Unveiling Unprecedented Fine Structure in Coronal Flare Loops with the DKIST

Fuente: arXiv
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Main Authors: Tamburri, Cole A., Kazachenko, Maria D., Cauzzi, Gianna, Kowalski, Adam F., French, Ryan, Yadav, Rahul, Evans, Caroline L, Notsu, Yuta, Corchado-Albelo, Marcel F., Reardon, Kevin P., Tritschler, Alexandra
Format: Preprint
Published: 2025
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author Tamburri, Cole A.
Kazachenko, Maria D.
Cauzzi, Gianna
Kowalski, Adam F.
French, Ryan
Yadav, Rahul
Evans, Caroline L
Notsu, Yuta
Corchado-Albelo, Marcel F.
Reardon, Kevin P.
Tritschler, Alexandra
author_facet Tamburri, Cole A.
Kazachenko, Maria D.
Cauzzi, Gianna
Kowalski, Adam F.
French, Ryan
Yadav, Rahul
Evans, Caroline L
Notsu, Yuta
Corchado-Albelo, Marcel F.
Reardon, Kevin P.
Tritschler, Alexandra
contents We present the highest-resolution H$α$ observations of a solar flare to date, collected during the decay phase of an X1.3-class flare on 8 August 2024 at 20:12 UT. Observations with the Visible Broadband Imager at the National Science Foundation's (NSF) Daniel K. Inouye Solar Telescope reveal dark coronal loop strands at unprecedented spatial resolution in the flare arcade above highly structured chromospheric flare ribbons. After surveying the 20 best-seeing images, we calculate a mean loop width near the top of the arcade of 48.2 km, with a minimum loop width of ~21 km and distribution mode of ~43 km. The distributions of loop widths observed by the DKIST in our study are often symmetric about the mean loop width. This is initial evidence that the DKIST may be capable of resolving the fundamental scale of coronal loops, although further investigation is required to confirm this result. We demonstrate that the resolving power of the DKIST represents a significant step towards advancing modern flare models and our understanding of fine structure in the coronal magnetic field.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2508_05875
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Unveiling Unprecedented Fine Structure in Coronal Flare Loops with the DKIST
Tamburri, Cole A.
Kazachenko, Maria D.
Cauzzi, Gianna
Kowalski, Adam F.
French, Ryan
Yadav, Rahul
Evans, Caroline L
Notsu, Yuta
Corchado-Albelo, Marcel F.
Reardon, Kevin P.
Tritschler, Alexandra
Solar and Stellar Astrophysics
We present the highest-resolution H$α$ observations of a solar flare to date, collected during the decay phase of an X1.3-class flare on 8 August 2024 at 20:12 UT. Observations with the Visible Broadband Imager at the National Science Foundation's (NSF) Daniel K. Inouye Solar Telescope reveal dark coronal loop strands at unprecedented spatial resolution in the flare arcade above highly structured chromospheric flare ribbons. After surveying the 20 best-seeing images, we calculate a mean loop width near the top of the arcade of 48.2 km, with a minimum loop width of ~21 km and distribution mode of ~43 km. The distributions of loop widths observed by the DKIST in our study are often symmetric about the mean loop width. This is initial evidence that the DKIST may be capable of resolving the fundamental scale of coronal loops, although further investigation is required to confirm this result. We demonstrate that the resolving power of the DKIST represents a significant step towards advancing modern flare models and our understanding of fine structure in the coronal magnetic field.
title Unveiling Unprecedented Fine Structure in Coronal Flare Loops with the DKIST
topic Solar and Stellar Astrophysics
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2508.05875