Simulations of the magnetic Rayleigh-Taylor instability in a quiescent prominence model to study the dark upflows observed in prominences

Details Simulations of the magnetic Rayleigh-Taylor instability in a quiescent prominence model to study the dark upflows observed in prominences Simulations of the magnetic Rayleigh-Taylor instability in a quiescent prominence model to study the dark upflows observed in prominences

Dec 2011

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2011agufmsh33a2033h&link_type=abstract

American Geophysical Union, Fall Meeting 2011, abstract #SH33A-2033

Astronomy and Astrophysics

Astrophysics

[7507] Solar Physics, Astrophysics, And Astronomy / Chromosphere, [7524] Solar Physics, Astrophysics, And Astronomy / Magnetic Fields, [7531] Solar Physics, Astrophysics, And Astronomy / Prominence Eruptions

Scientific paper

Observations of quiescent prominences by the Solar Optical Telescope (SOT) on board the Hinode satellite show plumes of hot, underdense material rising through the prominence. These plumes form at the boundary between the prominence and low density bubbles, approximately 10 Mm in size, that appear beneath the prominence, and then rise through the prominence material at speeds of approximately 20 km/s and widths of approximately 1.5 Mm. The plume profile ranges from highly turbulent to smooth, suggesting that the prominence conditions, as well as those of the bubble, are important in determining the dynamics. To investigate this phenomenon, we perform simulations of the magnetic Rayleigh-Taylor instability in a local prominence model. The instability creates rising plumes of hot, underdense material that propagate through the prominence material at a velocity of approximately 6-7 km/s and widths of approximately 1.5 Mm, in rough agreement with the Hinode observations. Nonlinear effects, in which the interaction between plumes drives an inverse cascade process creating large plumes from smaller plumes, are found to be important. Increasing the magnetic field strength creates smoother plume structures. The addition of a strong guide field, which is suggested in some prominence models, does not hinder plume formation but does change the dynamic scaling. The Rayleigh-Taylor instability drives an upward flow of magnetic energy and a downward flow of mass. The results from the simulations well match the characteristics of the observed plumes, suggesting that the magnetic Rayleigh-Taylor instability could be important in determining prominence structure as well as changing the magnetic energy distribution in overlying coronal cavities which ultimately erupt as coronal mass ejections.

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