Magnetic Flux Cancellation as the Trigger Mechanism of Solar Coronal Jets

Abstract

Coronal jets are transient narrow features in the solar corona that originate from all regions of the solar disk: active regions, quiet Sun, and coronal holes. Recent studies indicate that at least some coronal jets in quiet regions and coronal holes are driven by the eruption of a minifilament following flux cancellation at a magnetic neutral line. We have tested the veracity of that view by examining 60 random jets in quiet regions and coronal holes using multithermal (304, 171, 193, and 211 Å) extreme ultraviolet images from the Solar Dynamics Observatory ( SDO )/Atmospheric Imaging Assembly and line-of-sight magnetograms from the SDO /Helioseismic and Magnetic Imager. By examining the structure and changes in the magnetic field before, during, and after jet onset, we found that 85% of these jets resulted from a minifilament eruption triggered by flux cancellation at the neutral line. The 60 jets have a mean base diameter of 8800 ± 3100 km and a mean duration of 9 ± 3.6 minutes. These observations confirm that minifilament eruption is the driver and magnetic flux cancellation is the primary trigger mechanism for most coronal hole and quiet region coronal jets.