LOW-ALTITUDE RECONNECTION INFLOW-OUTFLOW OBSERVATIONS DURING A 2010 NOVEMBER 3 SOLAR ERUPTION
- NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center, Oak Ridge Associated Universities, 8800 Greenbelt Road, Code 671, Greenbelt, MD 20771 (United States)
- Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, 60 Garden Street MS 58, Cambridge, MA 02138 (United States)
- Royal Observatory of Belgium-SIDC, Avenue Circulaire 3, B-1180 Brussels (Belgium)
- Department of Physics, Montana State University, P.O. Box 173840, Bozeman, MT 59717-3840 (United States)
For a solar flare occurring on 2010 November 3, we present observations using several SDO/AIA extreme-ultraviolet (EUV) passbands of an erupting flux rope followed by inflows sweeping into a current sheet region. The inflows are soon followed by outflows appearing to originate from near the termination point of the inflowing motion-an observation in line with standard magnetic reconnection models. We measure average inflow plane-of-sky speeds to range from {approx}150 to 690 km s{sup -1} with the initial, high-temperature inflows being the fastest. Using the inflow speeds and a range of Alfven speeds, we estimate the Alfvenic Mach number which appears to decrease with time. We also provide inflow and outflow times with respect to RHESSI count rates and find that the fast, high-temperature inflows occur simultaneously with a peak in the RHESSI thermal light curve. Five candidate inflow-outflow pairs are identified with no more than a minute delay between detections. The inflow speeds of these pairs are measured to be {approx}10{sup 2} km s{sup -1} with outflow speeds ranging from {approx}10{sup 2} to 10{sup 3} km s{sup -1}-indicating acceleration during the reconnection process. The fastest of these outflows are in the form of apparently traveling density enhancements along the legs of the loops rather than the loop apexes themselves. These flows could possibly either be accelerated plasma, shocks, or waves prompted by reconnection. The measurements presented here show an order of magnitude difference between the retraction speeds of the loops and the speed of the density enhancements within the loops-presumably exiting the reconnection site.
- OSTI ID:
- 22039325
- Journal Information:
- Astrophysical Journal, Vol. 754, Issue 1; Other Information: Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 0004-637X
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
Similar Records
Direct Observation of Two-step Magnetic Reconnection in a Solar Flare
OBSERVATIONS OF A TWO-STAGE SOLAR ERUPTIVE EVENT (SEE): EVIDENCE FOR SECONDARY HEATING