, and overlaying the bald patch. We show that the dimmings are located at the footpoints of these large field lines, which can be also related to the thin bright loops observed during the flare. As this event was related to a coronal mass ejection (CME) observed by SOHO/LASCO, we propose that the observed dimmings are due to a decrease in plasma density during the opening of the transequatorial loops connecting both ARs. We propose a scenario where these large field lines are in fact pushed up by the opening of low-lying sheared field lines forming the bald patch. We finally discuss how the fast opening of these field lines can produce the brightening near the footpoints of the separatrix, observed as an `EIT wave'.     

Locations of Footpoints of Transequatorial Interconnecting Loops

We discuss footpoints of loops seen by Yohkoh in soft X-rays that connect active regions across the equator (transequatorial interconnecting loops – TILs). While most TILs are rooted in moderately strong fields at peripheries of active regions, there are also cases when these loops are anchored in very weak or very strong fields, ranging from < 30 G to several hundred gauss. Some have their footpoints near sunspot penumbrae, creating `X-ray fountains' in a combination with active region loops. But TILs are never rooted in sunspots. The most likely explanation is that magnetic field lines leave spots almost vertically so that TILs rooted in them extend high into the corona and density in them is below the limit of visibility in X-rays. The fact that in force-free modeling some TILs are rooted in sunspots is most probably due to the difference between field-line connections in `vacuum' and in the highly conductive plasma on the Sun. Some TILs end before they reach active regions which sometimes may indicate the real situation, but mostly this `gap' is probably due to a temperature decrease near the loop footpoints which makes them invisible in X-rays. In that case the fact that these cool lowest parts of TILs are never found in TRACE or SOHO EIT images indicates that plasma density in TILs must be very low. Still, the total absence of any counterparts of X-ray TILs in TRACE and EIT images is puzzling and, therefore, other possible interpretations of the `gap' origin are also briefly mentioned.     

Na-light flare observations: McMath 13043-July 1974

We extract a temporal sequence of the 1355 UT 4 July, 1974 event from monochromatic filtergrams in Na light obtained in Rome on the McMath region No. 13043-July 1974. It is, to our knowledge, the first temporal sequence of a flare seen through a narrow-band filter (80 mÅ) in the Na-D lines. Due to the properties of Na filtergrams we could also derive quite easily the exact relative position among sunspots, magnetic fields and flare-knots. The last result is indeed a very useful tool when studying an active region. For the McMath No. 13043 we were able to infer some interesting remarks about the magnetic pattern at the flaring site.     

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.     

Sunspot motion,flares and type III bursts in McMath 11482

We have studied a series of flares in McMath 11482, 1972 August 19–22, with particular reference to the basis for the flares and comparison with dekameter radio data. We find that the flares were produced by rapid ( 1000 km h^–1) westward motion of a large new p spot. Many flares occur just in front of the spot, and they cease when the motion stops. All flares occurring in front of the spot produce type III bursts, while even strong flares elsewhere in the region produce little or no type III. The time of type III emission agrees perfectly with the start of the H flare. Thus type III bursts are only produced in favorable configurations.Simultaneous K-line movies are compared with H films and show little difference in flare appearance.     

Decay instability of kinetic Alfvén waves in preflare plasmas of the loops in active solar regions

We examine the physical conditions for the origin of the decay instability of kinetic Alfvén waves in loop plasmas at the early flare stages. The synchronism conditions are used to derive a modified expression for the nonlinear growth rate of the process of the decay of the primary kinetic Alfvén wave (KAW) into an ion-acoustic wave and a secondary KAW. The threshold amplitude of the primary KAW is calculated in units of the background magnetic field strength in the chromospheric section of loop current circuit.     

Coronal loops and active region structure

We intercompared synoptic H, Ca K, magnetograph and Skylab soft X-ray and EUV data for the purpose of identifying the basic coronal magnetic structure of loops in a typical active region and studying its evolution. We focussed on a complex of activity in July 1973, especially McMath 12417. Our principal results are: (1) Most of the brightest loops connected the bright f plage to either the sunspot penumbra or to p satellite spots; no non-flaring X-ray loops end in umbrae; (2) short, bright loops had one or both ends in regions of emergent flux, strong fields or high field gradients; (3) stable, strongly sheared loop arcades formed over filaments; (4) EFRs were always associated with compact X-ray arcades; and (5) loops connecting to other active regions had their bases in outlying plage of weak field strength in McM 417 where H fibrils marked the direction of the loops. We conclude that a typical loop brightens in response to magnetic field activity at its feet, which heats the plasma. This suggests that the loop acts as a trap for gas convected from its base.     

Flares and separatrices between magnetic loops

Time sequences of vector magnetograms of Hauirou and Big Bear Solar Observatories have provided us the opportunity to identify the individual magnetic loops and athe separatrices between them.

Based on the continuous observatin of vector magnetic field of NOAA 7469 from 4 to 12 April 1993, for the first time, the authors have identified the magnetic loop systems and relevant separatrices for such an active region. The observational signature ofthe cross-section of separatrices on the photosphere is as follows:

1. (1) High degree of magnetic shear at or close to the separatrices;

2. (2) Steep gradient of line-of-sight magnetic field ( 0.1 G/km) crossing the neutral line.

3. (3) Flux cancellation from both sides of the separatrices. At this point the transverse field partly changes its alignment.

During the observed period, flare activity took place repeatedly in the vicinity of the separatrices.     

Models of flaring loops

We review the somewhat questionable concept of an isolated flare loop and the various physical mechanisms believed to be responsible, to some degree, for energy transport within the loop structure. Observational evidence suggests a predominant role for high-energy electrons as an energy transport mechanism, and we explore the consequences of such a scenario in some detail, focusing on radiation signatures in the soft X-ray, hard X-ray, and EUV wavebands, as observed by recent satellite observatories. We find that the predictions of flare loop models are in fact in excellent agreement with these observations, reinforcing both the notion of the loop as a fundamental component of solar flares and the belief that electron acceleration is an integral part of the flare energy release process.     

Magnetohydrodynamic equilibrium and stability of pre-flare loops

The equilibrium and stability of a loop in which energy storage occurs prior to a solar flare is discussed. Working on the hypothesis, that the onset of the flare begins only after sufficient magnetic energy has been stored in the loop typical values of parameters which describe the equilibrium are found for a magnetic field with a constant twist. The stability of this configuration is examined next and it is shown that for the force-free case, the structure is always unstable to kinking for any degree of twist. However, a slight deviation from the force-free configuration, through the presence of a small positive transverse pressure gradient, can stabilize the loops for moderate degrees of twist. The range of wave-numbers for which instability occurs and the maximum growth rates are also presented. Lastly, it is shown that the pressure gradients required to stabilize a pre-flare loop do not lead to conflict with observations.