Ultra-high-resolution observations of plasmoid-mediated magnetic reconnection in the deep solar atmosphere

Context. Magnetic reconnection in the deep solar atmosphere can give rise to enhanced emission in the Balmer hydrogen lines, a phenomenon referred to as Ellerman bombs. Aims. To effectively trace magnetic reconnection below the canopy of chromospheric fibrils, we analyzed unique spectroscopic observations of Ellerman bombs in the H alpha line. Methods. We analyzed a 10 min data set of a young emerging active region observed with the prototype of the Microlensed Hyperspectral Imager (MiHI) at the Swedish 1-m Solar Telescope (SST). The MiHI instrument is an integral field spectrograph that is capable of achieving simultaneous ultra-high resolution in the spatial, temporal, and spectral domains. With the combination of the SST adaptive optics system and image restoration techniques, MiHI can deliver diffraction-limited observations if the atmospheric seeing conditions allow. The data set samples the H alpha line over 4.5 angstrom with 10 m angstrom pix(-1), with 0.'' 065 pix(-1) over a field of view of 8.'' 6 x 7.'' 7, and at a temporal cadence of 1.33 s. This constitutes a hyperspectral data cube that measures 132 x 118 spatial pixels, 456 spectral pixels, and 455 time steps. Results. There were multiple sites with Ellerman bomb activity associated with strong magnetic flux emergence. The Ellerman bomb activity is very dynamic, showing rapid variability and a small-scale substructure. We found a number of plasmoid-like blobs with full-width-half-maximum sizes between 0.'' 1 and 0.'' 4 and moving with apparent velocities between 14 and 77 km s(-1). Some of these blobs have Ellerman bomb spectral profiles with a single peak at a Doppler offset between 47 and 57 km s(-1). Conclusions. Our observations support the idea that fast magnetic reconnection in Ellerman bombs is mediated by the formation of plasmoids. These MiHI observations demonstrate that a microlens-based integral field spectrograph is capable of probing fundamental physical processes in the solar atmosphere.

Automated summary

This study investigates the enhanced emission in the Balmer hydrogen lines known as Ellerman bombs, which are caused by magnetic reconnection in the deep solar atmosphere. By analyzing unique spectroscopic observations of Ellerman bombs in the H alpha line, the researchers effectively traced magnetic reconnection below the canopy of chromospheric fibrils.