The Eruptive Flare of 15 November 1991: Preflare Phenomena

Canfield, Richard C. and Kevin P. Reardon, The Eruptive Flare of 15 November 1991: Preflare Phenomena, Sol. Phys., 182, 145-157 (1998) (ADS)

The cartoon

(click on the image for a larger version)

Here we have one cartoony embodiment of "tether cutting," a concept seen in many cartoons here. It was shown early in the Moore-Labonte cartoon and then more authoritatively in a later opus. Tether-cutting envisions the gradual rise of a twisted flux rope, with increments of twist entering via elementary reconnections below the structure; this should be clearly distinguished from "breakout" (see the Antiochos cartoon), in which the reconnection happens above the unstable structure.

      That two very reasonable and intelligent researchers propose such categorically opposed cartoons shows how desperate we are, and why we really need these cartoons: there is not enough decisive theory to guide us! Please note that this cartoon also conflicts with that of Melrose, which also purports to show loop-loop interaction. The distinction here is that the quite-different Melrose theory requires a fixed boundary condition in the photosphere, and the present cartoon may ignore that requirement.

Date: 1999 January 01

Update: 2019 November 19