Abstract
Solar eruptions are well-recognized as major drivers of space weather but what causes them remains an open question. Here we show how an eruption is initiated in a non-potential magnetic flux-emerging region using magnetohydrodynamic modelling driven directly by solar magnetograms. Our model simulates the coronal magnetic field following a long-duration quasi-static evolution to its fast eruption. The field morphology resembles a set of extreme ultraviolet images for the whole process. Study of the magnetic field suggests that in this event, the key transition from the pre-eruptive to eruptive state is due to the establishment of a positive feedback between the upward expansion of internal stressed magnetic arcades of new emergence and an external magnetic reconnection which triggers the eruption. Such a nearly realistic simulation of a solar eruption from origin to onset can provide important insight into its cause, and also has the potential for improving space weather modelling.
Highlights
Solar eruptions are well-recognized as major drivers of space weather but what causes them remains an open question
The active region (AR) was passing the central meridian of the solar disk as viewed by the Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) spacecraft, providing an uninterrupted window for measuring the changes of the photospheric magnetic field by the Helioseismic and Magnetic Imager (HMI)[34] instrument onboard SDO
The investigated event consists of a relatively long-duration quasi-equilibrium evolution preceding its eruptive stage of extreme dynamics, and with a single model we are able to calculate the coronal magnetic field evolution for the whole process
Summary
Solar eruptions are well-recognized as major drivers of space weather but what causes them remains an open question. Study of the magnetic field suggests that in this event, the key transition from the pre-eruptive to eruptive state is due to the establishment of a positive feedback between the upward expansion of internal stressed magnetic arcades of new emergence and an external magnetic reconnection which triggers the eruption Such a nearly realistic simulation of a solar eruption from origin to onset can provide important insight into its cause, and has the potential for improving space weather modelling. Existing models that attempt to characterize the realistic magnetic environment for studying solar eruptions are mostly restricted to static reconstruction of the near force-free coronal magnetic field[28] In this category, the mechanism of eruption can only be investigated tentatively because no dynamics is included.
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