Photospheric cancelling magnetic features and associated phenomena in a stratified solar atmosphere

Abstract

We present two-dimensional numerical magnetohydrodynamics (MHD) simulations of a photospheric cancelling magnetic feature (CMF) and the associated reconnection event in a stratified solar atmosphere. Both, reconnection phase and cancellation phase, are modelled in a self-consistent way. It is found that different quiet-Sun phenomena result from the CMF, which is driven by converging photospheric flows. The type of structure forming in the low solar atmosphere depends on the initial overall plasma density magnitude and on the heating and cooling mechanisms included. The arising phenomenon can be a bright structure such as an X-ray bright point, a small-scale filament or a mixture of both of them. Loop-like brightening in various parts of the magnetic structure is found in all cases. © 2008 The Authors. Journal compilation © 2008 RAS.