Eruptive prominences and coronal transients |
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| Authors: | G W Pneuman |
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| Institution: | (1) Max-Planck-Institut für Physik und Astrophysik, Föhringer Ring 6, D-8000, 40 München, F.R.G. |
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| Abstract: | The observed interrelationship between coronal transients and eruptive prominences is used as the basis for a theoretical MHD model of these events. The model begins with an equilibrium configuration consisting of a coronal loop or arcade with a filament lying underneath with its axis oriented perpendicular to the overlying field. The lifting of the filament from the solar surface produces an increase in magnetic pressure under the helmet which drives it outward. This increased pressure is associated with the internal field of the filament as well as the field beneath it. The underlying field could be that which produced the filament eruption or, alternatively, reconnected field lines formed by the inward collapse of the legs of the transient towards the neutral line beneath the rising prominence. We do not attempt to explain the filament eruption which may be due to internal forces in the prominence or, alternatively, from forces imposed from beneath as would be produced by emerging flux. In the latter case, the filament is passive and merely acts as a tracer for the more fundamental underlying process.It is shown that the outward force per unit mass produced by the driving magnetic field and the inward restoring forces in the overlying field due to magnetic tension and gravity all decrease with distance at the same rate - namely, as the inverse square of the distance from the solar center. Hence, the ratio of net outward to inward force is independent of radial distance from the Sun. A stability analysis shows that this situation is one of neutral stability.A mathematical model of this physical process is described in which the MHD equations in simplified form, neglecting gas pressure forces, are solved in time for the velocity, width, density, and magnetic field strength of the transient. The solutions show that the velocity increases sharply close to the Sun but quickly approaches a constant value. The width increases linearly with radial distance. Both of these results are in agreement with observations. An examination of the forces exerted on the legs of the transient shows that their motion should be horizontally inward.On leave from the High Altitude Observatory, National Center for Atmospheric Research, Boulder, Colo., U.S.A. |
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