Bidirectional Plasma Jets Driven by Magnetic Reconnection: Observations by GST and SDO

TL;DR

This study uses high-resolution solar observations to analyze bidirectional plasma jets driven by magnetic reconnection, revealing their origins, dynamics, and implications for coronal heating.

Contribution

It provides detailed observational evidence linking magnetic reconnection with bidirectional plasma jets in active solar regions, enhancing understanding of solar jet mechanisms.

Findings

Jets extend in opposite directions at dozens of km/s.

Reconnection occurs in transition region and simultaneously in Hα for recurrent jets.

Jets are caused by interaction of emerging filamentary threads with magnetic loops.

Abstract

Using high-resolution photospheric and chromospheric observations taken by the Goode Solar Telescope (GST), we studied two groups of bidirectional plasma jets occurring in active region NOAA 13110. Supplementary observations are also provided by Solar Dynamics Observatory's (SDO) Atmospheric Imaging Assembly (AIA) and Helioseismic and Magnetic Imager (HMI). From the photospheric observations and magnetograms, the two successive bidirectional plasma jets were initially located in the vicinity of the polarity inversion lines and at the intersection of the umbra and penumbra of the sunspot, followed by magnetic flux emergence and cancellation. As the cool filamentary threads are continuously emerging from the lower chromosphere and interact with overlying horizontal magnetic loops, it leads to the bidirectional jets, erupting outflow plasmoids, and heating coronal magnetic loops. We find that the bidirectional jets extended from the central excitation location in opposite directions, at the speed of about dozens of km s$^{-1}$. For the first jet, the initial brightening first appears in 304 angstroms, about 30 s earlier than the H$\alpha$ observations, indicating that magnetic reconnection takes place in the transition region. While the initial reconnection for the second jet occurs simultaneously in H$\alpha$ and 304 angstroms, showing the recurrent eruptions. These observations confirm that the bidirectional plasma jets can be generated by magnetic reconnection between the rising filamentary threads or material and the overlying horizontal magnetic loops. Our results provide new insights into the generation of the bidirectional plasma jets and reconnection-based coronal heating.