THE FORMATION AND ERUPTION OF A SMALL CIRCULAR FILAMENT DRIVEN BY ROTATING MAGNETIC STRUCTURES IN THE QUIET SUN

Journal Article · Mon Apr 20 04:00:00 EDT 2015 · Astrophysical Journal

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1088/0004-637X/803/2/86· OSTI ID:22521985

Yang, Bo; Jiang, Yunchun; Yang, Jiayan; Hong, Junchao; Xu, Zhe ^[1]

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1. Yunnan Observatories, Chinese Academy of Sciences, P.O. Box 110, Kunming 650011 (China)

We present the first observation of the formation and eruption of a small circular filament driven by a rotating network magnetic field (RNF) in the quiet Sun. In the negative footpoint region of an inverse J-shaped dextral filament, the RNF was formed by the convergence to supergranular junctions of several magnetic flux patches of the same polarity, and it then rotated counterclockwise (CCW) for approximately 11 hr and showed up as a CCW rotating EUV cyclone, during which time the filament gradually evolved into a circular filament that surrounded the cyclone. When the calculated convergence and vortex flows appeared around the RNF during its formation and rotation phases, the injected magnetic helicity calculation also showed negative helicity accumulation during the RNF rotation that was consistent with the dextral chirality of the filament. Finally, the RNF rotation stopped and the cyclone disappeared, and, probably due to an emerging bipole and its forced cancellation with the RNF, the closure filament underwent an eruption along its axis in the (clockwise) direction opposite to the rotation directions of the RNF and cyclone. These observations suggest that the RNFs might play an important role in the formation of nearby small-scale circular filaments as they transport and inject magnetic energy and helicity, and the formation of the EUV cyclones may be a further manifestation of the helicity injected into the corona by the rotation of the RNFs in the photosphere. In addition, the new emerging bipole observed before the filament eruption might be responsible for destabilizing the system and triggering the magnetic reconnection which proves useful for the filament eruption.

• OSTI ID: 22521985
• Journal Information: Astrophysical Journal, Journal Name: Astrophysical Journal Journal Issue: 2 Vol. 803; ISSN ASJOAB; ISSN 0004-637X
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS
CHIRALITY
CONVERGENCE
ERUPTION
FILAMENTS
HELICITY
MAGNETIC FIELDS
MAGNETIC FLUX
MAGNETIC RECONNECTION
PHOTOSPHERE
ROTATION
SUN
VORTEX FLOW