2015/08/22 by Toshifumi Shimizu, T. Shimizu · 1 citation
Physics and Astronomy · #Astro and Planetary Science #Astronomy #Astrophysics #Atmosphere (unit) #Atmospheric sciences #Computational physics #Coronal mass ejection #Ionosphere and magnetosphere dynamics #Magnetic field #Magnetic reconnection #Meteorology #Nanoflares #Nuclear physics #Physics #Plasma #Scale (ratio) #Solar and Space Plasma Dynamics #Solar atmosphere #Solar flare #Solar wind #astro-ph.SR
paper · pdf · doi:10.1063/1.4933056
19 pages, 9 figures, Accepted for publications in Physics of Plasmas
arxiv created 2015/08/22 · openalex publication_date 2015/10/01 · arxiv updated 2015/10/28 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/05
The outer solar atmosphere, i.e., the corona and the chromosphere, is replete with small energy-release events, which are accompanied by transient brightening and jet-like ejections. These events are considered to be magnetic reconnection events in the solar plasma, and their dynamics have been studied using recent advanced observations from the Hinode spacecraft and other observatories in space and on the ground. These events occur at different locations in the solar atmosphere and vary in their morphology and amount of the released energy. The magnetic field configurations of these reconnection events are inferred based on observations of magnetic fields at the photospheric level. Observations suggest that these magnetic configurations can be classified into two groups. In the first group, two anti-parallel magnetic fields reconnect to each other, yielding a 2D emerging flux configuration. In the second group, helical or twisted magnetic flux tubes are parallel or at a relative angle to each other. Reconnection can occur only between anti-parallel components of the magnetic flux tubes and may be referred to as component reconnection. The latter configuration type may be more important for the larger class of small-scale reconnection events. The two types of magnetic configurations can be compared to counter-helicity and co-helicity configurations, respectively, in laboratory plasma collision experiments.