Journal
SOLAR PHYSICS
Volume 291, Issue 3, Pages 791-821Publisher
SPRINGER
DOI: 10.1007/s11207-016-0873-6
Keywords
Active regions: magnetic fields; Flares: dynamics; Flares: relation to magnetic field; Magnetic fields: photosphere; EUV: corona
Categories
Funding
- NASA [NNX14AE05G]
- NASA [685376, NNX14AE05G] Funding Source: Federal RePORTER
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For two major X-class flares observed by the Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) and the Solar TErrestrial RElations Observatory Ahead (STEREO-A) spacecraft when they were close to quadrature, we compare major, abrupt changes in the photospheric magnetic vector field to changes in the observed coronal magnetic structure during the two flares. The Lorentz force changes in strong photospheric fields within active regions are estimated from time series of SDO Helioseismic and Magnetic Imager (HMI) vector magnetograms. These show that the major changes occurred in each case near the main neutral line of the region and in two neighboring twisted opposite-polarity sunspots. In each case the horizontal parallel field strengthened significantly near the neutral line while the azimuthal field in the sunspots decreased, suggesting that a flux rope joining the two sunspots collapsed across the neutral line with reduced magnetic pressure because of a reduced field twist component. At the same time, the coronal extreme ultraviolet (EUV) loop structure was observed by the Atmospheric Imaging Assembly (AIA) onboard SDO and the Extreme Ultraviolet Imager (EUVI) on STEREO-A to decrease significantly in height during each eruption, discontinuous changes signifying ejection of magnetized plasma, and outward-propagating continuous but abrupt changes consistent with loop contraction. An asymmetry in the observed EUV loop changes during one of the flares matches an asymmetry in the photospheric magnetic changes associated with that flare. The observations are discussed in terms of the well-known tether-cutting and breakout flare initiation models.
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