Magnetic separatrix as the source region of the plasma supply for an active-region filament

TL;DR

This study confirms that an active-region solar filament is sustained by continuous injection of cool plasma from the chromosphere, originating at magnetic quasi-separatrix layers, with observed upflows and downflows indicating complex plasma dynamics.

Contribution

It provides high-resolution observational evidence linking filament plasma injection to magnetic quasi-separatrix layers and details the flow patterns within the filament.

Findings

Filament maintained by continuous chromospheric plasma injection.

Upflows originate from brighter patches on the magnetic ridge.

Filament exhibits two opposite directional streams.

Abstract

Solar filaments can be formed via chromospheric evaporation followed by condensation in the corona or by the direct injection of cool plasma from the chromosphere to the corona. In this paper, with high-resolution H$\alpha$ data observed by the 1.6 m New Solar Telescope of the Big Bear Solar Observatory on 2015 August 21, we confirmed that an active-region filament is maintained by the continuous injection of cold chromospheric plasma. We find that the filament is rooted along a bright ridge in H$\alpha$, which corresponds to the intersection of a magnetic quasi-separatrix layer with the solar surface. This bright ridge consists of many small patches and the sizes of these patches are comparable to the width of the filament threads. It is found that upflows originate from the brighter patches of the ridge, whereas the downflows move toward the weaker patches of the ridge. The whole filament is composed of two opposite directional streams, implying that longitudinal oscillations are not the only cause of the counterstreamings, and unidirectional siphon flows with alternative directions are another possibility.