Two Types of Long-duration Quasi-static Evolution of Solar Filaments

TL;DR

This study identifies two distinct types of long-duration quasi-static evolution in solar filaments, characterized by different durations and speeds, and explores their magnetic field properties and stability conditions.

Contribution

It reveals two new types of filament evolution with distinct durations and dynamics, and analyzes their magnetic field decay index related to eruption stability.

Findings

Two types of filament evolution: static+slow rise and prolonged slow rise.

Decay index at eruption is similar for active and quiescent filaments, near critical for torus instability.

Filament height correlates linearly with filament length; magnetic field strength relates exponentially.

Abstract

In this Letter, we investigate the long-duration quasi-static evolution of 12 pre-eruptive filaments (4 active region and 8 quiescent filaments), mainly focusing on the evolution of the filament height in three dimension (3D) and the decay index of the background magnetic field. The filament height in 3D is derived through two-perspective observations of \textit{Solar Dynamics Observatory} and \textit{Solar TErrestrial RElations Observatory}. The coronal magnetic field is reconstructed using the potential field source surface model. A new finding is that the filaments we studied show two types of long-duration evolution: one type is comprised of a long-duration static phase and a short slow rise phase with a duration of less than 12 hours and a speed of 0.1--0.7 km s$^{-1}$, while the other one only presents a slow rise phase but with an extremely long duration of more than 60 hours and a smaller speed of 0.01--0.2 km s$^{-1}$. At the moment approaching the eruption, the decay index of the background magnetic field at the filament height is similar for both active region and quiescent filaments. The average value and upper limit are $\sim$0.9 and $\sim$1.4, close to the critical index of torus instability. Moreover, the filament height and background magnetic field strength are also found to be linearly and exponentially related with the filament length, respectively.