Minifilament Eruptions as the Last Straw to Break the Equilibrium of a Giant Solar Filament

Fuente: arXiv
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Main Authors: Chen, Hechao, Tian, Hui, Zhang, Quanhao, Li, Chuan, Xia, Chun, Bai, Xianyong, Hou, Zhenyong, Ji, Kaifan, Deng, Yuanyong, Yang, Xiao, Hu, Ziyao
Format: Preprint
Published: 2025
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author Chen, Hechao
Tian, Hui
Zhang, Quanhao
Li, Chuan
Xia, Chun
Bai, Xianyong
Hou, Zhenyong
Ji, Kaifan
Deng, Yuanyong
Yang, Xiao
Hu, Ziyao
author_facet Chen, Hechao
Tian, Hui
Zhang, Quanhao
Li, Chuan
Xia, Chun
Bai, Xianyong
Hou, Zhenyong
Ji, Kaifan
Deng, Yuanyong
Yang, Xiao
Hu, Ziyao
contents Filament eruptions are magnetically driven violent explosions commonly observed on the Sun and late-type stars, sometimes leading to monster coronal mass ejections that directly affect the nearby planets' environments. More than a century of research on solar filaments suggests that the slow evolution of photospheric magnetic fields plays a decisive role in initiating filament eruptions, but the underlying mechanism remains unclear. Using high-resolution observations from the \textit{Chinese H$α$ Solar Explorer}, the \textit{Solar Upper Transition Region Imager}, and the \textit{Solar Dynamics Observatory}, we present direct evidence that a giant solar filament eruption is triggered by a series of minifilament eruptions occurring beneath it. These minifilaments, which are homologous to the giant filament but on a smaller tempo-spatial scale, sequently form and erupt due to extremely weak mutual flux disappearance of opposite-polarity photospheric magnetic fields. Through multi-fold magnetic interactions, these erupting minifilaments act as the last straw to break the force balance of the overlying giant filament and initiate its ultimate eruption. The results unveil a possible novel pathway for small-scale magnetic activities near the stellar surface to initiate spectacular filament eruptions, and provide new insight into the magnetic coupling of filament eruptions across different tempo-spatial scales.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2503_13800
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Minifilament Eruptions as the Last Straw to Break the Equilibrium of a Giant Solar Filament
Chen, Hechao
Tian, Hui
Zhang, Quanhao
Li, Chuan
Xia, Chun
Bai, Xianyong
Hou, Zhenyong
Ji, Kaifan
Deng, Yuanyong
Yang, Xiao
Hu, Ziyao
Solar and Stellar Astrophysics
Filament eruptions are magnetically driven violent explosions commonly observed on the Sun and late-type stars, sometimes leading to monster coronal mass ejections that directly affect the nearby planets' environments. More than a century of research on solar filaments suggests that the slow evolution of photospheric magnetic fields plays a decisive role in initiating filament eruptions, but the underlying mechanism remains unclear. Using high-resolution observations from the \textit{Chinese H$α$ Solar Explorer}, the \textit{Solar Upper Transition Region Imager}, and the \textit{Solar Dynamics Observatory}, we present direct evidence that a giant solar filament eruption is triggered by a series of minifilament eruptions occurring beneath it. These minifilaments, which are homologous to the giant filament but on a smaller tempo-spatial scale, sequently form and erupt due to extremely weak mutual flux disappearance of opposite-polarity photospheric magnetic fields. Through multi-fold magnetic interactions, these erupting minifilaments act as the last straw to break the force balance of the overlying giant filament and initiate its ultimate eruption. The results unveil a possible novel pathway for small-scale magnetic activities near the stellar surface to initiate spectacular filament eruptions, and provide new insight into the magnetic coupling of filament eruptions across different tempo-spatial scales.
title Minifilament Eruptions as the Last Straw to Break the Equilibrium of a Giant Solar Filament
topic Solar and Stellar Astrophysics
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2503.13800