NEW OBSERVATION OF FAILED FILAMENT ERUPTIONS: THE INFLUENCE OF ASYMMETRIC CORONAL BACKGROUND FIELDS ON SOLAR ERUPTIONS

Journal Article · Fri May 01 04:00:00 EDT 2009 · Astrophysical Journal (Online)

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1088/0004-637X/696/1/L70; COUNTRY OF INPUT: INTERNATIONAL ATOMIC ENERGY AGENCY (IAEA)· OSTI ID:21300733

Liu, Y; Xu, Z ^[1]; Su, J ^[2]; Lin, H ^[3]; Shibata, K; Kurokawa, H ^[4]

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1. Yunnan Astronomical Observatory, National Astronomical Observatories, Kunming 650011 (China)
2. National Astronomical Observatories, Beijing 100012 (China)
3. Institute for Astronomy, University of Hawaii, 34 Ohia Ku Street, Pukalani, HI 96768 (United States)
4. Kwasan and Hida Observatories, Kyoto University, Yamashina-ku, Kyoto 607-8471 (Japan)

Failed filament eruptions not associated with a coronal mass ejection (CME) have been observed and reported as evidence for solar coronal field confinement on erupting flux ropes. In those events, each filament eventually returns to its origin on the solar surface. In this Letter, a new observation of two failed filament eruptions is reported which indicates that the mass of a confined filament can be ejected to places far from the original filament channel. The jetlike mass motions in the two failed filament eruptions are thought to be due to the asymmetry of the background coronal magnetic fields with respect to the locations of the filament channels. The asymmetry of the coronal fields is confirmed by an extrapolation based on a potential field model. The obvious imbalance between the positive and negative magnetic flux (with a ratio of 1:3) in the bipolar active region is thought to be the direct cause of the formation of the asymmetric coronal fields. We think that the asymmetry of the background fields can not only influence the trajectories of ejecta, but also provide a relatively stronger confinement for flux rope eruptions than the symmetric background fields do.

• OSTI ID: 21300733
• Journal Information: Astrophysical Journal (Online), Journal Name: Astrophysical Journal (Online) Journal Issue: 1 Vol. 696; ISSN 1538-4357
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS
99 GENERAL AND MISCELLANEOUS
ASYMMETRY
ERUPTION
EXTRAPOLATION
MAGNETIC FIELDS
MAGNETIC FLUX
MASS
SUN