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We present a magnetic configuration of a compound solar eruption observed on 2012 March 10, from NOAA AR 11429 near the disk center, which displayed a soft X-ray sigmoid before the eruption. We constructed a series of magnetic field models, including double-decker flux rope configurations, using the flux rope insertion method. This produces three-dimensional coronal magnetic field models constrained by the photospheric magnetogram and observed EUV coronal structures. We used different combinations of flux rope paths. We found that two flux ropes sharing the same path at different heights quickly experience a partial merging in the initial iteration of the magnetofrictional relaxation process. Different paths with less than 30% overlap allowed us to construct stable double-decker structures. The high spatial and temporal resolution of the Solar Dynamics Observatory/Atmospheric Imaging Assembly facilitated the selection of a best-fit model that matches the observations best. Moreover, by varying fluxes in this validated nonlinear force-free field double-decker configuration, we successfully reproduce all three scenarios of eruptions of double-decker configurations: (i) eruption due to the instability of higher flux rope; (ii) eruption due to rising lower flux rope and merging with higher flux rope; and (iii) eruption due to the instability of both flux ropes. This demonstrates that magnetofrictional simulation can capture the large-scale magnetic structure of eruptions for a realistic field configuration at eruption onset. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Coronal mass ejections are solar eruptions driven by a sudden release of magnetic energy stored in the Sun's corona (1). In many cases, this magnetic energy is stored in long-lived, arched structures called magnetic flux ropes (2-5). When a flux rope destabilizes, it can either erupt and produce a coronal mass ejection or fail and collapse back towards the Sun (6-8). The prevailing belief is that the outcome of a given event is determined by a magnetohydrodynamic force imbalance called the torus instability (9-14). This belief is challenged, however, by observations indicating that torus-unstable flux ropes sometimes fail to erupt (15). This contradiction has not yet been resolved because of a lack of coronal magnetic field measurements and the limitations of idealized numerical modelling. Here we report the results of a laboratory experiment (16) that reveal a previously unknown eruption criterion below which torus-unstable flux ropes fail to erupt. We find that such 'failed torus' events occur when the guide magnetic field (that is, the ambient field that runs toroidally along the flux rope) is strong enough to prevent the flux rope from kinking. Under these conditions, the guide field interacts with electric currents in the flux rope to produce a dynamic toroidal field tension force that halts the eruption. This magnetic tension force is missing from existing eruption models, which is why such models cannot explain or predict failed torus events., For a laboratory experiment to study ideal instability solar eruption mechanisms such as the torus instability, it must adhere to the standard storage-and-release model for solar eruptions. According to this [...]

In this study, we present the magnetic configuration of an erupting pseudostreamer observed on 2015 April 19, on the southwest limb of the Sun, with a prominence cavity embedded inside. The eruption resulted in a partial halo coronal mass ejection. The prominence eruption begins with a slow rise and then evolves to a fast-rise phase. We analyze this erupting pseudostreamer using the flux-rope insertion method and magnetofrictional relaxation to establish a sequence of plausible out-of-equilibrium magnetic configurations. This approach allows the direct incorporation of observations of structures seen in the corona (filament and cavity) to appropriately model the pseudostreamer based on SDO/HMI line-of-sight photospheric magnetograms. We also perform a topological analysis in order to determine the location of quasiseparatrix layers (QSLs) in the models, producing Q-maps to examine how the QSL locations progress in the higher iterations. We found that the axial flux in our best-fit unstable model was a factor of 20 times higher than we found in our marginally stable case. We computed the average magnetic field strength of the prominence and found that the unstable model exhibits twice the average field strength of the stable model. The eruption height from our modeling matches very well with the prominence eruption height measured from the AIA observation. The Q-maps derived from the model reproduce structures observed in LASCO/C2. Thus, the modeling and topological analysis results are fully consistent with the observed morphological features, implying that we have captured the large magnetic structure of the erupting filament in our magnetofrictional simulation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Coronal mass ejections (CMEs) occur when long-lived magnetic flux ropes (MFRs) anchored to the solar surface destabilize and erupt away from the Sun. This destabilization is often described in terms of an ideal magnetohydrodynamic instability called the torus instability. It occurs when the external magnetic field decreases sufficiently fast such that its decay index, , is larger than a critical value, , where for a full, large aspect ratio torus. However, when this is applied to solar MFRs, a range of conflicting values for is found in the literature. To investigate this discrepancy, we have conducted laboratory experiments on arched, line-tied flux ropes and applied a theoretical model of the torus instability. Our model describes an MFR as a partial torus with foot points anchored in a conducting surface and numerically calculates various magnetic forces on it. This calculation yields better predictions of that take into account the specific parameters of the MFR. We describe a systematic methodology to properly translate laboratory results to their solar counterparts, provided that the MFRs have a sufficiently small edge safety factor or, equivalently, a large enough twist. After this translation, our model predicts that in solar conditions falls near and within a larger range of , depending on the parameters. The methodology of translating laboratory MFRs to their solar counterparts enables quantitative investigations of CME initiation through laboratory experiments. These experiments allow for new physics insights that are required for better predictions of space weather events but are difficult to obtain otherwise. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this review we present a short introduction to the X-ray Telescope on Hinode. We discuss its capabilities and new features and compare it with Yohkoh SXT. We also discuss some of the first results that include observations of X-ray jets in coronal holes, shear change in flares, sigmoid eruptions and evolution, application of filter ratios and differential emission measure analysis, structure of active regions, fine structure of X-ray bright points, and modeling non-potential fields around filaments. Finally, we describe how XRT works with other ground and space-based instrumentation, in particular with TRACE, EIS, SOT, and SOLIS. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Between November 2006 and March 2007, on several occasions, XRT has been taking high-cadence one or two filter observations of prominent active regions on the disk. We took these datasets and conducted a quick search for acoustic brightness oscillation in loops. We concentrated our search on flaring active regions. Here we present the preliminary results of this search. We found one active region - NOAA 10953 from 27 April - 02 May 2007 that had indications of acoustic oscillations with periods around 5 min, as well as multiples of this period, and one 40 min period that we associate with periodic heating of the loops. An interesting result is that all the loops in the active region seemed to oscillate with the same set of periods, only the power in the FFT was different and maybe dependent on the magnetic field strength. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

We present a new sample of M subdwarfs compiled from the seventh data release of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey. With 3517 new subdwarfs, this new sample significantly increases the number of spectroscopically confirmed low-mass subdwarfs. This catalog also includes 905 extreme and 534 ultra sudwarfs. We present the entire catalog, including observed and derived quantities, and template spectra created from co-added subdwarf spectra. We show color-color and reduced proper motion diagrams of the three metallicity classes, which are shown to separate from the disk dwarf population. The extreme and ultra subdwarfs are seen at larger values of reduced proper motion, as expected for more dynamically heated populations. We determine 3D kinematics for all of the stars with proper motions. The color-magnitude diagrams show a clear separation of the three metallicity classes with the ultra and extreme subdwarfs being significantly closer to the main sequence than the ordinary subdwarfs. All subdwarfs lie below (fainter) and to the left (bluer) of the main sequence. Based on the average (U, V, W) velocities and their dispersions, the extreme and ultra subdwarfs likely belong to the Galactic halo, while the ordinary subdwarfs are likely part of the old Galactic (or thick) disk. An extensive activity analysis of subdwarfs is performed using Hα emission, and 208 active subdwarfs are found. We show that while the activity fraction of subdwarfs rises with spectral class and levels off at the latest spectral classes, consistent with the behavior of M dwarfs, the extreme and ultra subdwarfs are basically flat. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]