Flame-like Ellerman Bombs and Their Connection to Solar Ultraviolet Bursts

Abstract

Abstract Ellerman bombs (EBs) are small-scale intense brightenings in Hα wing images, which are generally believed to be signatures of magnetic reconnection around the temperature minimum region of the solar atmosphere. They have a flame-like morphology when observed near the solar limb. Recent observations from the Interface Region Imaging Spectrograph (IRIS) reveal another type of small-scale reconnection event called an ultraviolet (UV) burst, in the lower solar atmosphere. Though previous observations have shown a clear coincidence between the occurrence of some UV bursts and EBs, the exact relationship between these two phenomena is still debated. We investigate the spatial and temporal relationship between flame-like EBs and UV bursts using joint near-limb observations between the 1.6 m Goode Solar Telescope (GST) and IRIS. In total, 161 EBs have been identified from the GST observations, and ∼20 of them reveal signatures of UV bursts in the IRIS images. Interestingly, we find that these UV bursts have a tendency to appear at the upper parts of their associated flame-like EBs. The intensity variations of most EB-related UV bursts and their corresponding EBs match well. Our results suggest that some of these UV bursts and EBs likely form at different heights during a common reconnection process.