Thread Separation and Expansion Observed in Multi-Stranded Solar Coronal Loops

Fuente: arXiv
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Autores principales: Brooks, David H., Warren, Harry P.
Formato: Preprint
Publicado: 2025
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author Brooks, David H.
Warren, Harry P.
author_facet Brooks, David H.
Warren, Harry P.
contents The theoretical expectation that coronal loops should expand with height contrasts with observations that typically show constant cross-sections. We investigate the idea that this discrepancy results from loops being composed of fine threads whose expansion occurs below the resolution limits of instruments like SDO/AIA. In this paper, we present two significant findings: (1) several extended loops exhibit measurable expansion, suggesting length as a critical factor in detection capability, and (2) high-resolution Solar Orbiter/EUI observations have captured expanding loops in active regions. For both AIA and EUI data, we observe cases where thread separation is directly visible as the loops evolve. These findings complement our previous work indicating AIA loops may consist of relatively few threads. Collectively, these observations provide compeling evidence supporting the multi-thread model and offer a potential resolution to the long-standing loop expansion problem in solar coronal physics. However, the high densities and narrow temperature distributions of observed coronal loops remain unresolved.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2512_12417
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Thread Separation and Expansion Observed in Multi-Stranded Solar Coronal Loops
Brooks, David H.
Warren, Harry P.
Solar and Stellar Astrophysics
The theoretical expectation that coronal loops should expand with height contrasts with observations that typically show constant cross-sections. We investigate the idea that this discrepancy results from loops being composed of fine threads whose expansion occurs below the resolution limits of instruments like SDO/AIA. In this paper, we present two significant findings: (1) several extended loops exhibit measurable expansion, suggesting length as a critical factor in detection capability, and (2) high-resolution Solar Orbiter/EUI observations have captured expanding loops in active regions. For both AIA and EUI data, we observe cases where thread separation is directly visible as the loops evolve. These findings complement our previous work indicating AIA loops may consist of relatively few threads. Collectively, these observations provide compeling evidence supporting the multi-thread model and offer a potential resolution to the long-standing loop expansion problem in solar coronal physics. However, the high densities and narrow temperature distributions of observed coronal loops remain unresolved.
title Thread Separation and Expansion Observed in Multi-Stranded Solar Coronal Loops
topic Solar and Stellar Astrophysics
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2512.12417