Abstract

Magnetic reconnection is a key mechanism involved in solar eruptions and is also a prime possibility to heat the low corona to millions of degrees. Here, we present ultra-high-resolution extreme ultraviolet observations of persistent null-point reconnection in the corona at a scale of about 390 km over one hour observations of the Extreme-Ultraviolet Imager on board Solar Orbiter spacecraft. The observations show formation of a null-point configuration above a minor positive polarity embedded within a region of dominant negative polarity near a sunspot. The gentle phase of the persistent null-point reconnection is evidenced by sustained point-like high-temperature plasma (about 10 MK) near the null-point and constant outflow blobs not only along the outer spine but also along the fan surface. The blobs appear at a higher frequency than previously observed with an average velocity of about 80 km s−1 and life-times of about 40 s. The null-point reconnection also occurs explosively but only for 4 minutes, its coupling with a mini-filament eruption generates a spiral jet. These results suggest that magnetic reconnection, at previously unresolved scales, proceeds continually in a gentle and/or explosive way to persistently transfer mass and energy to the overlying corona.

Magnetic reconnection is a fundamental energy release mechanism in space and laboratory plasmas. Here, the authors show persistent magnetic null-point reconnection in the solar corona at a scale of about 390 km.

Details

Title
Ultra-high-resolution observations of persistent null-point reconnection in the solar corona
Author
Cheng, X. 1   VIAFID ORCID Logo  ; Priest, E. R. 2 ; Li, H. T. 3   VIAFID ORCID Logo  ; Chen, J. 3 ; Aulanier, G. 4   VIAFID ORCID Logo  ; Chitta, L. P. 5   VIAFID ORCID Logo  ; Wang, Y. L. 3   VIAFID ORCID Logo  ; Peter, H. 5   VIAFID ORCID Logo  ; Zhu, X. S. 6 ; Xing, C. 7 ; Ding, M. D. 3   VIAFID ORCID Logo  ; Solanki, S. K. 5   VIAFID ORCID Logo  ; Berghmans, D. 8 ; Teriaca, L. 5   VIAFID ORCID Logo  ; Aznar Cuadrado, R. 5   VIAFID ORCID Logo  ; Zhukov, A. N. 9   VIAFID ORCID Logo  ; Guo, Y. 3   VIAFID ORCID Logo  ; Long, D. 10   VIAFID ORCID Logo  ; Harra, L. 11 ; Smith, P. J. 10   VIAFID ORCID Logo  ; Rodriguez, L. 8 ; Verbeeck, C. 8   VIAFID ORCID Logo  ; Barczynski, K. 12   VIAFID ORCID Logo  ; Parenti, S. 13 

 Nanjing University, School of Astronomy and Space Science, Nanjing, China (GRID:grid.41156.37) (ISNI:0000 0001 2314 964X); Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research, Göttingen, Germany (GRID:grid.435826.e) (ISNI:0000 0001 2284 9011); Key Laboratory of Modern Astronomy and Astrophysics (Nanjing University), Ministry of Education, Nanjing, China (GRID:grid.419897.a) (ISNI:0000 0004 0369 313X) 
 University of St. Andrews, School of Mathematics and Statistics, Fife, UK (GRID:grid.11914.3c) (ISNI:0000 0001 0721 1626) 
 Nanjing University, School of Astronomy and Space Science, Nanjing, China (GRID:grid.41156.37) (ISNI:0000 0001 2314 964X); Key Laboratory of Modern Astronomy and Astrophysics (Nanjing University), Ministry of Education, Nanjing, China (GRID:grid.419897.a) (ISNI:0000 0004 0369 313X) 
 Sorbonne Université, Observatoire de Paris - PSL, École Polytechnique, IP Paris, CNRS, Laboratory for Plasma Physics (LPP), Paris, France (GRID:grid.419897.a); Rosseland Centre for Solar Physics, Institute for Theoretical Astrophysics, Universitetet i Oslo, Oslo, Norway (GRID:grid.5510.1) (ISNI:0000 0004 1936 8921) 
 Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research, Göttingen, Germany (GRID:grid.435826.e) (ISNI:0000 0001 2284 9011) 
 Chinese Academy of Sciences, State Key Laboratory of Space Weather, National Space Science Center, Beijing, China (GRID:grid.9227.e) (ISNI:0000000119573309) 
 Nanjing University, School of Astronomy and Space Science, Nanjing, China (GRID:grid.41156.37) (ISNI:0000 0001 2314 964X); Sorbonne Université, Observatoire de Paris - PSL, École Polytechnique, IP Paris, CNRS, Laboratory for Plasma Physics (LPP), Paris, France (GRID:grid.41156.37) 
 Solar-Terrestrial Centre of Excellence - SIDC, Royal Observatory of Belgium, Brussels, Belgium (GRID:grid.425636.0) (ISNI:0000 0001 2297 3653) 
 Solar-Terrestrial Centre of Excellence - SIDC, Royal Observatory of Belgium, Brussels, Belgium (GRID:grid.425636.0) (ISNI:0000 0001 2297 3653); Skobeltsyn Institute of Nuclear Physics, Moscow State University, Moscow, Russia (GRID:grid.14476.30) (ISNI:0000 0001 2342 9668) 
10  Mullard Space Science Laboratory, University College London, Dorking, UK (GRID:grid.83440.3b) (ISNI:0000000121901201) 
11  PMOD/WRC, Davos Dorf, Switzerland (GRID:grid.83440.3b); ETH-Zürich, Zürich, Switzerland (GRID:grid.5801.c) (ISNI:0000 0001 2156 2780) 
12  ETH-Zürich, Zürich, Switzerland (GRID:grid.5801.c) (ISNI:0000 0001 2156 2780) 
13  Institut d’Astrophysique Spatiale, Université Paris-Saclay, Orsay Cedex, France (GRID:grid.482888.6) (ISNI:0000 0004 0614 9404) 
Pages
2107
Publication year
2023
Publication date
2023
Publisher
Nature Publishing Group
e-ISSN
20411723
Source type
Scholarly Journal
Language of publication
English
ProQuest document ID
2800435073
Copyright
© The Author(s) 2023. corrected publication 2023. This work is published under http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ (the “License”). Notwithstanding the ProQuest Terms and Conditions, you may use this content in accordance with the terms of the License.