2011/03/14 by Larisza D. Krista, Peter T. Gallagher, P. T. Gallagher +1 · 28 citations
Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology · Physics and Astronomy · #Astronomy #Astrophysics #Boundary (topology) #Corona (planetary geology) #Coronal hole #Coronal loop #Coronal mass ejection #Coronal plane #Geomagnetism and Paleomagnetism Studies #Isotropy #Magnetic field #Magnetic reconnection #Mathematical analysis #Nanoflares #Optics #Photosphere #Physics #Solar and Space Plasma Dynamics #Solar wind #Stellar, planetary, and galactic studies #Term (time) #astro-ph.SR
paper · pdf · doi:10.1088/2041-8205/731/2/l26
published in The Astrophysical Journal Letters 731(2), L26 (IOP Publishing)
arxiv created 2011/03/14 · openalex publication_date 2011/03/24 · arxiv updated 2015/05/27 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/05
The interaction of open and closed field lines at coronal hole (CH) boundaries is widely accepted to be due to interchange magnetic reconnection. To date, it is unclear how the boundaries vary on short timescales and at what velocity this occurs. Here, we describe an automated boundary tracking method used to determine CH boundary displacements on short timescales. The boundary displacements were found to be isotropic and to have typical expansion/contraction speeds of ⩽2 km s −1 , which indicate magnetic reconnection rates of ⩽3 × 10 −3 . The observed displacements were used in conjunction with the interchange reconnection model to derive typical diffusion coefficients of ⩽3 × 10 13 cm 2 s −1 . These results are consistent with an interchange reconnection process in the low corona driven by the random granular motions of open and closed fields in the photosphere.