Endpoint brightenings in erupting filaments

Abstract

Two well known phenomena associated with erupting filaments are the transient coronal holes that form on each side of the filament channel and the bright post-event arcade with its expanding double row of footpoints. Here we focus on a frequently overlooked signature of filament eruptions: the spike- or fan-shaped brightenings that appear to mark the far endpoints of the filament. From a sample of non-active-region filament events observed with the Extreme-Ultraviolet Imaging Telescope on the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory, we find that these brightenings usually occur near the outer edges of the transient holes, in contrast to the post-event arcades, which define their inner edges. The endpoints are often multiple and are rooted in and around strong network flux well outside the filament channel, a result that is consistent with the axial field of the filament being much stronger than the photospheric field inside the channel. The extreme ultraviolet brightenings, which are most intense at the time of maximum outward acceleration of the filament, can be used to determine unambiguously the direction of the axial field component from longitudinal magnetograms. Their location near the outer boundary of the transient holes suggests that we are observing the footprints of the current sheet formed at the leading edge of the erupting filament, as distinct from the vertical current sheet behind the filament which is the source of the post-event arcade. © 2009. The American Astronomical Society. All rights reserved.