Magnetic reconnection between a solar filament and nearby coronal loops

Magnetic reconnection(1,2) is difficult to observe directly but coronal structures on the Sun often betray the magnetic field geometry and its evolution(3). Here we report the observation of magnetic reconnection between an erupting filament and its nearby coronal loops, resulting in changes in the filament connection. X-type structures form when the erupting filament encounters the loops. The filament becomes straight, and bright current sheets form at the interfaces. Plasmoids appear in these current sheets and propagate bi-directionally. The filament disconnects from the current sheets, which gradually disperse and disappear, then reconnects to the loops. This evolution suggests successive magnetic reconnection events predicted by theory(1) but rarely detected with such clarity in observations. Our results confirm the three-dimensional magnetic reconnection theory(1) and have implications for the evolution of dissipation regions and the release of magnetic energy for reconnection in many magnetized plasma systems.