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Pre-flare coronal dimmings
In this paper, we focus on the pre-flare coronal dimmings. We report our
multiwavelength observations of the GOES X1.6 solar flare and the accompanying
halo CME produced by the eruption of a sigmoidal magnetic flux rope (MFR) in
NOAA active region (AR) 12158 on 2014 September 10. The eruption was observed
by the Atmospheric Imaging Assembly (AIA) aboard the Solar Dynamic Observatory
(SDO). The photospheric line-of-sight magnetograms were observed by the
Helioseismic and Magnetic Imager (HMI) aboard SDO. The soft X-ray (SXR) fluxes
were recorded by the GOES spacecraft. The halo CME was observed by the white
light coronagraphs of the Large Angle Spectroscopic Coronagraph (LASCO) aboard
SOHO.} {About 96 minutes before the onset of flare/CME, narrow pre-flare
coronal dimmings appeared at the two ends of the twisted MFR. They extended
very slowly with their intensities decreasing with time, while their apparent
widths (89 Mm) nearly kept constant. During the impulsive and decay phases
of flare, typical fanlike twin dimmings appeared and expanded with much larger
extent and lower intensities than the pre-flare dimmings. The percentage of 171
{\AA} intensity decrease reaches 40\%. The pre-flare dimmings are most striking
in 171, 193, and 211 {\AA} with formation temperatures of 0.62.5 MK. The
northern part of the pre-flare dimmings could also be recognized in 131 and 335
{\AA}.} To our knowledge, this is the first detailed study of pre-flare coronal
dimmings, which can be explained by the density depletion as a result of the
gradual expansion of the coronal loop system surrounding the MFR during the
slow rise of the MFR.Comment: 6 pages, 8 figures, to be accepted for publication by A&
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