Multi--Instrument Estimation Of The Non--Flaring Heating And Reconnection Rates Of Emerging Active Region NOAA AR11112
Abstract
In NOAA Active Region 11112, a small bipole emerges into an area of preexisting, unipolar flux. The bright, low lying kernel of coronal loops above the emerging field, observed with AIA and XRT, originally show magnetic connectivity only between regions of newly emerged flux when overlaid on HMI magnetograms. Over the course of several days, this bright kernel advances into the preexisting flux. The advancement of this easily visible boundary into the old flux regions over time provides a quantifiable rate of reconnection between old and new magnetic domains. We compare the reconnection rate to the inferred heating of the coronal plasma. To our knowledge, this is the first measurement of steady, quiescent heating related to reconnection. While AR11112 does produce an M3.0 flare on Oct 16th, 2010, the implied reconnection we focus on here predates the flare by several days, and does not result in any observable flaring active of its own, such as increases in the GOES light curve, chromospheric flare ribbons, or post--flare loops. We determine that the newly emerged flux reconnects at a fairly steady average rate of 3.5e16 Mx/s over two days, while the radiated power varies between 2-8e25erg/s over the same time.
- Publication:
-
AAS/Solar Physics Division Abstracts #44
- Pub Date:
- July 2013
- Bibcode:
- 2013SPD....4430202T