DETECTION OF A FINE-SCALE DISCONTINUITY OF PHOTOSPHERIC MAGNETIC FIELDS ASSOCIATED WITH SOLAR CORONAL LOOP BRIGHTENINGS
- Astronomy Program, Department of Physics and Astronomy, Seoul National University, Seoul 151-742 (Korea, Republic of)
- Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute, Daejeon 305-348 (Korea, Republic of)
- Big Bear Solar Observatory, New Jersey Institute of Technology, Big Bear City, CA 92314 (United States)
We present the transient brightening of a coronal loop and an associated fine-scale magnetic discontinuity detected in the photosphere. Utilizing the high-resolution data taken with the Fast Imaging Solar Spectrograph and InfraRed Imaging Magnetograph of the New Solar Telescope at Big Bear Solar Observatory, we detect a narrow lane of intense horizontal magnetic field representing a magnetic discontinuity. It was visible as a dark lane partially encircling a pore in the continuum image, and was located near one of the footpoints of a small coronal loop that experienced transient brightenings. The horizontal field strength gradually increased before the loop brightening, and then rapidly decreased in the impulsive phase of the brightening, suggesting the increase of the magnetic non-potentiality at the loop footpoint and the sudden release of magnetic energy via magnetic reconnection. Our results support the nanoflare theory that coronal heating events are caused by magnetic reconnection events at fine-scale magnetic discontinuities.
- OSTI ID:
- 22518892
- Journal Information:
- Astrophysical Journal Letters, Vol. 810, Issue 2; Other Information: Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 2041-8205
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
Similar Records
QUASI-PERIODIC OSCILLATION OF A CORONAL BRIGHT POINT
COMBINING PARTICLE ACCELERATION AND CORONAL HEATING VIA DATA-CONSTRAINED CALCULATIONS OF NANOFLARES IN CORONAL LOOPS