Extremely Large Extreme-ultraviolet Late Phase Powered by Intense Early Heating in a Non-eruptive Solar Flare

TL;DR

This study analyzes a non-eruptive solar flare with a strong EUV late phase driven by intense early heating, revealing a two-stage magnetic reconnection process and modeling the thermal evolution of late-phase loops.

Contribution

It uncovers the magnetic reconnection mechanisms behind the late-phase EUV emission and demonstrates the role of early intense heating in producing an extremely strong late phase.

Findings

The late-phase peak is mainly caused by first-stage QSL reconnection.

The second-stage reconnection heats the main flaring loops.

Modeling shows a higher peak heating rate than previous estimates.

Abstract

We analyzed and modeled an M1.2 non-eruptive solar flare on 2011 September 9. The flare exhibits a strong late-phase peak of the warm coronal emissions ($\sim$3~MK) of extreme-ultraviolet (EUV), with peak emission over 1.3 times that of the main flare peak. Multiple flare ribbons are observed, whose evolution indicates a two-stage energy release process. A non-linear force-free field (NLFFF) extrapolation reveals the existence of a magnetic null point, a fan-spine structure, and two flux ropes embedded in the fan dome. Magnetic reconnections involved in the flare are driven by the destabilization and rise of one of the flux ropes. In the first stage, the fast ascending flux rope drives reconnections at the null point and the surrounding quasi-separatrix layer (QSL), while in the second stage, reconnection mainly occurs between the two legs of the field lines stretched by the eventually stopped flux rope. The late-phase loops are mainly produced by the first-stage QSL reconnection, while the second-stage reconnection is responsible for the heating of main flaring loops. The first-stage reconnection is believed to be more powerful, leading to an extremely strong EUV late phase. We find that the delayed occurrence of the late-phase peak is mainly due to the long cooling process of the long late-phase loops. Using the model enthalpy-based thermal evolution of loops (EBTEL), we model the EUV emissions from a late-phase loop. The modeling reveals a peak heating rate of 1.1~erg~cm$^{-3}$~s$^{-1}$ for the late-phase loop, which is obviously higher than previous values.