Click for full-length movie. Also available on YouTube
Eruptive Flare with High-Cadence Response (2012/04/30)
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On March 30th, while experimenting with a new high-cadence flare response program, XRT captured this eruptive C3.9 flare from NOAA active region 11465, which was beautifully positioned on the west limb. The quick succession of images (from about 7 - 7:10 UT) turned out to be quite useful, as it reveals the development of a possible X-point (pictured above, right in the center of the overall structure). An X-point is a site of magnetic reconnection - the prime suspect for all energetic events in the solar corona like flares and Coronal Mass Ejections (CMEs). It is the point where magnetic field lines are forced together by external pressures until meeting, forming new loops below the X-point and often flinging material outward above it. A schematic of this can be found here. Also visible in this movie after the eruption is the classic cusp structure expected after such an event. More information on cusps can be found in this previous XPOW. Keywords: Flare, CME, X-Point Filters: Be_thin |
(Prepared by Patrick McCauley)
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