Modeling and measuring the flux reconnected and ejected by the two-ribbon flare on 2004-11-07

LONGCOPE D.; BEVERIDGE C.; QIU J.; RAVINDRA B.; BARNES G.; DASSO S.

SOLAR PHYSICS

Springer

Año: 2007 vol. 244 p. 45 - 73

0038-0938

Observations of the large two-ribbon flare on 2004-Nov-7 made using SOHOand TRACE data are interpreted in terms of a three-dimensional magnetic field model.Photospheric flux evolution indicates that −1.4×10e43 Mx2 of magnetic helicity was injectedinto the active region during the 40-hour build-up prior to the flare. The magnetic modelplaces a lower bound of 8 × 10e31 ergs on the energy stored by this motion. It predictsthat 5×10e21 Mx of flux would need to be reconnected during the flare in order to releasethe stored energy. This total reconnection compares favorably with the flux swept up bythe flare ribbons which we measure using high time-cadence TRACE in 1600 A images.Reconnection in the model must occur in a specific sequence which would produce atwisted flux rope containing significantly less flux and helicity (10e21 Mx and −3×10e42 Mx2respectively) than the active region as a whole. The predicted flux compares favorably withvalues inferred from the magnetic cloud observed by Wind. This combined analysis yieldsthe first quantitative picture of the flux processed through a two-ribbon flare and CME.