Real-time simulation of a potential magnetic field in a post-flare arch

We analyze the X-ray observations on 7–8 November of the last revival of a giant coronal arch first observed in the morning hours of 6 November, 1980. We compare these data with observations of earlier revivals of this arch, in order to determine whether the successive brightenings repeat without any apparent modification, or whether they show a varying behavior as they keep occurring. We also examine the magnetic structure of the revived arches in order to ascertain whether the subsequent phenomena involve the same magnetic configuration. The information about the magnetic structure of the last revival is the best we have, because the revival started close to the time of the Kitt Peak magnetogram which has been used for the magnetic modelling of the whole series of these giant arches.We conclude that while there seems to be some plasma depletion in the 7–8 November event, the real-time magnetic field modelling on this date seems to fit the observed footpoints better than the modelling on 6 November which had to use the same magnetogram for a situation occurring 24 to 36 hours earlier. The general topology does not show any significant change, apart perhaps in the field line inclination, but some flux tubes seem to have disappeared between 6 and 7 November. Nevertheless, both X-ray and H observations indicate that this magnetic structure basically kept its identity for more than 4 days.We also compare the two existing interpretations of the arch revivals: re-excitation of a permanent pre-existing structure (after Hick and vestka, 1987) and formation of each brightening through a separate reconnection (after Poletto and Kopp, 1988). Unfortunately, proximity to the limb does not allow one to decide between these two alternatives; it is suggested to look for other series of arch revivals utilizing our present knowledge about the behavior of the chromospheric footpoints of giant arches.