On the Observation and Simulation of Solar Coronal Twin Jets

TL;DR

This paper combines observations and 3D MHD simulations to investigate the formation of solar coronal twin jets, proposing magnetic reconnection with twisted flux as a key mechanism.

Contribution

It is the first to analyze and model solar coronal twin jets, linking observed phenomena with numerical simulations to explain their formation.

Findings

Twin jets form due to magnetic reconnection with twisted flux

Simulation reproduces observed twin jet features

Continuous energy input from below may generate twin jets

Abstract

We present the first observation, analysis and modeling of solar coronal twin jets, which occurred after a preceding jet. Detailed analysis on the kinetics of the preceding jet reveals its blowout-jet nature, which resembles the one studied in Liu et al. 2014. However the erupting process and kinetics of the twin jets appear to be different from the preceding one. In lack of the detailed information on the magnetic fields in the twin jet region, we instead use a numerical simulation using a three-dimensional (3D) MHD model as described in Fang et al. 2014, and find that in the simulation a pair of twin jets form due to reconnection between the ambient open fields and a highly twisted sigmoidal magnetic flux which is the outcome of the further evolution of the magnetic fields following the preceding blowout jet. Based on the similarity between the synthesized and observed emission we propose this mechanism as a possible explanation for the observed twin jets. Combining our observation and simulation, we suggest that with continuous energy transport from the subsurface convection zone into the corona, solar coronal twin jets could be generated in the same fashion addressed above.