Energy released by the interaction of coronal magnetic fields

Comparisons between coronal spectroheliograms and photospheric magnetograms are presented to support the idea that as coronal magnetic fields interact, a process of field line reconnection usually takes place as a natural way of preventing magnetic stresses from building up in the lower corona. This suggests that the energy which would have been stored in stressed fields is continuously released as kinetic energy of material being driven aside to make way for the reconnecting fields. However, this kinetic energy is negligible compared to the thermal energy of the coronal plasma. Therefore, it appears that these slow adjustments of coronal magnetic fields cannot account for even the normal heating of the corona, much less the energetic events associated with solar flares.Visiting Scientist, Kitt Peak National Observatory, Tucson Arizona.Operated by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy, Inc., under contract with the National Science Foundation.