Understanding hooks of solar flare ribbons and the evolution of coronal mass ejections

by Juraj Lorinčík, Jaroslav Dudík, and Guillaume Aulanier

Hosted by Astronomical Institute of the Czech Academy of Sciences on May 28, 2020

Abstract

Solar flares and eruptions are one of the most energetic phenomena occuring in the solar system. They are typically described by the cartoon-like 2D Standard model of solar flares. This model is however not capable of describing J-shaped (hooked) solar flare ribbons, bright elongated structures typically observed in the UV part of the spectrum. Their description requires 3D MHD modelling of magnetic flux ropes, bundles of twisted field lines rooted in the hooked endings of flare ribbons. The standard flare model in three dimensions, developed in the Observatory of Paris, was recently used to find predictions on how do the field lines reconnect during solar eruptions with respect to the positions of flare ribbons (Aulanier & Dudík 2019, A&A, 621, 72). Authors of this study identified three geometries involving field lines composing and/or surrounding the erupting flux rope. With a help of high-resolution EUV data, these were identified in a series of publications focused on eruptive events. Using data from the Atmospheric Imaging Assembly (AIA) onboard the Solar Dynamics Observatory, we will present the manifestations of the different 3D reconnection scenarios and discuss under what conditions can their constituents be observed.

Seminar’s video