Flame-like Ellerman Bombs and Their Connection to Solar Ultraviolet Bursts
Abstract
Ellerman bombs (EBs) are small-scale intense brightenings in Hα wing images, which are generally believed to be signatures of magnetic reconnection around the temperature minimum region of the solar atmosphere. They have a flame-like morphology when observed near the solar limb. Recent observations from the Interface Region Imaging Spectrograph (IRIS) reveal another type of small-scale reconnection event called an ultraviolet (UV) burst, in the lower solar atmosphere. Though previous observations have shown a clear coincidence between the occurrence of some UV bursts and EBs, the exact relationship between these two phenomena is still debated. We investigate the spatial and temporal relationship between flame-like EBs and UV bursts using joint near-limb observations between the 1.6 m Goode Solar Telescope (GST) and IRIS. In total, 161 EBs have been identified from the GST observations, and ∼20 of them reveal signatures of UV bursts in the IRIS images. Interestingly, we find that these UV bursts have a tendency to appear at the upper parts of their associated flame-like EBs. The intensity variations of most EB-related UV bursts and their corresponding EBs match well. Our results suggest that some of these UV bursts and EBs likely form at different heights during a common reconnection process.
- Publication:
-
The Astrophysical Journal
- Pub Date:
- April 2019
- DOI:
- 10.3847/2041-8213/ab18a4
- arXiv:
- arXiv:1903.01981
- Bibcode:
- 2019ApJ...875L..30C
- Keywords:
-
- magnetic reconnection;
- Sun: chromosphere;
- Sun: photosphere;
- Sun: transition region;
- Sun: UV radiation;
- Astrophysics - Solar and Stellar Astrophysics
- E-Print:
- 5 figures