From Formation to Disruption: Observing the Multiphase Evolution of a Solar Flare Current Sheet

Abstract

A current sheet, where magnetic energy is liberated through reconnection and is converted to other forms, is thought to play the central role in solar flares, the most intense explosions in the heliosphere. However, the evolution of a current sheet and its subsequent role in flare-related phenomena such as particle acceleration is poorly understood. Here we report observations obtained with NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory that reveal a multiphase evolution of a current sheet in the early stages of a solar flare, from its formation to quasi-stable evolution and disruption. Our observations have implications for the understanding of the onset and evolution of reconnection in the early stages of eruptive solar flares.

Publication in the Astrophysical Journal

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Cited by in corpus (4)

• Picoflare jets power the solar wind emerging from a coronal hole on the Sun
• Solar flare ribbons structured by uncombed chromospheric loops
• Hard X-rays from the deep solar atmosphere. An unusual UV burst with flare properties
• MMS Observations of a Compressed Current Sheet: Importance of the Ambipolar Electric Field