Prominence and Filament Eruptions Observed by the Solar Dynamics Observatory: Statistical Properties, Kinematics, and Online Catalog

McCauley, Patrick; Su, Yingna; Schanche, N.; Evans, Kaitlin E.; Su, Chuan; McKillop, S.; Reeves, Katharine K.

doi:10.1007/s11207-015-0699-7

Cited by 122 publications

(97 citation statements)

References 113 publications

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“…All the jet-producing eruptions and JBPs studied here are similar to typical solar flare eruptions (e.g. McCauley et al 2015), in which a flare arcade (analogous to the JBP) grows over the neutral line in the wake of the filament eruption. The minifilaments show a slow-rise, followed by a fast-rise as they erupt (MOVIE1 and MOVIE2), analogous to many longer-scale filament eruptions (e.g.…”

Section: Evolution Of Minifilaments and Jetsmentioning

confidence: 68%

Magnetic Flux Cancelation as the Trigger of Solar Quiet-Region Coronal Jets

Panesar¹,

Sterling²,

Moore³

et al. 2016

ApJL

124

249

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We report observations of ten random on-disk solar quiet region coronal jets found in high resolution Extreme Ultraviolet (EUV) images from the Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO)/Atmospheric Imaging Assembly (AIA) and having good coverage in magnetograms from the SDO/Helioseismic and Magnetic Imager (HMI). Recent studies show that coronal jets are driven by the eruption of a small-scale filament (called a minifilament). However the trigger of these eruptions is still unknown. In the present study we address the question: what leads to the jet-driving minifilament eruptions? The EUV observations show that there is a cool-transitionregion-plasma minifilament present prior to each jet event and the minifilament eruption drives the jet. By examining pre-jet evolutionary changes in the line-of-sight photospheric magnetic field we observe that each pre-jet minifilament resides over the neutral line between majority-polarity and minority-polarity patches of magnetic flux. In each of the ten cases, the opposite-polarity patches approach and merge with each other (flux reduction between 21 and 57%). After several hours, continuous flux cancellation at the neutral line apparently destabilizes the field holding the cool-plasma minifilament to erupt and undergo internal reconnection, and external reconnection with the surrounding-coronal field. The external reconnection opens the minifilament field allowing the minifilament material to escape outwards, forming part of the jet spire. Thus we found that each of the ten jets resulted from eruption of a minifilament following flux cancellation at the neutral line under the minifilament. These observations establish that magnetic flux cancellation is usually the trigger of quiet region coronal jet eruptions.

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Section: Evolution Of Minifilaments and Jetsmentioning

confidence: 68%

Magnetic Flux Cancelation as the Trigger of Solar Quiet-Region Coronal Jets

Panesar¹,

Sterling²,

Moore³

et al. 2016

ApJL

124

249

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

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“…Therefore, the fact that a prominence (Filippov & Den 2001;Filippov & Zagnetko 2008;McCauley et al 2015), an active region filament (Zuccarello et al 2014), or a cavity , becomes unstable when it reaches a critical height where  n 1 does not necessary mean that the supporting flux rope has an elongated straight cylindrical geometry. It should be noted that our modeled prominences (within the limitations of not treating plasma thermodynamics) actually show a quite elongated straight structure that may misleadingly be interpreted as an indication that the supporting flux rope is also straight.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Recently, McCauley et al (2015) performed a statistical study of the kinematic of ∼100 limb prominence eruptions and found that the decay index at the onset of the fast-rise is in the range [0.7-2] with a pick at  n 1.1. These results, that have also been confirmed using the three vantage points provided by the twin STEREO spacecraft (Filippov 2013), motivated the interpretation that prominence are supported by straight rather than toroidal flux ropes.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Apparent Critical Decay Index at the Onset of Solar Prominence Eruptions

Zuccarello

Aulanier

Gilchrist

2016

ApJL

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A magnetic flux rope (MFR) embedded in a line-tied external magnetic field that decreases with height asz n is unstable to perturbations if the decay index of the field n is larger than a critical value. The onset of this instability, called torus instability, is one of the main mechanisms that can initiate coronal mass ejections. Since flux ropes often possess magnetic dips that can support prominence plasma, this is also a valuable mechanism to trigger prominence eruptions. Magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) simulations of the formation and/or emergence of MFRs suggest a critical value for the onset of the instability in the range [1.4−2]. However, detailed observations of prominences suggest a value in the range [0.9−1.1]. In this Letter, by using a set of MHD simulations, we show why the large discrepancy between models and observations is only apparent. Our simulations indeed show that the critical decay index at the onset of the eruption is =  n 1.4 0.1 when computed at the apex of the flux rope axis, while it is =  n 1.1 0.1 when it is computed at the altitude of the topmost part of the distribution of magnetic dips. The discrepancy only arises because weakly twisted curved flux ropes do not have dips up to the altitude of their axis.

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“…These points are extracted automatically, but their time range must be selected manually, which is particularly important for the start time because it effectively defines the onset of the slow-rise phase. This procedure is also used by Reeves et al (2015) for IRIS observations of an eruptive prominence and by McCauley et al (2015) for a statistical study that includes this event.…”

Section: Structure and Dynamics Of The Prominence/cavitymentioning

confidence: 99%

Magnetic Structure and Dynamics of the Erupting Solar Polar Crown Prominence on 2012 March 12

Ballegooijen

McCauley

et al. 2015

ApJ

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We present an investigation of the polar crown prominence that erupted on 2012 March 12. This prominence is observed at the southeast limb by the Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO)/Atmospheric Imaging Assembly (AIA; end-on view) and displays a quasi-vertical thread structure. A bright U-shaped or horn-like structure is observed surrounding the upper portion of the prominence at 171 Å before the eruption and becomes more prominent during the eruption. The disk view of STEREOB _ shows that this long prominence is composed of a series of vertical threads and displays a half-loop-like structure during the eruption. We focus on the magnetic support of the prominence vertical threads by studying the structure and dynamics of the prominence before and during the eruption using observations from SDO and STEREO_B. We also construct a series of magnetic field models (sheared arcade model, twisted flux rope model, and unstable model with hyperbolic flux tube). Various observational characteristics appear to be in favor of the twisted flux rope model. We find that the flux rope supporting the prominence enters the regime of torus instability at the onset of the fast-rise phase, and signatures of reconnection (posteruption arcade, new U-shaped structure, rising blobs) appear about one hour later. During the eruption, AIA observes dark ribbons seen in absorption at 171 Å corresponding to the bright ribbons shown at 304 Å, which might be caused by the erupting filament material falling back along the newly reconfigured magnetic fields. Brightenings at the inner edge of the erupting prominence arcade are also observed in all AIA EUV channels, which might be caused by the heating due to energy released from reconnection below the rising prominence.

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Prominence and Filament Eruptions Observed by the Solar Dynamics Observatory: Statistical Properties, Kinematics, and Online Catalog

Cited by 122 publications

References 113 publications

Magnetic Flux Cancelation as the Trigger of Solar Quiet-Region Coronal Jets

Magnetic Flux Cancelation as the Trigger of Solar Quiet-Region Coronal Jets

The Apparent Critical Decay Index at the Onset of Solar Prominence Eruptions

Magnetic Structure and Dynamics of the Erupting Solar Polar Crown Prominence on 2012 March 12

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