Minifilament Eruption on the Quiet Sun. I. Observations at Hα Central Line

Jingxiu Wang, Wei Li, Carsten Denker, Chikyin Lee, Haimin Wang, Philip R. Goode, Alan McAllister, Sara F. Martin
2000 Astrophysical Journal  
The eruption of miniature Ðlaments on the quiet Sun has been analyzed from time sequences of digital Ha Ðltergrams obtained at Big Bear Solar Observatory during 1997 September 18È24. The 2 days with the best image quality were selected for this initial study. During 13 hr of time-lapse observations on these 2 days, in an e †ective 640@@ ] 480@@ area of quiet Sun close to the disk center, 88 erupting miniature Ðlaments were identiÐed. On average, these small-scale erupting Ðlaments have a
more » ... ed length of 19,000 km, an observed ejection speed of 13 km s~1, and a mean lifetime of 50 minutes from Ðrst appearance through eruption. The total mass and kinetic energy involved in a miniature Ðlament eruption is estimated to be 1013 g and 1025 ergs, respectively. They are distinguished from macrospicules by the same criteria that large-scale Ðlaments, before and during eruption, are distinguished from surges. Prior to eruption, one end, both ends, or the midsection of a miniature Ðlament is superposed over a polarity reversal boundary on line-of-sight magnetograms. We conclude that miniature Ðlaments are the small-scale analog to large-scale Ðlaments.
doi:10.1086/308377 fatcat:p2bstzfhgjdktdibx2lvcyb2i4