Mesoscale Phenomena during a Macroscopic Solar Eruption

Abstract

Our previous magnetohydrodynamic simulation of a macroscopic solar eruption discussed in Zhao et al. (2019) showed that the current sheet (CS) evolution during eruption went through four stages: the CS growth stage, the dynamic growth stage, the hot CS stage, and the dynamic hot CS stage. We now focus on various mesoscale phenomena associated with the ongoing reconnection. In the dynamic growth stage, the remnant chromospheric matter in the CS is quasi-periodically pushed into the prominence, inducing fast shocks propagating at a speed of 210 km s −1 . In the hot CS phase, various shock features relevant for particle acceleration are identified throughout the flare loop. Finally, during both dynamic stages, we quantify the properties of magnetic islands. A typical island is accelerated to Alfvénic speed by the Lorentz force and cools down by radiative cooling and thermal conduction. It also tends to expand in size before colliding with another island, with the FR or with the flare arcade. Islands in the dynamic growth stage have a higher density and lower temperature, and vice versa in the dynamic hot CS stage. Islands tend to move upward in the dynamic growth stage, while almost equal fractions of downward-moving and upward-moving islands in the dynamic hot CS stage. Translating the island trajectories to phase space, we find that the function fits the trajectory well, and its two fixed points represent the creation and the annihilation of the island.