Evolution of the Sheared Magnetic Fields of Two X-Class Flares Observed by Hinode/XRT

Abstract

Abstract We present multi-wavelength observations of the evolution of the sheared magnetic fields in NOAA Active Region 10930, where two X-class flares occurred on 2006 December 13 and December 14, respectively. Observations made with the X-ray Telescope (XRT) and the Solar Optical Telescope (SOT) aboard Hinode suggest that the gradual formation of the sheared magnetic fields in this active region is caused by the rotation and west-to-east motion of an emerging sunspot. In the pre-flare phase of the two flares, XRT shows several highly sheared X-ray loops in the core field region, corresponding to a filament seen in the TRACE EUV observations. XRT observations also show that part of the sheared core field erupted, and another part of the sheared core field stayed behind during the flares, which may explain why a large part of the filament is still seen by TRACE after the flare. About 2–3 hours after the peak of each flare, the core field becomes visible in XRT again, and shows a highly sheared inner and less-sheared outer structure. We also find that the post-flare core field is clearly less sheared than the pre-flare core field, which is consistent with the idea that the energy released during the flares is stored in the highly sheared fields prior to the flare.