TY - JOUR A1 - Kliem, Bernhard A1 - Seehafer, Norbert T1 - Helicity shedding by flux rope ejection JF - Astronomy and astrophysics : an international weekly journal N2 - We quantitatively address the conjecture that magnetic helicity must be shed from the Sun by eruptions launching coronal mass ejections in order to limit its accumulation in each hemisphere. By varying the ratio of guide and strapping field and the flux rope twist in a parametric simulation study of flux rope ejection from approximately marginally stable force-free equilibria, different ratios of self- and mutual helicity are set and the onset of the torus or helical kink instability is obtained. The helicity shed is found to vary over a broad range from a minor to a major part of the initial helicity, with self helicity being largely or completely shed and mutual helicity, which makes up the larger part of the initial helicity, being shed only partly. Torus-unstable configurations with subcritical twist and without a guide field shed up to about two-thirds of the initial helicity, while a highly twisted, kink-unstable configuration sheds only about one-quarter. The parametric study also yields stable force-free flux rope equilibria up to a total flux-normalized helicity of 0.25, with a ratio of self- to total helicity of 0.32 and a ratio of flux rope to external poloidal flux of 0.94. These results numerically demonstrate the conjecture of helicity shedding by coronal mass ejections and provide a first account of its parametric dependence. Both self- and mutual helicity are shed significantly; this reduces the total initial helicity by a fraction of ∼0.4--0.65 for typical source region parameters. KW - instabilities KW - magnetic fields KW - magnetohydrodynamics (MHD) KW - Sun KW - corona KW - coronal mass ejections (CMEs) KW - flares Y1 - 2022 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1051/0004-6361/202142422 SN - 0004-6361 SN - 1432-0746 VL - 659 PB - EDP Sciences CY - Les Ulis ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Kontogiannis, Ioannis A1 - Dineva, Ekaterina Ivanova A1 - Diercke, Andrea A1 - Verma, Meetu A1 - Kuckein, Christoph A1 - Balthasar, Horst A1 - Denker, Carsten T1 - High-resolution spectroscopy of an erupting minifilament and its impact on the nearby chromosphere JF - The astrophysical journal : an international review of spectroscopy and astronomical physics N2 - We study the evolution of a minifilament eruption in a quiet region at the center of the solar disk and its impact on the ambient atmosphere. We used high spectral resolution imaging spectroscopy in H alpha acquired by the echelle spectrograph of the Vacuum Tower Telescope, Tenerife, Spain; photospheric magnetic field observations from the Helioseismic Magnetic Imager; and UV/EUV imaging from the Atmospheric Imaging Assembly of the Solar Dynamics Observatory. The H alpha line profiles were noise-stripped using principal component analysis and then inverted to produce physical and cloud model parameter maps. The minifilament formed between small-scale, opposite-polarity magnetic features through a series of small reconnection events, and it erupted within an hour after its appearance in H alpha. Its development and eruption exhibited similarities to large-scale erupting filaments, indicating the action of common mechanisms. Its eruption took place in two phases, namely, a slow rise and a fast expansion, and it produced a coronal dimming, before the minifilament disappeared. During its eruption, we detected a complicated velocity pattern, indicative of a twisted, thread-like structure. Part of its material returned to the chromosphere, producing observable effects on nearby low-lying magnetic structures. Cloud model analysis showed that the minifilament was initially similar to other chromospheric fine structures, in terms of optical depth, source function, and Doppler width, but it resembled a large-scale filament on its course to eruption. High spectral resolution observations of the chromosphere can provide a wealth of information regarding the dynamics and properties of minifilaments and their interactions with the surrounding atmosphere. KW - the sun KW - solar chromosphere KW - active solar chromosphere KW - active solar KW - corona KW - solar filament eruptions KW - high resolution spectroscopy Y1 - 2020 U6 - https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/aba117 SN - 0004-637X SN - 1538-4357 VL - 898 IS - 2 PB - Institute of Physics Publ. CY - London ER -