Unprecedented Fast Winking of Solar Flares Triggered by Bursty Magnetic Reconnection
爆发性磁重联触发的太阳耀斑前所未有的快速闪烁
Flare ribbons form as a result of energy deposition associated with particles accelerated in low layers of the solar atmosphere. The fine-scale structures of flare ribbons, also called ribbon kernels, offer a potentially powerful diagnostic of the flare reconnection process, however, to date the dynamic evolution of ribbon kernels has not been fully characterized in statistical studies. Here, we checked the state-of-the-art observations (cadence ≤2.5 s) of solar flares in the ultraviolet from space by Interface Region Imaging Spectrograph over the past 12 yr. Our results showed the first statistical study of multiple spatially resolved flare kernel quasiperiodic pulsation events for 31 flares, with the period of 6─24 s. The ribbon kernels have a spatial scale of 480─1200 km and some kernels exhibit an unprecedented fast "winking" process, i.e., quasiperiodic pulsation-like flashing of individual kernels. The shortest heating time reaches about 2─3 s, implying that the energy is deposited only in a small localized region within flare ribbons, persisting for only a few seconds. Meanwhile, some ribbon kernels were observed to slip along the ribbon at speeds of 20─1800 km s<SUP>−1</SUP>. These observations strongly imply a joint picture for the dynamics and the bursty nature of ribbon kernels as being due to coupled effects of plasmoid formation and three-dimensional magnetic reconnection in the overlaying coronal current sheet. We suggest that the observed flare behaviors provide strong observational evidences of 3D bursty reconnection.
展开 ▾首次统计研究了31个耀斑的耀斑带核准周期脉动(周期6-24秒)和前所未有的快速闪烁(加热时标2-3秒),并观测到核沿带以高达1800 km/s的速度滑动,直接证实了爆发性三维磁重联模型。
太阳耀斑带是耀斑重联过程中能量沉积在低层大气的表现,但过去对其精细结构(耀斑核)的高时间分辨率统计研究较少。本研究利用IRIS近12年的高时间分辨率紫外观测(≤2.5秒),首次对31个耀斑的耀斑带核准周期脉动事件进行了统计分析,揭示了前所未有的快速“眨眼”现象和沿带滑动。这些特征为爆发性三维磁重联理论提供了关键观测支撑,表明核的动力学行为与日冕电流片中的等离子体团形成和三维重联效应密切相关。未来随着更高分辨率观测设备的应用,有望进一步揭示耀斑能量释放的精细物理过程。
预印本 2026-06-26 · 接收 2026-06-18 · 刊出 2026-07-14 · 收录 2026-07-22