An MHD Modeling of Successive X2.2 and X9.3 Solar Flares of 2017 September 6

Abstract

Solar active region 12673 produced two successive X-class flares (X2.2 and X9.3) approximately 3 hours apart in September 2017. The X9.3 was the recorded largest solar flare in Solar Cycle 24. In this study we perform a data-constrained magnetohydrodynamic simulation taking into account the observed photospheric magnetic field to reveal the initiation and dynamics of the X2.2 and X9.3 flares. According to our simulation, the X2.2 flare is first triggered by magnetic reconnection at a local site where at the photosphere the negative polarity intrudes into the opposite-polarity region. This magnetic reconnection expels the innermost field lines upward beneath which the magnetic flux rope is formed through continuous reconnection with external twisted field lines. Continuous magnetic reconnection after the X2.2 flare enhances the magnetic flux rope, which is lifted up and eventually erupts via the torus instability. This gives rise to the X9.3 flare.

22 pages, 11 figures, accepted for publication in ApJ

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• A comparative study of two X2.2 and X9.3 solar flares observed with HARPS-N: Reconciling Sun-as-a-star spectroscopy and high-spatial resolution solar observations in the context of the solar-stellar connection
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• Magnetic Field of Solar Dark Filaments Obtained from He I 10830 Angstrom Spectro-polarimetric Observation
• Long-Term Evolution of Magnetic Fields in Flaring Active Region NOAA 12673
• Chromosphere of the quiet sun -- I. Shock and current-sheet dynamics and heating
• A Data-constrained Magnetohydrodynamic Simulation of Successive X-class Flares in Solar Active Region 13842 I. Dynamics of the Solar Eruption Associated with the X7.1 Solar Flare
• Rapid Evolution of Bald Patches in a Major Solar Eruption
• Hall effect on the magnetic reconnections during the evolution of a three-dimensional magnetic flux rope
• Polarization calibration of the Tandem Etalon Magnetograph of the Solar Magnetic Activity Research Telescope at Hida Observatory