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.     

The Filament Eruption of 1999 March 21 and Its Associated Coronal Dimmings and CME

We report a filament eruption near the center of the solar disk on 1999 March 21, in multi-wavelength observations by the Yohkoh Soft X-Ray Telescope (SXT), the Extreme-ultraviolet Images Telescope (EIT) and the Michelson Doppler Imager (MDI) on the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO). The eruption involved in the disappearance of an Ha filament can be clearly identified in EIT 195 A difference images. Two flare-like EUV ribbons and two obvious coronal dimming regions were formed. The two dimming regions had a similar appearance in lines formed in temperature range 6×104 K to several 106 K. They were located in regions of opposite magnetic polarities near the two ends of the eruptive filament. No significant X-ray or Ha flare was recorded associated with the eruption and no obvious photospheric magnetic activity was detected around the eruptive region, and particularly below the coronal dimming regions. The above surface activities were closely associated with a partial halo-type coronal mass ejection (CME) observed by the Large Angle and Spectrometric Coronagraphs (LASCO) on the SOHO. In terms of the magnetic flux rope model of CMEs, we explained these multiple observations as an integral process of large-scale rearrangement of coronal magnetic field initiated by the filament eruption, in which the dimming regions marked the evacuated feet of the flux rope.     

Coronal Mass Ejections,Magnetic Fields,and the Green Corona in Cycle 23

We study a time – latitudinal distribution of CMEs observed by the SOHO spacecraft, their projected speeds and associated magnetic fields, as well as the north – south (N – S) asymmetry of solar surface magnetic fields, and the coronal green line intensities. We have found that (a) there exists an intricate relation between the average projected velocity of CMEs and the mean value of large-scale magnetic fields; (b) there exists a pronounced N – S asymmetry in both the distribution and the number of CMEs; (c) this asymmetry is in favor of the northern hemisphere at the beginning of the cycle, and of the southern hemisphere from 2001 onward, being, in fact, (d) closely related with the N – S asymmetry in the distribution of large-scale magnetic fields and the coronal green line intensities.     

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.     

Speed Distributions of CMEs in Cycle 23 at Low and High Latitudes

We analyzed the speed (v) distributions of 11584 coronal mass ejections (CMEs) observed by the Large Angle and Spectrometric Coronagraph Experiment on board the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO/LASCO) in cycle 23 from 1996 to 2006. We find that the speed distributions for high-latitude (HL) and low-latitude (LL) CME events are nearly identical and to a good approximation they can be fitted with a lognormal distribution. This finding implies that statistically the same driving mechanism of a nonlinear nature is acting in both HL and LL CME events, and CMEs are intrinsically associated with the source's magnetic structure on large spatial scales. Statistically, the HL CMEs are slightly slower than the LL CMEs. For HL and LL CME events respectively, the speed distributions for accelerating and decelerating events are nearly identical and also to a good approximation they can be both fitted with a lognormal distribution, thus supplementing the results obtained by Yurchyshyn et al.     

Formation of the CME Leading Edge Observed in the 2003 February 18 Event

This work investigates a typical coronal mass ejection (CME) observed on 2003 February 18, by various space and ground instruments, in white light, Ha, EUV and X-ray. The Ha and EUV images indicate that the CME started with the eruption of a long filament located near the solar northwest limb. The white light coronal images show that the CME initiated with the rarefaction of a region above the solar limb and followed by the formation of a bright arcade at the boundary of the rarefying region at height 0.46 R(?) above the solar surface. The rarefying process synchronized with the slow rising phase of the eruptive filament, and the CME leading edge was observed to form as the latter started to accelerate. The lower part of the filament brightened in Ha as the filament rose to a certain height and parts of the filament was visible in the GOES X-ray images during the rise. These brightenings imply that the filament may be heated by the magnetic reconnection below the filament in the early stage of the eruption. We suggest that a possible mechanism which leads to the formation of the CME leading edge and cavity is the magnetic reconnection which takes place below the filament after the filament has reached a certain height.     

Numerical Experiments Base on the Catastrophe Model of Solar Eruptionstwo

On the basis of the catastrophe model developed by Isenberg et al., we have used the NIRVANA code to perform the magnetohydrodynamics (MHD) numerical experiments to look into the various behaviors of the coronal magnetic configuration that includes a current-carrying flux rope for modelling the prominence levitation in the corona. These behaviors include the evolution of the equilibrium height of magnetic flux rope with the background magnetic field, the corresponding interior equilibrium of magnetic flux rope, the dynamic properties of magnetic flux rope after the system loses equilibrium, as well as the impact of the reference radius on the equilibrium height of magnetic flux rope. In our calculations, an empirical model of the coronal density distribution given by Sittler & Guhathakurta is used, and the physical dissipation is included. Our experiments show that a deviation between the simulated equilibrium height of magnetic flux rope and the theoretical result of Isenberg et al. exists, but it is not apparent, and the evolutionary features of the two results are similar. If the magnetic flux rope is initially located at the stable branch of the theoretical equilibrium curve, the magnetic flux rope will quickly reach the equilibrium position after several rounds of oscillations as a result of the self-adjustment of the system; when the system is located at the critical point it will quickly lose equilibrium and evolve to the eruptive state; the impact of the variation of reference radius on the equilibrium height of magnetic flux rope is consistent with the prediction of the theory; in the eruptive state, the kinetic properties of magnetic flux rope are consistent with the results given by the Lin-Forbes model and observation, and the fast-mode shock in front of the magnetic flux rope is observed in our experiments; furthermore, because that the dissipation is included in our numerical experiments, the energy conversion from the magnetic energy to other forms of energy is very apparent in the eruptive process.     

无碰撞重联区中的混沌感应电阻

无碰撞磁场重联作为一种将磁能有效转化为等离子体动能和热能的机制,已经被广泛应用于解释太阳耀斑、地球磁暴等各类等离子体的爆发活动.然而,在无碰撞重联区中反常电阻的微观物理机制仍然是尚未解决的基本问题.在众多反常电阻的形成机制中,基于磁零点附近粒子轨道混沌性产生的混沌感应电阻,虽然不是最普遍流行的形成机制,但它的微观物理图像却是最为清晰的.回顾了无碰撞重联区中混沌感应电阻的早期研究和基本理论模型,介绍了关于混沌感应电阻研究的新进展并阐述了混沌感应电阻未来的研究方向.     

A Parametric Survey of the CME Triggering Process by Numerical Simulations

Observations indicate that solar coronal mass ejections (CMEs) are closely associated with reconnection-favored flux emergence, which was explained in the emerging flux trigger mechanism for CMEs by Chen & Shibata based on numerical simulations. We present a parametric survey of the triggering agent: its polarity orientation, position, and the amount of the unsigned flux. The results suggest that whether a CME can be triggered depends on both the amount and location of the emerging flux, in addition to its polarity orientation. A diagram is presented to show the eruption and non-eruption regimes in the parameter space. The work is aimed at providing useful information for the space weather forecast.     

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.     

Evolution of morphological features of CMEs deduced from catastrophe model of solar eruptions

We describe the evolution of morphological features of the magnetic configuration of CME according to the catastrophe model developed previously. For the parameters chosen for the present work, roughly half of the total mass is nominally contained in the initial flux rope, while the remaining plasma is brought by magnetic reconnection from the corona into the current sheet and from there into the CME bubble. The physical attributes of the difference in the observable features between CME bubble and flare loop system were studied. We tentatively identified distinguishable evolutionary features like the outer shell, the expanding bubble and the flux rope with the leading edge, void and core of the 3-component CME structure. The role of magnetic reconnection is discussed as a possible mechanism for the heating of the prominence material during eruptions. Several aspects of this explanation that need improvement are outlined.     

A Fluid Dynamics Approach for the Computation of Non—linear Force—Free Magnetic Field

Inspired by the analogy between the magnetic field and velocity field of incompressible fluid flow, we propose a fluid dynamics approach for computing nonlinear force-free magnetic fields. This method has the advantage that the divergence-free condition is automatically satisfied, which is a sticky issue for many other algorithms, and we can take advantage of modern high resolution algorithms to process the force-free magnetic field. Several tests have been made based on the well-known analytic solution proposed by Low & Lou. The numerical results are in satisfactory agreement with the analytic ones. It is suggested that the newly proposed method is promising in extrapolating the active region or the whole sun magnetic fields in the solar atmosphere based on the observed vector magnetic field on the photosphere.     

Relationship between CME velocities and X-ray fluxes of associated flares

Coronal mass ejection (CME) velocities have been studied over recent decades. We present a statistical analysis of the relationship between CME velocities and X-ray fluxes of the associated flares. We study two types of CMEs. One is the FL type associ- ated only with flares, while the other is the intermediate type associated with both filament eruptions and flares. It is found that the velocities of the FL type CMEs are strongly cor- related with both the peak and the time-integrated X-ray fluxes of the associated flares. However, the correlations between the intermediate type CME velocities and the corre- sponding two parameters are poor. It is also found that the correlation between the CME velocities and the peak X-ray fluxes is stronger than that between the CME velocities and the time-integrated X-ray fluxes of the associated flares.     

Numerical simulations of fast and slow coronal mass ejections

Solar coronal mass ejections (CMEs) show a large variety in their kinematic properties. CMEs originating in active regions and accompanied by strong flares are usually faster and accelerated more impulsively than CMEs associated with filament eruptions outside active regions and weak flares. It has been proposed more than two decades ago that there are two separate types of CMEs, fast (impulsive) CMEs and slow (gradual) CMEs. However, this concept may not be valid, since the large data sets acquired in recent years do not show two distinct peaks in the CME velocity distribution and reveal that both fast and slow CMEs can be accompanied by both weak and strong flares. We present numerical simulations which confirm our earlier analytical result that a flux‐rope CME model permits describing fast and slow CMEs in a unified manner. We consider a force‐free coronal magnetic flux rope embedded in the potential field of model bipolar and quadrupolar active regions. The eruption is driven by the torus instability which occurs if the field overlying the flux rope decreases sufficiently rapidly with height. The acceleration profile depends on the steepness of this field decrease, corresponding to fast CMEs for rapid decrease, as is typical of active regions, and to slow CMEs for gentle decrease, as is typical of the quiet Sun. Complex (quadrupolar) active regions lead to the fastest CMEs. (© 2007 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

A New Model for Propagating Parts of EIT Waves: A Current Shell in a CME

EIT waves are observed in EUV as bright fronts. Some of these bright fronts propagate across the solar disk. EIT waves are all associated with a flare and a CME and are commonly interpreted as fast-mode magnetosonic waves. Propagating EIT waves could also be the direct signature of the gradual opening of magnetic field lines during a CME. We quantitatively addressed this alternative interpretation. Using two independent 3D MHD codes, we performed nondimensional numerical simulations of a slowly rotating magnetic bipole, which progressively result in the formation of a twisted magnetic flux tube and its fast expansion, as during a CME. We analyse the origins, the development, and the observability in EUV of the narrow electric currents sheets that appear in the simulations. Both codes give similar results, which we confront with two well-known SOHO/EIT observations of propagating EIT waves (7 April and 12 May 1997), by scaling the vertical magnetic field components of the simulated bipole to the line of sight magnetic field observed by SOHO/MDI and the sign of helicity to the orientation of the soft X-ray sigmoids observed by Yohkoh/SXT. A large-scale and narrow current shell appears around the twisted flux tube in the dynamic phase of its expansion. This current shell is formed by the return currents of the system, which separate the twisted flux tube from the surrounding fields. It intensifies as the flux tube accelerates and it is co-spatial with weak plasma compression. The current density integrated over the altitude has the shape of an ellipse, which expands and rotates when viewed from above, reproducing the generic properties of propagating EIT waves. The timing, orientation, and location of bright and faint patches observed in the two EIT waves are remarkably well reproduced. We conjecture that propagating EIT waves are the observational signature of Joule heating in electric current shells, which separate expanding flux tubes from their surrounding fields during CMEs or plasma compression inside this current shell. We also conjecture that the bright edges of halo CMEs show the plasma compression in these current shells.     

磁云传播的动力学演化过程研究进展

磁云因其独特的磁场结构经常是重大灾害性空间天气的驱动源. 近来从磁云的边界层结构、环向通量、大尺度结构等方面关于磁云传播的动力学演化过程的研究取得了一些进展. 在磁云边界存在一个由于磁场重联而形成的边界层结构. 在磁云传播过程中, 这种发生在边界处的磁场重联可能会把磁云的磁场剥蚀掉, 进而引起其磁通量绳结构环向通量的减少以及不对称. 在磁云内部, 经常会观测到多个子通量绳结构. 这些特性各异的子通量绳可以通过磁场重联而合并, 进而引起磁云磁结构的改变. 关于磁云大尺度磁场拓扑位形的演化机制, 除了较早提出的交换重联外, 目前的研究表明在行星际空间中, 磁云边界处的重联过程也可以将磁云闭合或半开放的磁场线打开或断开. 尽管在相关研究中已经取得了较大进展, 但关于磁云传播的动力学演化过程还有许多问题尚不清楚. 在行星际小尺度磁通量绳边界也发现了边界层结构, 那么磁云是否会因剥蚀而成为小尺度通量绳? 磁云内子通量绳结构在相互作用中会不会引起某些不稳定性而导致整个通量绳系统的崩溃? 这些问题的解决还有待于进一步的理论、观测和数值模拟研究.     

The dynamics of velocity fluctuations in the solar wind – I. Coronal mass ejections

In this paper we present a simple, analytic model for the dynamical evolution of supersonic velocity fluctuations at the base of the ambient solar wind. These fluctuations result in the formation of dense working surfaces that travel down the wind. It is shown how the initial parameters of the fluctuations (velocity, density and duration) are related to the characteristics of the working surfaces far from the Sun (for instance at the Earth). We apply the model to the evolution of the coronal mass ejections in the IP medium, finding that the model is in good agreement with satellite observations of these phenomena, thus providing physical insight into their dynamical evolution. Our model may contribute to future 'space weather forecasting' on the Earth, based on detailed satellite monitoring of the solar corona.     

冕流电流片的白光和紫外观测研究

日冕电流片是日冕磁重联发生的主要区域, 这一过程将磁能转化为等离子体的热能和动能. 通过选取大角度光谱日冕仪(Large Angle and Spectrometric Coronagraph, LASCO)的白光与远紫外日冕成像光谱仪(Ultraviolet Coronagraph Spectrometer, UVCS)的紫外观测, 研究了2003年1月3日观测到的冕流电流片. LASCO C2白光数据显示电流片中的等离子体团在视场中可从60km·s^-1加速至340km·s^-1, 加速度为 60m·s^-2; 假设视向深度为0.3--1.5R_⊙, 得到所研究电流片在UVCS狭缝高度处的平均电子数密度约为(1.52--7.60)×10⁷cm^-3. 对沿UVCS视场狭缝分布的[Fe xviii ] 974 ? A和Lyα谱线强度进行研究, 发现电流片处的[Fe xviii ]谱线强度比周围明显增大, 计算得到所研究时段内电流片的电子温度范围为(2.94–4.04)×10⁶K; 而在电流片处的Lyα谱线强度相对周围变化不大, 在电流片内部两侧强度比中心略高, 可能的主要原因是电流片内部中心处等离子体的运动速度要比两侧快, 这使得中心比两侧有更强的多普勒暗化作用. 以UVCS观测的Lyα和[Fe xviii ]谱线的辐射强度比和计算的电子温度为约束条件, 发现当狭缝电流片处等离子体运动速度约为237–254 km·s ^?1 时, 通过理论计算的Lyα和[Fe xviii ]谱线的辐射发射率比值和观测谱线强度比值相当. 在该速度范围内, 电流片内部Lyα辐射的碰撞项约为辐射项的42%–57%. 此事件中的冕流电流片比通常情形下的冕流电流片中等离子体温度更高、运动速度更大, 可能的原因在于其南侧爆发的两个日冕物质抛射促进了电流片中的磁重联过程, 更多的磁能释放用于等离子体的加热和加速. 所得研究结果可以为我国将要发射的先进天基太阳天文台(Advanced Space-based Solar Observatory, ASO-S)未来的资料处理提供重要参考.