Abstract
Magnetic reconnection in the temperature minimum region of the solar photosphere can account for the canceling magnetic features on the Sun. Litvinenko (1999a) showed that a reconnection model explains the quiet-Sun features with the magnetic flux cancelation rate of order 1017 Mx hr−1. In this paper the model is applied to cancelation in solar active regions, which is characterized by a much larger rate of cancelation ∖ ge1019 Mx hr−1. In particular, the evolution of a photospheric canceling feature observed in an active region on July 2, 1994 is studied. The theoretical predictions are demonstrated to be in reasonable agreement with the measured speed of approaching magnetic fragments, the magnetic field in the fragments, and the flux cancelation rate, deduced from the combined Big Bear Hα time-lapse images and videomagnetograms calibrated against the daily NSO/Kitt Peak magnetogram. Of particular interest is the prediction that photospheric reconnection should lead to a significant upward mass flux and the formation of a solar filament. Hα observations indeed showed a filament that had one of its ends spatially superposed with the canceling feature.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Dere, K. P., Bartoe, J.-D. F., Brueckner, G. E., Ewing, J., and Lund, P.: 1991, J. Geophys. Res. 96, 9399.
Gaizauskas, V.: 1998, in New Perspectives on Solar Prominences, ASP Conference Series 150, p. 257.
García de la Rosa, J. I., Aballe, M. A., and Collados, M.: 1989, Solar Phys. 124, 219.
Harvey, K. L.: 1985, Australian J. Phys. 38, 875.
Kovitya, P. and Cram, L.: 1983, Solar Phys. 84, 45.
Litvinenko, Y. E.: 1999a, Astrophys. J. 515, 435.
Litvinenko, Y. E.: 1999b, Solar Phys. 186, 291.
Litvinenko, Y. E. and Somov, B. V.: 1994, Solar Phys. 151, 265.
Litvinenko, Y. E., Forbes, T. G., and Priest, E. R.: 1996, Solar Phys. 167, 445.
Livi, S. H. B., Wang, J., and Martin, S. F.: 1985, Australian J. Phys. 38, 929.
Longcope, D. W.: 1998, Astrophys. J. 507, 433.
Martin, S. F.: 1986, in A. Poland (ed.), Coronal and Prominence Plasmas, NASA Conf. Publ. 3224, p. 73.
Martin, S. F.: 1990a, in J. O. Stenflo (ed.), Solar Photosphere: Structure, Convection, and Magnetic Fields, Kluwer Academic Publishers, Dordrecht, p. 129.
Martin, S. F.: 1990b, in V. Ruždjak and E. Tandberg-Hanssen (eds.), Dynamics of Quiescent Prominences, Lecture Notes in Physics 363, Springer-Verlag, Berlin, p. 1.
Martin, S. F.: 1998, Solar Phys. 182, 107.
Martin, S. F., Livi, S. H. B., and Wang, J.: 1985, Australian J. Phys. 38, 929.
Parker, E. N.: 1984, Astrophys. J. 281, 839.
Priest, E. R., Parnell, C. E., and Martin, S. F.: 1994, Astrophys. J. 427, 459.
Schrijver, C. J., Title, A. M., van Ballegooijen, A. A., Hagenaar, H. J., and Shine, R. A.: 1997, Astrophys. J. 487, 424.
Stenflo, J. O.: 1989, Astron. Astrophys. Rev. 1, 3.
Sturrock, P. A.: 1999, Astrophys. J. 521, 451.
van Ballegooijen, A. A. and Martens, P. C. H.: 1989, Astrophys. J. 343, 971.
Vernazza, J. E., Avrett, E. H., and Loeser, R.: 1981, Astrophys. J. Suppl. 45, 635.
Wang, J., Shi, Z., Martin, S. F., and Livi, S. H. B.: 1988, Vistas Astron. 31, 79.
Wang, Y.-M.: 1999, Astrophys. J. 520, L71.
Zirker, J. B., Engvold, O., and Martin, S. F.: 1998, Nature 396, 440.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Electronic supplementary material
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Litvinenko, Y.E., Martin, S.F. Magnetic reconnection as the cause of a photospheric canceling feature and mass flows in a filament. Sol Phys 190, 45–58 (1999). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1005284116353
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1005284116353