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    Identifying the energy release site in a solar microflare with a jet
    (Les Ulis : EDP Sciences, 2023) Battaglia, Andrea Francesco; Wang, Wen; Saqri, Jonas; Podladchikova, Tatiana; Veronig, Astrid M.; Collier, Hannah; Dickson, Ewan C. M.; Podladchikova, Olena; Monstein, Christian; Warmuth, Alexander; Schuller, Frédéric; Harra, Louise; Krucker, Säm
    Context. One of the main science questions of the Solar Orbiter and Parker Solar Probe missions deals with understanding how electrons in the lower solar corona are accelerated and how they subsequently access interplanetary space. Aims. We aim to investigate the electron acceleration and energy release sites as well as the manner in which accelerated electrons access the interplanetary space in the case of the SOL2021-02-18T18:05 event, a GOES A8 class microflare associated with a coronal jet. Methods. This study takes advantage of three different vantage points, Solar Orbiter, STEREO-A, and Earth, with observations drawn from eight different instruments, ranging from radio to X-ray. Multi-wavelength timing analysis combined with UV/EUV imagery and X-ray spectroscopy by Solar Orbiter/STIX (Spectrometer/Telescope for Imaging X-rays) is used to investigate the origin of the observed emission during different flare phases. Results. The event under investigation satisfies the classical picture of the onset time of the acceleration of electrons coinciding with the jet and the radio type III bursts. This microflare features prominent hard X-ray (HXR) nonthermal emission down to at least 10 keV and a spectrum that is much harder than usual for a microflare with γ = 2.9 ± 0.3. From Eartha's vantage point, the microflare is seen near the limb, revealing the coronal energy release site above the flare loop in EUV, which, from STIX spectroscopic analysis, turns out to be hot (i.e., at roughly the same temperature of the flare). Moreover, this region is moving toward higher altitudes over time (∼30akmas-1). During the flare, the same region spatially coincides with the origin of the coronal jet. Three-dimensional (3D) stereoscopic reconstructions of the propagating jet highlight that the ejected plasma moves along a curved trajectory. Conclusions. Within the framework of the interchange reconnection model, we conclude that the energy release site observed above-The-loop corresponds to the electron acceleration site, corroborating that interchange reconnection is a viable candidate for particle acceleration in the low corona on field lines open to interplanetary space.
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    Validation of Global EUV Wave MHD Simulations and Observational Techniques
    (London : Institute of Physics Publ., 2021) Downs, Cooper; Warmuth, Alexander; Long, David M.; Bloomfield, D. Shaun; Kwon, Ryun-Young; Veronig, Astrid M.; Vourlidas, Angelos; Vršnak, Bojan
    Global EUV waves remain a controversial phenomenon more than 20 yr after their discovery by SOHO/EIT. Although consensus is growing in the community that they are most likely large-amplitude waves or shocks, the wide variety of observations and techniques used to identify and analyze them have led to disagreements regarding their physical properties and interpretation. Here, we use a 3D magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) model of the solar corona to simulate an EUV wave event on 2009 February 13 to enable a detailed validation of the various commonly used detection and analysis techniques of global EUV waves. The simulated event exhibits comparable behavior to that of a real EUV wave event, with similar kinematic behavior and plasma parameter evolution. The kinematics of the wave are estimated via visual identification and profile analysis, with both approaches providing comparable results. We find that projection effects can affect the derived kinematics of the wave, due to the variation in fast-mode wave speed with height in the corona. Coronal seismology techniques typically used for estimates of the coronal magnetic field are also tested and found to estimate fast-mode speeds comparable to those of the model. Plasma density and temperature variations of the wave front are also derived using a regularized inversion approach and found to be consistent with observed wave events. These results indicate that global waves are best interpreted as large-amplitude waves and that they can be used to probe the coronal medium using welldefined analysis techniques.
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    Observational Signatures of Tearing Instability in the Current Sheet of a Solar Flare
    (London : Institute of Physics Publ., 2022) Lu, Lei; Feng, Li; Warmuth, Alexander; Veronig, Astrid M.; Huang, Jing; Liu, Siming; Gan, Weiqun; Ning, Zongjun; Ying, Beili; Gao, Guannan
    Magnetic reconnection is a fundamental physical process converting magnetic energy into not only plasma energy but also particle energy in various astrophysical phenomena. In this Letter, we show a unique data set of a solar flare where various plasmoids were formed by a continually stretched current sheet. Extreme ultraviolet images captured reconnection inflows, outflows, and particularly the recurring plasma blobs (plasmoids). X-ray images reveal nonthermal emission sources at the lower end of the current sheet, presumably as large plasmoids with a sufficiently amount of energetic electrons trapped in them. In the radio domain, an upward, slowly drifting pulsation structure, followed by a rare pair of oppositely drifting structures, was observed. These structures are supposed to map the evolution of the primary and the secondary plasmoids formed in the current sheet. Our results on plasmoids at different locations and scales shed important light on the dynamics, plasma heating, particle acceleration, and transport processes in the turbulent current sheet and provide observational evidence for the cascading magnetic reconnection process.