Rapid Formation and Disappearance of a Filament Barb

We present observations of an activated quiescent filament obtained in Hα from the high-resolution Dutch Open Telescope (DOT) on 20 August 2010. The filament developed a barb in 10 min, which disappeared within the next 35 min. A data set from the DOT spanning 2 h was used to analyse this event. Line-of-sight velocity maps were constructed from the Doppler images, which reveal flows in filament spine during this period. Photospheric magnetograms were used from the Helioseismic and Magnetic Imager (HMI) on board the Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) to determine the changes in magnetic flux in the region surrounding the barb location. The analysis shows flows in the filament spine towards the barb location preceding its formation, and flows in the barb towards the spine during its disappearance. Magnetograms reveal patches of minority polarity flux close to the end of the barb at its greatest elongation. The flows in the spine and barbs are along numerous threads that compose these typical filament structures. The flows are consistent with field-aligned threads and demonstrate that the replacement time of the mass in barbs, and by inference, in the spine is very rapid.     

Apparent Solar Tornado-Like Prominences

Recent high-resolution observations from the Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) have reawakened interest in the old and fascinating phenomenon of solar tornado-like prominences. This class of prominences was first introduced by Pettit (Astrophys. J. 76, 9, 1932), who studied them over many years. Observations of tornado prominences similar to the ones seen by SDO had already been documented by Secchi (Le Soleil, 1877). High-resolution and high-cadence multiwavelength data obtained by SDO reveal that the tornado-like appearance of these prominences is mainly an illusion due to projection effects. We discuss two different cases where prominences on the limb might appear to have a tornado-like behavior. One case of apparent vortical motions in prominence spines and barbs arises from the (mostly) 2D counterstreaming plasma motion along the prominence spine and barbs together with oscillations along individual threads. The other case of apparent rotational motion is observed in a prominence cavity and results from the 3D plasma motion along the writhed magnetic fields inside and along the prominence cavity as seen projected on the limb. Thus, the “tornado” impression results either from counterstreaming and oscillations or from the projection on the plane of the sky of plasma motion along magnetic-field lines, rather than from a true vortical motion around an (apparent) vertical or horizontal axis. We discuss the link between tornado-like prominences, filament barbs, and photospheric vortices at their base.     

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.     

Counter-streaming Mass Flow and Transient Brightening in Active Region Loops

An active region loop system was observed in a decaying active region for three hours by TRACE and BBSO in a joint campaign on September 27, 1998. Continuous mass motion was seen in Hα offband filtergrams throughout the three hours, and some UV loops were exhibited transient brightenings. We find that: (1) cool material was flowing along the loops at a speed of at least 20 km s^?1. Further, in Hα red and blue wings, we see mass motion along different loops in opposite directions. This is the first report of a counter-streaming pattern of mass motion in an Hα loop system. (2) Transient brightenings of different UV loops at different times were observed at C?iv 1550 Å. These brightened UV loops were located in the same region and at the same altitudes as the Hα loops. The observations show a clear correlation between the transient brightenings of UV loops and mass motion in Hα loops. (3) Both footpoints of the loop system were located in regions of mixed magnetic polarities. Frequent micro-flares at one footpoint of the loops with small-scale brightenings spreading along the loop leg were observed before the brightening and rising of one C?iv loop. Similar to the case of a filament, the continuous mass motion along the loops seems important for maintaining the cool Hα loop system at coronal height. There may be an indication that the mass motion in cool Hα loops and the correlated transient brightening of the active region loops were due to the small-scale chromospheric magnetic reconnection at the footpoint regions of the loop system.

     

On the Magnetic Field Orientation and Plasma Flows in Solar Filament Barbs

Speeds of vertical flows in quiescent solar filaments are typically much less than the local Alfvén speed. This is why the flows in filament barbs can be modeled by perturbing a magnetostatic solution describing a balance between the Lorentz force, gravity, and gas pressure in a barb. This approach explains why some of the flows are neither aligned with the magnetic field nor controlled by gravity. Both the observed upflows and the magnetic field dips in barbs are likely to be caused by photospheric magnetic reconnection.     

Sudden disappearance of a large quiescent prominence on the solar disk,April 28, 1967

Observations are described of the sudden disappearance of a long quiescent filament whose development could be traced through four rotations from its first appearance on the disk between two well-separated active centers. Following the disappearance, plage-like chromospheric brightenings were observed on either side of the filament axis, with the separation distance increasing with time.The results are discussed in relationship to models in which the prominence is supported by photospheric magnetic fields and the brightenings result from the gravitational fall of material following the prominence eruption.     

3D Evolution of a Filament Disappearance Event Observed by STEREO

A filament disappearance event was observed on 22 May 2008 during our recent campaign JOP 178. The filament, situated in the Southern Hemisphere, showed sinistral chirality consistent with the hemispheric rule. The event was well observed by several observatories, in particular by THEMIS. One day, before the disappearance, Hα observations showed up- and down-flows in adjacent locations along the filament, which suggest plasma motions along twisted flux rope. THEMIS and GONG observations show shearing photospheric motions leading to magnetic flux canceling around barbs. STEREO A, B spacecraft with separation angle 52.4°, showed quite different views of this untwisting flux rope in He ii 304 Å images. Here, we reconstruct the three-dimensional geometry of the filament during its eruption phase using STEREO EUV He ii 304 Å images and find that the filament was highly inclined to the solar normal. The He ii 304 Å movies show individual threads, which oscillate and rise to an altitude of about 120 Mm with apparent velocities of about 100 km?s^?1 during the rapid evolution phase. Finally, as the flux rope expands into the corona, the filament disappears by becoming optically thin to undetectable levels. No CME was detected by STEREO, only a faint CME was recorded by LASCO at the beginning of the disappearance phase at 02:00 UT, which could be due to partial filament eruption. Further, STEREO Fe xii 195 Å images showed bright loops beneath the filament prior to the disappearance phase, suggesting magnetic reconnection below the flux rope.     

Dynamics of Coronal Bright Points as Seen by Sun Watcher Using Active Pixel System Detector and Image Processing (SWAP), Atmospheric Imaging Assembly (AIA), and Helioseismic and Magnetic Imager (HMI)

The Sun Watcher using Active Pixel system detector and Image Processing (SWAP) onboard the PRoject for OnBoard Autonomy-2 (PROBA2) spacecraft provides images of the solar corona in EUV channel centered at 174 Å. These data, together with the Atmospheric Imaging Assembly (AIA) and the Helioseismic and Magnetic Imager (HMI) onboard Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO), are used to study the dynamics of coronal bright points. The evolution of the magnetic polarities and associated changes in morphology are studied using magnetograms and multi-wavelength imaging. The morphology of the bright points seen in low-resolution SWAP images and high-resolution AIA images show different structures, whereas the intensity variations with time show similar trends in both SWAP 174 Å and AIA 171 Å channels. We observe that bright points are seen in EUV channels corresponding to a magnetic flux of the order of 10¹⁸ Mx. We find that there exists a good correlation between total emission from the bright point in several UV–EUV channels and total unsigned photospheric magnetic flux above certain thresholds. The bright points also show periodic brightenings, and we have attempted to find the oscillation periods in bright points and their connection to magnetic-flux changes. The observed periods are generally long (10?–?25 minutes) and there is an indication that the intensity oscillations may be generated by repeated magnetic reconnection.     

Statistical Analysis of Small Ellerman Bomb Events

The properties of Ellerman bombs (EBs), small-scale brightenings in the Hα line wings, have proved difficult to establish because their size is close to the spatial resolution of even the most advanced telescopes. Here, we aim to infer the size and lifetime of EBs using high-resolution data of an emerging active region collected using the Interferometric BIdimensional Spectrometer (IBIS) and Rapid Oscillations of the Solar Atmosphere (ROSA) instruments as well as the Helioseismic and Magnetic Imager (HMI) onboard the Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO). We develop an algorithm to track EBs through their evolution, finding that EBs can often be much smaller (around 0.3″) and shorter-lived (less than one minute) than previous estimates. A correlation between G-band magnetic bright points and EBs is also found. Combining SDO/HMI and G-band data gives a good proxy of the polarity for the vertical magnetic field. It is found that EBs often occur both over regions of opposite polarity flux and strong unipolar fields, possibly hinting at magnetic reconnection as a driver of these events.The energetics of EB events is found to follow a power-law distribution in the range of a nanoflare (10^22?25 ergs).     

Magnetic Causes of the Eruption of a Quiescent Filament

During the JOP178 campaign in August 2006, we observed the disappearance of our target, a large quiescent filament located at S25°, after an observation time of three days (24 August to 26 August). Multi-wavelength instruments were operating: THEMIS/MTR (“MulTi-Raies”) vector magnetograph, TRACE (“Transition Region and Coronal Explorer”) at 171 Å and 1600 Å and Hida Domeless Solar telescope. Counter-streaming flows (+/?10 km?s^?1) in the filament were detected more than 24 hours before its eruption. A slow rise of the global structure started during this time period with a velocity estimated to be of the order of 1 km?s^?1. During the hour before the eruption (26 August around 09:00 UT) the velocity reached 5 km?s^?1. The filament eruption is suspected to be responsible for a slow CME observed by LASCO around 21:00 UT on 26 August. No brightening in Hα or in coronal lines, no new emerging polarities in the filament channel, even with the high polarimetry sensitivity of THEMIS, were detected. We measured a relatively large decrease of the photospheric magnetic field strength of the network (from 400 G to 100 G), whose downward magnetic tension provides stability to the underlying stressed filament magnetic fields. According to some MHD models based on turbulent photospheric diffusion, this gentle decrease of magnetic strength (the tension) could act as the destabilizing mechanism which first leads to the slow filament rise and its fast eruption.     

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.     

X-ray and Hα observations of a filament-disappearance flare: An empirical analysis of the magnetic field configuration

A flare event occurred which involved the disappearance of a filament near central meridian on 29 August 1973. The event was well observed in X-rays with the AS & E telescope on Skylab and in H at BBSO. It was a four-ribbon flare involving both new and old magnetic inversion lines which were roughly parallel. The H, X-ray, and magnetic field data are used to deduce the magnetic polarities of the H brightenings at the footpoints of the brightest X-ray loops. These magnetic structures and the preflare history of the region are then used to argue that the event involved a reconnection of magnetic field lines rather than a brightening in place of pre-existing loops. The simultaneity of the H brightening onsets in the four ribbons and the apparent lack of an eruption of the filament are consistent with this interpretation. These observations are compared to other studies of filament disappearances. The preflare structures and the alignment of the early X-ray flare loops with the H filament are consistent with the schematic picture of a filament presented first by Canfield et al. (1974).     

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.     

Coronal X-ray enhancements associated with Hα filament disappearances

A survey of soft X-ray images from Skylab has revealed a class of large-scale transient X-ray enhancements in the lower corona which are typically associated with the disappearance of H filaments away from active regions. Contemporary with the H filament disappearance, X-ray emitting structures appeared at or near the filament location with shape and size resembling the filament. Eventually these structures faded, but the filament cavity was no longer obvious. Typically the peak of the X-ray event lagged the end of the filament disappearance by tens of minutes. The durations of the coronal X-ray enhancements were considerably longer than the associated H filament disappearances. Major flare effects, such as chromospheric brightenings, typically were not associated with these X-ray events.One event analyzed quantitatively had a peak temperature between 1.8 and 2.7 × 10⁶ K, achieved a peak density of 10⁹ cm^–3 and resulted in an enhancement in the plasma pressure over the conditions of the preexisting coronal cavity of at least a factor of 7. The mass of the coronal X-ray emitting material was about 10% that of the preexisting filament and the thermal energy of the coronal event was on the order of 10²⁹ erg, about 10% of the mechanical energy of the H filament eruption. The event appeared to cool by radiative losses and not by thermal conduction. It is likely that the coronal enhancements are caused by heating of an excess of previously cooler material, either from the filament itself, or by compression of coronal material by a changing magnetic field.     

Eruption of a Bifurcated Solar Filament

We study the partial eruption of a solar filament observed by the Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) and the Solar TErrestrial RElations Observatory-Ahead (STEREO-A) spacecraft on 9 May 2012. This filament was located in Active Region NOAA 11475 and consisted of two distinct branches, separated in height above the active region’s primary polarity-inversion line. For two days prior to the filament eruption, several threads of filament material were observed to connect the lower branch to the upper branch with evidence of a transfer of mass along them. The eruption commenced as a slow rise of the upper branch that began at 9 May 2012 23:40 UT, with the main eruption occurring half an hour later, producing a coronal mass ejection (CME). During the eruption, the upper branch was observed to rotate approximately 120 degrees in a counter-clockwise direction. We suggest that the mass transfer events also comprised a transfer of magnetic flux that led the upper branch of the filament to lose equilibrium as a result of a helical kink instability or torus instability.     

Spatial relations between preflares and flares

We have conducted an initial search for discrete preflare brightenings as observed in soft X-radiation by Yohkoh. The Yohkoh images allow us to identify, to within a few arc seconds, the location of a preflare event relative to the succeeding flare. Our initial motivation in this study was to search for early coronal brightenings leading to flare effects, as had been suggested by earlier studies; thus we concentrated on Yohkoh limb events. We find no evidence for such early coronal brightenings. Between 15% and 41% of the 131 suitable events matched our criteria for preflare brightening: the same active region; brightening within one hour of the flare peak; preflare brightness less than 30% of the flare peak. In the great majority of the preflare cases, we found that physically separate nearby structures brightened initially. Often these structures appeared to share a common footpoint location with the flare brightening itself. In a few cases the preflare could have occurred in exactly the same structure as the flare.     

Multiwavelength Study on Solar and Interplanetary Origins of the Strongest Geomagnetic Storm of Solar Cycle 23

We study the solar sources of an intense geomagnetic storm of solar cycle 23 that occurred on 20 November 2003, based on ground- and space-based multiwavelength observations. The coronal mass ejections (CMEs) responsible for the above geomagnetic storm originated from the super-active region NOAA 10501. We investigate the H?? observations of the flare events made with a 15 cm solar tower telescope at ARIES, Nainital, India. The propagation characteristics of the CMEs have been derived from the three-dimensional images of the solar wind (i.e., density and speed) obtained from the interplanetary scintillation data, supplemented with other ground- and space-based measurements. The TRACE, SXI and H?? observations revealed two successive ejections (of speeds ???350 and ???100 km?s^?1), originating from the same filament channel, which were associated with two high speed CMEs (???1223 and ???1660 km?s^?1, respectively). These two ejections generated propagating fast shock waves (i.e., fast-drifting type II radio bursts) in the corona. The interaction of these CMEs along the Sun?CEarth line has led to the severity of the storm. According to our investigation, the interplanetary medium consisted of two merging magnetic clouds (MCs) that preserved their identity during their propagation. These magnetic clouds made the interplanetary magnetic field (IMF) southward for a long time, which reconnected with the geomagnetic field, resulting the super-storm (Dst _peak=?472 nT) on the Earth.     

Automatic detection of white-light flare kernels in SDO/HMI intensitygrams

Solar flares with a broadband emission in the white-light range of the electromagnetic spectrum belong to most enigmatic phenomena on the Sun. The origin of the white-light emission is not entirely understood. We aim to systematically study the visible-light emission connected to solar flares in SDO/HMI observations. We developed a code for automatic detection of kernels of flares with HMI intensity brightenings and study properties of detected candidates. The code was tuned and tested and with a little effort, it could be applied to any suitable data set. By studying a few flare examples, we found indication that HMI intensity brightening might be an artefact of the simplified procedure used to compute HMI observables.     

Filament Eruption in NOAA 11093 Leading to a Two-Ribbon M1.0 Class Flare and CME

We present a multi-wavelength analysis of an eruption event that occurred in active region NOAA 11093 on 7 August 2010, using data obtained from SDO, STEREO, RHESSI, and the GONG Hα network telescope. From these observations, we inferred that an upward slow rising motion of an inverse S-shaped filament lying along the polarity inversion line resulted in a CME subsequent to a two-ribbon flare. Interaction of overlying field lines across the filament with the side-lobe field lines, associated EUV brightening, and flux emergence/cancelation around the filament were the observational signatures of the processes leading to its destabilization and the onset of eruption. Moreover, the time profile of the rising motion of the filament/flux rope corresponded well with flare characteristics, viz., the reconnection rate and hard X-ray emission profiles. The flux rope was accelerated to the maximum velocity as a CME at the peak phase of the flare, followed by deceleration to an average velocity of 590 km s⁻¹. We suggest that the observed emergence/cancelation of magnetic fluxes near the filament caused it to rise, resulting in the tethers to cut and reconnection to take place beneath the filament; in agreement with the tether-cutting model. The corresponding increase/decrease in positive/negative photospheric fluxes found in the post-peak phase of the eruption provides unambiguous evidence of reconnection as a consequence of tether cutting.     

Clear Detection of Chromospheric Evaporation Upflows with High Spatial/Temporal Resolution by Hinode XRT

We find clear evidence for typical chromospheric evaporation associated with small transient brightenings, using the data from the X-ray Telescope (XRT) onboard Hinode. We found 13 events, each having a pair of evaporation upflows arising almost symmetrically from both foot points of a magnetic loop. These facts strongly support the standard flare model based on the magnetic reconnection. The apparent upflow velocities of three of the events are ≈?500?km?s^?1, while those of the other events are ≈?100?km?s^?1. This is the first clear direct detection of evaporating upflow motion in soft X-ray images from Hinode/XRT; such images were obtained with high cadence (≈?60?s) and high spatial resolution (1?arcsec).