English

Investigating coronal loop morphology and dynamics from two vantage points

Solar and Stellar Astrophysics 2024-01-17 v1 Plasma Physics Space Physics

Abstract

Coronal loops serve as the fundamental building blocks of the solar corona. Therefore, comprehending their properties is essential in unraveling the dynamics of the Sun's upper atmosphere. In this study, we conduct a comparative analysis of the morphology and dynamics of a coronal loop observed from two different spacecraft: the High Resolution Imager (HRIEUV_{EUV}) of the Extreme Ultraviolet Imager aboard the Solar Orbiter and the Atmospheric Imaging Assembly (AIA) aboard the Solar Dynamics Observatory. These spacecraft were separated by 43^{\circ} during this observation. The main findings of this study are: (1) The observed loop exhibits similar widths in both the HRIEUV_{EUV} and AIA data, suggesting that the cross-sectional shape of the loop is circular; (2) The loop maintains a uniform width along its entire length, supporting the notion that coronal loops do not exhibit expansion; (3) Notably, the loop undergoes unconventional dynamics, including thread separation and abrupt downward movement. Intriguingly, these dynamic features also appear similar in data from both spacecraft. Although based on observation of a single loop, these results raise questions about the validity of the coronal veil hypothesis and underscore the intricate and diverse nature of complexity within coronal loops.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.2401.07349,
  title  = {Investigating coronal loop morphology and dynamics from two vantage points},
  author = {Sudip Mandal and Hardi Peter and James A. Klimchuk and Sami K. Solanki and Lakshmi Pradeep Chitta and Regina Aznar Cuadrado and Udo Schühle and Luca Teriaca and David Berghmans and Cis Verbeeck and Frédéric Auchère and Koen Stegen},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2401.07349},
  year   = {2024}
}

Comments

Accepted for publication in A&A Letters

R2 v1 2026-06-28T14:16:28.387Z