Formation of a Long Filament Through the Connection of Two Filament Segments Observed by CHASE

Abstract

We present imaging and spectroscopic diagnostics of a long filament during its formation with the observations from the Chinese Hα Solar Explorer and Solar Dynamics Observatory. The seed filament first appeared at about 05:00 UT on 2022 September 13. Afterward, it grew gradually and connected to another filament segment nearby, building up a long filament at about 20:00 UT on the same day. The CHASE Hα spectra show an obvious centroid absorption with mild broadening at the main spine of the long filament, which is interpreted as evidence of filament material accumulation. More interestingly, near the footpoints of the filament, persistent redshifts have been detected in the Hα spectra during the filament formation, indicating continuous drainage of filament materials. Furthermore, through inspecting the extreme-ultraviolet (EUV) images and magnetograms, it was found that EUV jets and brightenings appeared repeatedly at the junction of the two filament segments, where opposite magnetic polarities converged and canceled each other continuously. These results suggest the occurrence of intermittent magnetic reconnection that not only connects magnetic structures of the two filament segments but also supplies cold materials for the filament channel likely by the condensation of injected hot plasma, even though a part of the cold materials falls down to the filament footpoints at the same time.