Observing Filament Eruptions with Solar-B
Alphonse C. Sterling and Ronald L. Moore
In recent years we have been observing the initiation of solar eruptions
that
involve solar filaments. The filaments act as tracers for the evolution
of the
coronal magnetic field just prior to and just after the start of fast
eruption. We have primarily used data from SOHO/EIT, Yohkoh/SXT, and TRACE,
along with hard X-ray data from various instruments and line-of-sight
magnetograms from SOHO/MDI or Kitt Peak. This work has allowed us to better
understand the dynamics of magnetic fields leading up to eruption,
including a
"slow-rise" phase of filament movement and activation, and the
transition from
the slow-rise phase to the violent eruption. Here we will explain how
we will
utilize high-time-cadence and high-spatial-resolution images, EUV
spectroscopic
data, and vector magnetograms of Solar-B to improve upon our
understanding of
the earliest stages of solar eruptions, and we will discuss prospects
for using
the new data to isolate the mechanism (or mechanisms) responsible for
triggering the onset of fast eruption.
Correspondence
Alphonse Sterling (alphonse.sterling@nasa.gov), NASA/MSFC/NSSTC
presentation
poster