Slipping magnetic reconnection triggering a solar eruption of a triangle-shaped flag flux rope

Abstract

We report the first simultaneous activities of the slipping motion of flare loops and a slipping eruption of a flux rope in 131 Å and 94 Å channels on 2014 February 2. The east hook-like flare ribbon propagated with a slipping motion at a speed of about 50 km s-1, which lasted about 40 minutes and extended by more than 100 Mm, but the west flare ribbon moved in the opposite direction with a speed of 30 km s-1. At the later phase of flare activity, there was a well developed "bi-fan" system of flare loops. The east footpoints of the flux rope showed an apparent slipping motion along the hook of the ribbon. Simultaneously, the fine structures of the flux rope rose up rapidly at a speed of 130 km s-1, much faster than that of the whole flux rope. We infer that the east footpoints of the flux rope are successively heated by a slipping magnetic reconnection during the flare, which results in the apparent slippage of the flux rope. The slipping motion delineates a "triangle-shaped flag surface" of the flux rope, implying that the topology of a flux rope is more complex than anticipated. © 2014. The American Astronomical Society. All rights reserved.