The evolution from birth to decay of a short-lived active region

TitreThe evolution from birth to decay of a short-lived active region
Type de publicationJournal Article
Year of Publication1999
AuteursDeng, Y. Y., Schmieder B., Mandrini C. H., Khan J. I., Démoulin P., and Rudawy P.
JournalAstronomy and Astrophysics
Volume349
Pagination927-940
Date PublishedSep
Résumé

In the following paper we present results of the analysis of NOAA active region 7968, which was the target of a coordinated observing campaign involving the instruments aboard the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO), Yohkoh, and ground-based observatories (Bialków, Pic du Midi, and Huairou). This active region was relatively short-lived, and thus provides a rare example of a region observed continuously from its birth to its decay phase. We have extrapolated the SOHO Michelson Doppler Imager (MDI) longitudinal magnetograms, and have compared the results of the modeled field with loops observed over a wide range of temperatures ( \~ 10(5) -3x10(6) K). We find that, throughout the interval of disk passage, the global magnetic structure of the active region corresponds to a nearly potential-field configuration. Magnetic field shear is only seen in isolated patches along the polarity inversion line and is associated with the emergence of parasitic polarity regions. Several small GOES (B-class) X-ray flares and surge-like ejections were observed during the lifetime of the active region. We interpret both the heating of the active region loops and the flaring in terms of magnetic reconnection. In our scenario, the flares are assumed to be due to reconnection between the pre-existing field and newly emerging twisted flux tubes (as indicated by observed changes in the transverse field and inferred twisting motions of the plasma); while the heating of the plasma in quasi-static active region loops is assumed to be due to a relaxation process of the magnetic configuration. These loops appear anchored at places where the photospheric field is highly fragmented, creating a very complex connectivity pattern. This fact, together with the continual photospheric motions, provides the favorable conditions for current sheet formation and release of magnetic energy.