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Homologous sudden disappearances of transequatorial interconnecting loops in the solar corona
Author(s) -
Khan Josef I.,
Hudson Hugh S.
Publication year - 2000
Publication title -
geophysical research letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.007
H-Index - 273
eISSN - 1944-8007
pISSN - 0094-8276
DOI - 10.1029/1999gl010730
Subject(s) - coronal mass ejection , physics , solar flare , flare , astrophysics , astronomy , shock wave , solar wind , plasma , quantum mechanics , thermodynamics
We have found a remarkable sequence of homologous disappearances of transequatorial X‐ray loops linking active regions. Each disappearance was closely associated with a major flare and coronal mass ejection (CME). In each case the flarings precede the disappearances and the CMEs. Mass estimates for the X‐ray loops are similar to CME masses. This, the timing of the disappearances, their morphology, and the homology of the events in the sequence, provide direct evidence for a new class of CME origins in the low corona. We also briefly report observations of features which we infer to be the soft X‐ray counterparts of shock waves emanating from the flare region. The inferred shocks appeared to play a vital role in the disappearances. Our results suggest that flare‐generated shock waves may destabilize large transequatorial loops, causing them to erupt.