60 research outputs found
Destabilization of a Solar Prominence/Filament Field System by a Series of Eight Homologous Eruptive Flares
Homologous flares are flares that occur repetitively in the same active
region, with similar structure and morphology. A series of at least eight
homologous flares occurred in active region NOAA 11237 over 16 - 17 June 2011.
A nearby prominence/filament was rooted in the active region, and situated near
the bottom of a coronal cavity. The active region was on the southeast solar
limb as seen from SDO/AIA, and on the disk as viewed from STEREO/EUVI-B. The
dual perspective allows us to study in detail behavior of the
prominence/filament material entrained in the magnetic field of the
repeatedly-erupting system. Each of the eruptions was mainly confined, but
expelled hot material into the prominence/filament cavity system (PFCS). The
field carrying and containing the ejected hot material interacted with the PFCS
and caused it to inflate, resulting in a step-wise rise of the PFCS
approximately in step with the homologous eruptions. The eighth eruption
triggered the PFCS to move outward slowly, accompanied by a weak coronal
dimming. As this slow PFCS eruption was underway, a final ejective flare
occurred in the core of the active region, resulting in strong dimming in the
EUVI-B images and expulsion of a coronal mass ejection (CME). A plausible
scenario is that the repeated homologous flares could have gradually
destabilized the PFCS, and its subsequent eruption removed field above the
acitive region and in turn led to the ejective flare, strong dimming, and CME.Comment: 11 pages, 12 figures, Accepted for publication in Ap
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