A reconnecting current sheet imaged in a solar flare

Rui Liu; Jeongwoo Lee; Tongjiang Wang; Guillermo Stenborg; Chang Liu; Haimin Wang

doi:10.1088/2041-8205/723/1/L28

A reconnecting current sheet imaged in a solar flare

Rui Liu, Jeongwoo Lee, Tongjiang Wang, Guillermo Stenborg, Chang Liu, Haimin Wang

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

81 Scopus citations

Abstract

Magnetic reconnection changes the magnetic field topology and powers explosive events in astrophysical, space, and laboratory plasmas. For flares and coronal mass ejections (CMEs) in the solar atmosphere, the standard model predicts the presence of a reconnecting current sheet, which has been the subject of considerable theoretical and numerical modeling over the last 50 years, yet direct, unambiguous observational verification has been absent. In this Letter, we show a bright sheet structure of global length (>0.25R _⊙) and macroscopic width ((5-10)×10³ km) distinctly above the cusp-shaped flaring loop, imaged during the flare rising phase in EUV. The sheet formed due to the stretch of a transequatorial loop system and was accompanied by various reconnection signatures. This unique event provides a comprehensive view of the reconnection geometry and dynamics in the solar corona.

Original language	English (US)
Pages (from-to)	L28-L33
Journal	Astrophysical Journal Letters
Volume	723
Issue number	1 PART 2
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1088/2041-8205/723/1/L28
State	Published - Nov 1 2010

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

Astronomy and Astrophysics
Space and Planetary Science

Keywords

Sun: corona
Sun: coronal mass ejections (CMEs)
Sun: flare

Access to Document

10.1088/2041-8205/723/1/L28

Cite this

@article{8377fe7a6aaf4362bf978fb086163867,

title = "A reconnecting current sheet imaged in a solar flare",

abstract = "Magnetic reconnection changes the magnetic field topology and powers explosive events in astrophysical, space, and laboratory plasmas. For flares and coronal mass ejections (CMEs) in the solar atmosphere, the standard model predicts the presence of a reconnecting current sheet, which has been the subject of considerable theoretical and numerical modeling over the last 50 years, yet direct, unambiguous observational verification has been absent. In this Letter, we show a bright sheet structure of global length (>0.25R ⊙) and macroscopic width ((5-10)×103 km) distinctly above the cusp-shaped flaring loop, imaged during the flare rising phase in EUV. The sheet formed due to the stretch of a transequatorial loop system and was accompanied by various reconnection signatures. This unique event provides a comprehensive view of the reconnection geometry and dynamics in the solar corona.",

keywords = "Sun: corona, Sun: coronal mass ejections (CMEs), Sun: flare",

author = "Rui Liu and Jeongwoo Lee and Tongjiang Wang and Guillermo Stenborg and Chang Liu and Haimin Wang",

year = "2010",

month = nov,

day = "1",

doi = "10.1088/2041-8205/723/1/L28",

language = "English (US)",

volume = "723",

pages = "L28--L33",

journal = "Astrophysical Journal Letters",

issn = "2041-8205",

publisher = "IOP Publishing Ltd.",

number = "1 PART 2",

}

TY - JOUR

T1 - A reconnecting current sheet imaged in a solar flare

AU - Liu, Rui

AU - Lee, Jeongwoo

AU - Wang, Tongjiang

AU - Stenborg, Guillermo

AU - Liu, Chang

AU - Wang, Haimin

PY - 2010/11/1

Y1 - 2010/11/1

N2 - Magnetic reconnection changes the magnetic field topology and powers explosive events in astrophysical, space, and laboratory plasmas. For flares and coronal mass ejections (CMEs) in the solar atmosphere, the standard model predicts the presence of a reconnecting current sheet, which has been the subject of considerable theoretical and numerical modeling over the last 50 years, yet direct, unambiguous observational verification has been absent. In this Letter, we show a bright sheet structure of global length (>0.25R ⊙) and macroscopic width ((5-10)×103 km) distinctly above the cusp-shaped flaring loop, imaged during the flare rising phase in EUV. The sheet formed due to the stretch of a transequatorial loop system and was accompanied by various reconnection signatures. This unique event provides a comprehensive view of the reconnection geometry and dynamics in the solar corona.

AB - Magnetic reconnection changes the magnetic field topology and powers explosive events in astrophysical, space, and laboratory plasmas. For flares and coronal mass ejections (CMEs) in the solar atmosphere, the standard model predicts the presence of a reconnecting current sheet, which has been the subject of considerable theoretical and numerical modeling over the last 50 years, yet direct, unambiguous observational verification has been absent. In this Letter, we show a bright sheet structure of global length (>0.25R ⊙) and macroscopic width ((5-10)×103 km) distinctly above the cusp-shaped flaring loop, imaged during the flare rising phase in EUV. The sheet formed due to the stretch of a transequatorial loop system and was accompanied by various reconnection signatures. This unique event provides a comprehensive view of the reconnection geometry and dynamics in the solar corona.

KW - Sun: corona

KW - Sun: coronal mass ejections (CMEs)

KW - Sun: flare

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=78649296713&partnerID=8YFLogxK

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=78649296713&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1088/2041-8205/723/1/L28

DO - 10.1088/2041-8205/723/1/L28

M3 - Article

AN - SCOPUS:78649296713

SN - 2041-8205

VL - 723

SP - L28-L33

JO - Astrophysical Journal Letters

JF - Astrophysical Journal Letters

IS - 1 PART 2

ER -

A reconnecting current sheet imaged in a solar flare

Abstract

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

Keywords

Access to Document

Other files and links

Fingerprint

Cite this