Other
Scientific paper
Jan 2002
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2002mwoc.conf..175s&link_type=abstract
Multi-Wavelength Observations of Coronal Structure and Dynamics -- Yohkoh 10th Anniversary Meeting. Proceedings of the conferenc
Other
5
Scientific paper
High-resolution, high-cadence images from the Transition Region and Coronal Explorer (TRACE) together with high quality magnetograms from the Michelson Doppler Imager (MDI) on SOHO let us examine signatures of magnetic reconnection and attempt to infer associated physical parameters such as the electric field strength in the corona. We analyzed TRACE UV and MDI magnetogram data for a two-ribbon, GOES M1-class flare from NOAA active region 9236 at 2000 Nov 23 23:28 UT, with emphasis on the dynamical development of the flare ribbons in the TRACE images. To estimate the rate of magnetic reconnection, we chose two obvious flare ribbons which grew rapidly in the first 290-second sequence of high-cadence 1600Å flare response images. These ribbons could be separated with a simple binary mask from ejecta and other emission. They were located on strong fields of opposite polarity and grew rapidly, then faded away in place. This suggests that the emission was low in the atmosphere and well-aligned with the photospheric footpoints of fieldlines reconnecting in the corona. Thus we assume that the reconnection rate can be determined from the changing photospheric magnetic flux swept out by the evolving ribbon mask. The reconnection rate is very noisy, with a correlation time of at most a few seconds. For simple assumptions with standard coronal parameters (B ~ 100 G, np ~ 3 times 109, m cm-3 near a strong sunspot), the reconnection appears to be fast, with the inferred inflow velocity a significant fraction of the Alfven velocity. Some guidance from coronal imaging of the reconnection region or Doppler measurement of inflow is needed to sharpen the constraints on the length of the reconnecting current sheet and the strength of the coronal electric field. This work was supported by NASA contracts NAG5-8878, NAG5-10483 (MDI) and NAS5-38099 (TRACE).
Gaeng Thomas
Saba Julia L. R.
Tarbell Ted D.
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