Anti-parallel filament flows and bright dots observed in the EUV with Hi-C

The Hi-C instrument imaged the million degree corona at the highest spatial and temporal resolution to date. The instrument imaged a complicated active region which contained several interesting features. Scientists at UCLan in the UK, in collaboration with other members of the Hi-C science team, studied two of these festures: anti-parallel filament flows and bright EUV dots. Plasma flows within prominences/filaments have been observed for many years and hold valuable clues concerning the mass and energy balance within these structures. Evidence of ';counter-steaming' flows has previously been inferred from these cool plasma observations but now, for the first time, these flows have been directly imaged along fundamental filament threads within the million degree corona (at 193 Å). We present observations of an active region filament observed with Hi-C that exhibits anti-parallel flows along adjacent filament threads. The ultra-high spatial and temporal resolution of Hi-C allow the anti-parallel flow velocities to be measured (70 - 80 km/s) and gives an indication of the resolvable thickness of the individual strands (0.8' × 0.1'). The temperature distribution of the plasma flows was estimated to be log T(K) = 5.45 × 0.10 using EM loci analysis. Short-lived, small brightenings sparkling at the edge of the active region, calle EUV Bright Dots (EBDs) were also investigated. EBDs have a characteristic duration of 25 s with a characteristic length of 680 km. These brightenings are not fully resolved by the SDO/AIA instrument at the same wavelength, but can however be identified with respect to the Hi-C location of the EBDs. In addition, EBDs are seen in other chromospheric/coronal channels of SDO/AIA suggesting a temperature between 0.5 and 1.5 MK. Based on a potential field extrapolation from an SDO/HMI magnetogram, the EBDs appear at the footpoints of large-scale trans-equatorial coronal loops. The Hi-C observations provide the first evidence of small-scale EUV heating events at the base of coronal loops, and consistent with the nanoflare heating mechanism. Full Hi-C FOV showing location of bright dots (bottom left) and filament flows (top right)