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The Water Fountain Jet
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Hinode XRT observed an interesting jet on 2015 August 14-15. X-ray jets are caused by reconnecting magnetic fields involving field lines that extend far away from the sun (open magnetic fields). During reconnection, hot solar plasma gets pushed away from the reconnection site and flows along the open field lines yielding long, thin, threads extending out from the sun. For this reason, jets are common in coronal holes as open magnetic fields dominate those regions. When a jet happens near a coronal hole boundary, it can interact with the sun's closed magnetic fields as well. The jet starts off as a brightening, indicating magnetic reconnection, then the plasma slams into the overlying closed magnetic field sending the million degree plasma hurtling along the closed field lines via magnetic reconnection. The end result is a beautiful fountain of million degree plasma.
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(Prepared by Patricia Jibben)
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