Supergranular-scale magnetic flux emergence beneath an unstable filament

Abstract

Here we report evidence of a large solar filament eruption on 2013, September 29. This smooth eruption, which passed without any previous flare, formed after a two-ribbon flare and a coronal mass ejection towards Earth. The coronal mass ejection generated a moderate geomagnetic storm on 2013, October 2 with very serious localized effects. The whole event passed unnoticed to flare-warning systems. We have conducted multi-wavelength analyses of the Solar Dynamics Observatory through Atmospheric Imaging Assembly (AIA) and Helioseismic and Magnetic Imager (HMI) data. The AIA data on 304, 193, 211, and 94 Åsample the transition region and the corona, respectively, while HMI provides photospheric magnetograms, continuum, and linear polarization data, in addition to the fully inverted data provided by HMI. [...] We have observed a supergranular-sized emergence close to a large filament in the boundary of the active region NOAA11850. Filament dynamics and magnetogram results suggest that the magnetic flux emergence takes place in the photospheric level below the filament. Reconnection occurs underneath the filament between the dipped lines that support the filament and the supergranular emergence. The very smooth ascent is probably caused by this emergence and torus instability may play a fundamental role, which is helped by the emergence.

9 pages, 6 figures, online material at Journal

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• Torus instability
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• Numerical simulations of fast and slow coronal mass ejections
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• Observations and modeling of the early acceleration phase of erupting filaments involved in coronal mass ejections
• The Helioseismic and Magnetic Imager (HMI) Vector Magnetic Field Pipeline: Optimization of the Spectral Line Inversion Code
• Study on Triggering Process of Solar Flares Based on Hinode/SOT Observations
• Observational evidence of torus instability as trigger mechanism for coronal mass ejections: the 2011 August 4 filament eruption
• The physical mechanisms that initiate and drive solar eruptions

Cited by in corpus (6)

• Initiation and Early Kinematic Evolution of Solar Eruptions
• Understanding the Role of Mass-Unloading in Filament Eruptions
• Observational Analysis on the Early Evolution of a CME Flux-rope: Pre-flare reconnection and Flux-rope's Footpoint Drift
• Reconfiguration and eruption of a solar filament by magnetic reconnection with an emerging magnetic field
• Evaluation of Applicability of a Flare Trigger Model based on Comparison of Geometric Structures
• Magnetic Flux Emergence in a Coronal Hole