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Title: THE RELATION BETWEEN SOLAR ERUPTION TOPOLOGIES AND OBSERVED FLARE FEATURES. I. FLARE RIBBONS

Abstract

In this paper we present a topological magnetic field investigation of seven two-ribbon flares in sigmoidal active regions observed with Hinode, STEREO, and Solar Dynamics Observatory. We first derive the 3D coronal magnetic field structure of all regions using marginally unstable 3D coronal magnetic field models created with the flux rope insertion method. The unstable models have been shown to be a good model of the flaring magnetic field configurations. Regions are selected based on their pre-flare configurations along with the appearance and observational coverage of flare ribbons, and the model is constrained using pre-flare features observed in extreme ultraviolet and X-ray passbands. We perform a topology analysis of the models by computing the squashing factor, Q, in order to determine the locations of prominent quasi-separatrix layers (QSLs). QSLs from these maps are compared to flare ribbons at their full extents. We show that in all cases the straight segments of the two J-shaped ribbons are matched very well by the flux-rope-related QSLs, and the matches to the hooked segments are less consistent but still good for most cases. In addition, we show that these QSLs overlay ridges in the electric current density maps. This study is the largest samplemore » of regions with QSLs derived from 3D coronal magnetic field models, and it shows that the magnetofrictional modeling technique that we employ gives a very good representation of flaring regions, with the power to predict flare ribbon locations in the event of a flare following the time of the model.« less

Authors:
; ; ; ;  [1];  [2];  [3]
  1. Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, 60 Garden Street, Cambridge, MA 02138 (United States)
  2. LESIA, Observatoire de Paris, CNRS, UPMC, Université Paris Diderot, F-92190 Meudon (France)
  3. Department of Physics, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720 (United States)
Publication Date:
OSTI Identifier:
22525464
Resource Type:
Journal Article
Journal Name:
Astrophysical Journal
Additional Journal Information:
Journal Volume: 810; Journal Issue: 2; Other Information: Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); Journal ID: ISSN 0004-637X
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Subject:
79 ASTROPHYSICS, COSMOLOGY AND ASTRONOMY; COMPARATIVE EVALUATIONS; DENSITY; ELECTRIC CURRENTS; ERUPTION; EXTREME ULTRAVIOLET RADIATION; GAMMA RADIATION; LAYERS; MAGNETIC FIELD CONFIGURATIONS; MAGNETIC FIELDS; MASS; SOLAR FLARES; SUN; TOPOLOGY; X RADIATION

Citation Formats

Savcheva, A., McKillop, S., McCauley, P., Su, Y., DeLuca, E. E., Pariat, E., Hanson, E., and Werner, E., E-mail: asavcheva@cfa.harvard.edu. THE RELATION BETWEEN SOLAR ERUPTION TOPOLOGIES AND OBSERVED FLARE FEATURES. I. FLARE RIBBONS. United States: N. p., 2015. Web. doi:10.1088/0004-637X/810/2/96.
Savcheva, A., McKillop, S., McCauley, P., Su, Y., DeLuca, E. E., Pariat, E., Hanson, E., & Werner, E., E-mail: asavcheva@cfa.harvard.edu. THE RELATION BETWEEN SOLAR ERUPTION TOPOLOGIES AND OBSERVED FLARE FEATURES. I. FLARE RIBBONS. United States. https://doi.org/10.1088/0004-637X/810/2/96
Savcheva, A., McKillop, S., McCauley, P., Su, Y., DeLuca, E. E., Pariat, E., Hanson, E., and Werner, E., E-mail: asavcheva@cfa.harvard.edu. 2015. "THE RELATION BETWEEN SOLAR ERUPTION TOPOLOGIES AND OBSERVED FLARE FEATURES. I. FLARE RIBBONS". United States. https://doi.org/10.1088/0004-637X/810/2/96.
@article{osti_22525464,
title = {THE RELATION BETWEEN SOLAR ERUPTION TOPOLOGIES AND OBSERVED FLARE FEATURES. I. FLARE RIBBONS},
author = {Savcheva, A. and McKillop, S. and McCauley, P. and Su, Y. and DeLuca, E. E. and Pariat, E. and Hanson, E. and Werner, E., E-mail: asavcheva@cfa.harvard.edu},
abstractNote = {In this paper we present a topological magnetic field investigation of seven two-ribbon flares in sigmoidal active regions observed with Hinode, STEREO, and Solar Dynamics Observatory. We first derive the 3D coronal magnetic field structure of all regions using marginally unstable 3D coronal magnetic field models created with the flux rope insertion method. The unstable models have been shown to be a good model of the flaring magnetic field configurations. Regions are selected based on their pre-flare configurations along with the appearance and observational coverage of flare ribbons, and the model is constrained using pre-flare features observed in extreme ultraviolet and X-ray passbands. We perform a topology analysis of the models by computing the squashing factor, Q, in order to determine the locations of prominent quasi-separatrix layers (QSLs). QSLs from these maps are compared to flare ribbons at their full extents. We show that in all cases the straight segments of the two J-shaped ribbons are matched very well by the flux-rope-related QSLs, and the matches to the hooked segments are less consistent but still good for most cases. In addition, we show that these QSLs overlay ridges in the electric current density maps. This study is the largest sample of regions with QSLs derived from 3D coronal magnetic field models, and it shows that the magnetofrictional modeling technique that we employ gives a very good representation of flaring regions, with the power to predict flare ribbon locations in the event of a flare following the time of the model.},
doi = {10.1088/0004-637X/810/2/96},
url = {https://www.osti.gov/biblio/22525464}, journal = {Astrophysical Journal},
issn = {0004-637X},
number = 2,
volume = 810,
place = {United States},
year = {Thu Sep 10 00:00:00 EDT 2015},
month = {Thu Sep 10 00:00:00 EDT 2015}
}