Published February 10, 2012 | Version v1
Journal article

TWO TYPES OF MAGNETIC RECONNECTION IN CORONAL BRIGHT POINTS AND THE CORRESPONDING MAGNETIC CONFIGURATION

  • 1. Department of Astronomy, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210093 (China)

Description

Coronal bright points (CBPs) are long-lived small-scale brightenings in the solar corona. They are generally explained by magnetic reconnection. However, the corresponding magnetic configurations are not well understood. We carry out a detailed multi-wavelength analysis of two neighboring CBPs on 2007 March 16, observed in soft X-ray (SXR) and EUV channels. It is seen that the SXR light curves present quasi-periodic flashes with an interval of ∼1 hr superposed over the long-lived mild brightenings, suggesting that the SXR brightenings of this type of CBPs might consist of two components: one is the gentle brightenings and the other is the CBP flashes. It is found that the strong flashes of the bigger CBP are always accompanied by SXR jets. The potential field extrapolation indicates that both CBPs are covered by a dome-like separatrix surface, with a magnetic null point above. We propose that the repetitive CBP flashes, as well as the recurrent SXR jets, result from the impulsive null-point reconnection, while the long-lived brightenings are due to the interchange reconnection along the separatrix surface. Although the EUV images at high-temperature lines resemble the SXR appearance, the 171 Å and 195 Å channels reveal that the blurry CBP in SXR consists of a cusp-shaped loop and several separate bright patches, which are explained to be due to the null-point reconnection and the separatrix reconnection, respectively.

Availability note (English)

Available from http://dx.doi.org/10.1088/0004-637X/746/1/19

Additional details

Identifiers

Publishing Information

Journal Title
Astrophysical Journal
Journal Volume
746
Journal Issue
1
Journal Page Range
[9 p.]
ISSN
0004-637X
CODEN
ASJOAB

INIS

Country of Publication
United States
Country of Input or Organization
International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)
INIS RN
43098941
Subject category
S79: ASTROPHYSICS, COSMOLOGY AND ASTRONOMY;
Descriptors DEI
MAGNETIC RECONNECTION; PERIODICITY; SOFT X RADIATION; SOLAR CORONA; SUN
Descriptors DEC
ATMOSPHERES; ELECTROMAGNETIC RADIATION; IONIZING RADIATIONS; MAIN SEQUENCE STARS; RADIATIONS; SOLAR ATMOSPHERE; STARS; STELLAR ATMOSPHERES; STELLAR CORONAE; VARIATIONS; X RADIATION