Evolution of Plasma Composition in an Eruptive Flux Rope

Magnetic flux ropes are bundles of twisted magnetic field enveloping a central axis. They harbor free magnetic energy and can be progenitors of coronal mass ejections (CMEs). However, identifying flux ropes on the Sun can be challenging. One of the key coronal observables that has been shown to indicate the presence of a flux rope is a peculiar bright coronal structure called a sigmoid. In this work, we show Hinode EUV Imaging Spectrometer observations of sigmoidal active region (AR) 10977. We analyze the coronal plasma composition in the AR and its evolution as a sigmoid (flux rope) forms and erupts as a CME. Plasma with photospheric composition was observed in coronal loops close to the main polarity inversion line during episodes of significant flux cancellation, suggestive of the injection of photospheric plasma into these loops driven by photospheric flux cancellation. Concurrently, the increasingly sheared core field contained plasma with coronal composition. As flux cancellation decreased and a sigmoid/flux rope formed, the plasma evolved to an intermediate composition in between photospheric and typical AR coronal compositions. Finally, the flux rope contained predominantly photospheric plasma during and after a failed eruption preceding the CME. Hence, plasma composition observations of AR 10977 strongly support models of flux rope formation by photospheric flux cancellation forcing magnetic reconnection first at the photospheric level then at the coronal level.

Solar Prominences

Solar prominences (or filaments) are cool dense regions of plasma that exist within the solar corona. Their existence is due to magnetic fields that support the dense plasma against gravity and insulate it from the surrounding hot coronal plasma. They can be found across all latitudes on the Sun, where their physical dimensions span a wide range of sizes (length ~60–600 Mm, height ~10–100 Mm, and width ~4–10 Mm). Their lifetime can be as long as a solar rotation (27 days), at the end of which they often erupt to initiate coronal mass ejections. When viewed at the highest spatial resolution, solar prominences are found to be composed of many thin co-aligned threads or vertical sheets. Within these structures, both horizontal and vertical motions of up to 10–20 kms−1 are observed, along with a wide variety of oscillations. At the present time, a lack of detailed observations of filament formation gives rise to a wide variety of theoretical models of this process. These models aim to explain both the formation of the prominence’s strongly sheared and highly non-potential magnetic field along with the origin of the dense plasma. Prominences also exhibit a large-scale hemispheric pattern such that “dextral” prominences containing negative magnetic helicity dominate in the northern hemisphere, while “sinistral” prominences containing positive helicity dominate in the south. Understanding this pattern is essential to understanding the build-up and release of free magnetic energy and helicity on the Sun. Future theoretical studies will have to be tightly coordinated with observations conducted at multiple wavelengths (i.e., energy levels) in order to unravel the secrets of these objects.

Time-dependent data-driven coronal simulations of AR 12673 from emergence to eruption

Aims. We present a detailed study of the magnetic evolution of AR 12673 using a magnetofrictional modelling approach. Methods. The fully data-driven and time-dependent model was driven with maps of the photospheric electric field, inverted from vector magnetogram observations obtained from the Helioseismic and Magnetic Imager (HMI) on board the Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO). Our analysis was aided by studying the evolution of metrics such as the free magnetic energy and the current-carrying helicity budget of the domain, maps of the squashing factor and twist, and plots of the current density. These allowed us to better understand the dynamic nature of the magnetic topology. Results. Our simulation captured the time-dependent nature of the active region and the erupting flux rope associated with the X-class flares on 6 September 2017, including the largest of solar cycle 24. Additionally, our results suggest a possible threshold for eruptions in the ratio of current-carrying helicity to relative helicity. Conclusion. The flux rope was found to be a combination of two structures that partially combine during the eruption process. Our time-dependent data-driven magnetofrictional model is shown to be capable of generating magnetic fields consistent with extreme ultraviolet (EUV) observations.

Difference of source regions between fast and slow coronal mass ejections

Coronal mass ejections (CMEs) are tightly related to filament eruptions and usually are their continuation in the upper solar corona. It is common practice to divide all observed CMEs into fast and slow ones. Fast CMEs usually follow eruptive events in active regions near big sunspot groups and associated with major solar flares. Slow CMEs are more related to eruptions of quiescent prominences located far from active regions. We analyse 10 eruptive events with particular attention to the events on 2013 September 29 and on 2016 January 26, one of which was associated with a fast CME, while another was followed by a slow CME. We estimated the initial store of free magnetic energy in the two regions and show the resemblance of pre-eruptive situations. The difference of late behaviour of the two eruptive prominences is a consequence of the different structure of magnetic field above the filaments. We estimated this structure on the basis of potential magnetic field calculations. Analysis of other eight events confirmed that all fast CMEs originate in regions with rapidly changing with height value and direction of coronal magnetic field.

Storing free magnetic energy in the solar corona

This article presents a mini-tutorial aimed at a wide readership not familiar with the field of solar plasma physics. The exposition is centred around the issue of excess/free magnetic energy stored in the solar corona. A general consideration is followed with a particular example of coronal magnetic arcade, where free magnetic energy builds up by photospheric convective flows. In the context of solar physics the major task is to explain how this free energy can be released quickly enough to match what is observed in coronal explosive events such as solar flares. Therefore, in the last section of the paper we discuss briefly a possible role of magnetic reconnection in these processes. This is done in quite simple qualitative physical terms, so that an interested reader can follow it up in more detail with help of the provided references.