An MHD Modeling of Successive X2.2 and X9.3 Solar Flares of 2017 September 6

TL;DR

This study uses MHD simulations constrained by observed magnetic fields to analyze the initiation and dynamics of two successive major solar flares, revealing the magnetic reconnection processes leading to their eruptions.

Contribution

It provides a detailed data-driven MHD modeling approach to understand the magnetic mechanisms behind successive large solar flares.

Findings

The X2.2 flare is triggered by local magnetic reconnection involving negative polarity intrusion.

Magnetic flux rope formation and eruption are driven by continuous reconnection after the X2.2 flare.

The X9.3 flare results from the eruption of the flux rope via torus instability.

Abstract

Solar active region 12673 produced two successive X-class flares (X2.2 and X9.3) approximately 3 hours apart in September 2017. The X9.3 was the recorded largest solar flare in Solar Cycle 24. In this study we perform a data-constrained magnetohydrodynamic simulation taking into account the observed photospheric magnetic field to reveal the initiation and dynamics of the X2.2 and X9.3 flares. According to our simulation, the X2.2 flare is first triggered by magnetic reconnection at a local site where at the photosphere the negative polarity intrudes into the opposite-polarity region. This magnetic reconnection expels the innermost field lines upward beneath which the magnetic flux rope is formed through continuous reconnection with external twisted field lines. Continuous magnetic reconnection after the X2.2 flare enhances the magnetic flux rope, which is lifted up and eventually erupts via the torus instability. This gives rise to the X9.3 flare.