TY - JOUR
T1 - Transient rotation of photospheric vector magnetic fields associated with a solar flare
AU - Xu, Yan
AU - Cao, Wenda
AU - Ahn, Kwangsu
AU - Jing, Ju
AU - Liu, Chang
AU - Chae, Jongchul
AU - Huang, Nengyi
AU - Deng, Na
AU - Gary, Dale
AU - Wang, Haimin
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2017 The Author(s).
PY - 2018/12/1
Y1 - 2018/12/1
N2 - As one of the most violent eruptions on the Sun, flares are believed to be powered by magnetic reconnection. The fundamental physics involving the release, transfer, and deposition of energy have been studied extensively. Taking advantage of the unprecedented resolution provided by the 1.6 m Goode Solar Telescope, here, we show a sudden rotation of vector magnetic fields, about 12-20° counterclockwise, associated with a flare. Unlike the permanent changes reported previously, the azimuth-angle change is transient and cospatial/temporal with Hα emission. The measured azimuth angle becomes closer to that in potential fields suggesting untwist of flare loops. The magnetograms were obtained in the near infrared at 1.56 μm, which is minimally affected by flare emission and no intensity profile change was detected. We believe that these transient changes are real and discuss the possible explanations in which the high-energy electron beams or Alfve′n waves play a crucial role.
AB - As one of the most violent eruptions on the Sun, flares are believed to be powered by magnetic reconnection. The fundamental physics involving the release, transfer, and deposition of energy have been studied extensively. Taking advantage of the unprecedented resolution provided by the 1.6 m Goode Solar Telescope, here, we show a sudden rotation of vector magnetic fields, about 12-20° counterclockwise, associated with a flare. Unlike the permanent changes reported previously, the azimuth-angle change is transient and cospatial/temporal with Hα emission. The measured azimuth angle becomes closer to that in potential fields suggesting untwist of flare loops. The magnetograms were obtained in the near infrared at 1.56 μm, which is minimally affected by flare emission and no intensity profile change was detected. We believe that these transient changes are real and discuss the possible explanations in which the high-energy electron beams or Alfve′n waves play a crucial role.
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U2 - 10.1038/s41467-017-02509-w
DO - 10.1038/s41467-017-02509-w
M3 - Article
C2 - 29298973
AN - SCOPUS:85040101247
SN - 2041-1723
VL - 9
JO - Nature communications
JF - Nature communications
IS - 1
M1 - 46
ER -