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Abstract Our study of Hαline profiles of rapid blue- and redshifted excursions measured with Goode Solar Telescope revealed an asymmetrical three-peak structure present in the blue wing of the Hαline, suggesting complex internal velocity fields that may include bidirectional flows and transverse and torsional motions. Blueshifted plasma predominates across the field of view (FOV), correlating with higher temperatures (>10⁴K) and extending to greater heights. Conversely, redshifts are less spread over the FOV, are localized near network magnetic fields, and diminish rapidly with altitude. The frequency distribution associated with blueshifted events displays a bimodal structure with peaks centered at 7200 and 8800 K. The redshifted events display a much weaker and wide peak centered at about 9000 K. No significant difference in temperature distributions for blue- and redshifted events is observed in the range above 10,000 K. Variations of Hαline profiles with height seem to indicate that the line-of-sight integration effects may be most significant within the 0–6 Mm layer above the photosphere, and it decreases with height. 

Context.High-resolution observations of the Sun reveal a multitude of small-scale striations throughout the photosphere. While these features are well observed in broad-band intensity images, spectropolarimetric observations remain rare. Aims.In this study, we characterize small dark striations at the pore-granulation boundary and bright grains moving along them. We seek to describe their magneto-convective nature. Methods.We analyzed restored context images and many-line Stokes inversions of a restored spectropolarimetric scan from GST/FISS-SP with a spatial resolution of 0.068″. In the inversion, we used 85 solar absorption lines within a 33 Å wide spectral window in the 5250 Å region. We compare the observations with a MURaM simulation to discern the magneto-convective nature of striations and grains. Results.We find multiple dark striations in the vicinity of pores or active region intergranular lanes with a typical width of 0.09″ and moving bright grains that migrate along some of those striations toward the adjacent pore. Grains forming in a high-resolution MURaM simulation of a pore show similar lifetimes of about 70 s. A comparison of the atmospheric configurations of simulated and observed grains reveals good qualitative agreement in structure, dynamics, thermal, and magnetic stratification. The simulation shows that the dark striations form at the top of a convective plume confined by the surrounding field, and that their dark appearance is caused by plasma trapped in the field cusp at optical depth unity. The moving bright grains are composed of hot plasma pulled upwards by turbulent flows at the tip of the striation. Conclusions.By combining high resolution spectro-polarimetry, many-line inversions, and MURaM simulations, we present the first analysis of the 3D fine structure of small-scale striations and moving bright grains in the vicinity of a pore and describe their magneto-convective nature. 

Abstract Solar active region 11283 produced an X2.1 flare associated with a solar eruption on 2011 September 6. Observations revealed a preflare sigmoidal structure and a circular flare ribbon surrounding the typical two-ribbon structure, along with remote brightenings located at a considerable distance from the main flare site. To interpret these observations in terms of the dynamics of the three-dimensional coronal magnetic field, we conducted data-constrained magnetohydrodynamic simulations. Using a nonlinear force-free field as the initial condition, we reconstructed a realistic preflare magnetic environment, capturing a sheared sigmoid above the polarity inversion line surmounted by a fan–spine structure. Our simulations revealed that reconnection between the sigmoidal field, the adjacent fan–dome field lines, and the neighboring large loops facilitated the transfer of magnetic twist and led to the formation of a large magnetic flux rope (MFR). This transfer and propagation of twist are clearly visible throughout the MFR. As reconnection progresses, the entire fan–spine structure expands along with the evolving MFR. A notable outcome of the simulation is that the footpoints of the newly formed MFR align closely with the observed circular flare ribbon and the remote brightening region. Our findings suggest that a large MFR formed during the X2.1 flare, providing a coherent explanation for the observed phenomena. 

Abstract Despite decades of research, the fundamental processes involved in the initiation and acceleration of solar eruptions remain not fully understood, making them long-standing and challenging problems in solar physics. Recent high-resolution observations by the Goode Solar Telescope have revealed small-scale magnetic flux emergence in localized regions of solar active areas prior to eruptions. Although much smaller in size than the entire active region, these emerging fluxes reached strengths of up to 2000 G. To investigate their impact, we performed data-constrained magnetohydrodynamic simulations. We find that while the small-scale emerging flux does not significantly alter the preeruption evolution, it dramatically accelerates the eruption during the main phase by enhancing the growth of torus instability, which emerges in the nonlinear stage. This enhancement occurs independently of the decay index profile. Our analysis indicates that even subtle differences in the preeruption evolution can strongly influence the subsequent dynamics, suggesting that small-scale emerging flux can play a critical role in accelerating solar eruptions. 

Abstract On 2024 July 25, while observing the solar active region NOAA 13762 with the high-resolution 1.6 m Goode Solar Telescope at the Big Bear Solar Observatory, we witnessed two mysterious phenomena: the partial detachment of filament strands from its main body in the chromosphere and the sudden disappearance of a sunspot penumbra in the photosphere, the former accompanied by small flares. Our analysis reveals a spatiotemporal correlation between the filament peeling process and the penumbral disappearance. To understand the above observations physically, we performed a magnetohydrodynamic simulation that successfully replicated the disappearance of the penumbra as a consequence of weakened horizontal magnetic field. The simulations demonstrate that both the filament peeling and the penumbral decay are driven by the same underlying process: the upward expansion of the magnetic flux rope induced by null point magnetic reconnection. These results suggest a novel mechanism by which the Sun sheds magnetic flux to interplanetary space in the form of filament peeling and penumbral disappearance. 

Abstract The dynamic structures of solar filaments prior to solar flares provide important physical clues about the onset of solar eruptions. Observations of those structures under subarcsecond resolution with high cadence are rare. We present high-resolution observations covering preeruptive and eruptive phases of two C-class solar flares, C5.1 (SOL2022-11-14T17:29) and C5.1 (SOL2022-11-14T19:29), obtained by the Goode Solar Telescope at Big Bear Solar Observatory. Both flares are ejective, i.e., accompanied by coronal mass ejections (CMEs). High-resolution Hαobservations reveal details of the flares and some striking features, such as a filament peeling process: individual strands of thin flux tubes are separated from the main filament, followed shortly thereafter by a flare. The estimated flux of rising strands is in the order of 10¹⁷Mx, versus the 10¹⁹Mx of the entire filament. Our new finding may explain why photospheric magnetic fields and overall active region and filament structures as a whole do not have obvious changes after a flare, and why some CMEs have been traced back to the solar active regions with only nonerupting filaments, as the magnetic reconnection may only involve a very small amount of flux in the active region, requiring no significant filament eruptions. We suggest internal reconnection between filament threads, instead of reconnection to external loops, as the process responsible for triggering this peeling of threads that results in the two flares and their subsequent CMEs. 

Abstract We present a unique observation of the X6.4-class flare SOL2024-02-22T22:34 using the Mid-InfraRed Imager (MIRI) at the Goode Solar Telescope. Three ribbon-like flare sources and one unidentified source were detected in MIRI’s two mid-infrared (mid-IR) bands at 5.2 and 8.2μm. The two stronger ribbons displayed maximum mid-IR enhancements of 21% and 18% above quiet-Sun levels and 10% in Helioseismic and Magnetic Imager (HMI) continuum intensity (I_c). The weak ribbon and the unidentified source had maximum mid-IR enhancements of 7% but showed HMI/I_cdimmings, instead of excess emissions. Our result suggests that mid-IR emission forms in a higher layer during the flare and is more sensitive to flare heating than HMI/I_cemission. The MIRI observations have high temporal resolution (2.6 s cadence in these observations) and show apparent source motions. One flare ribbon extends along weak vertical magnetic-field channels in the sunspot umbra, light bridge, and penumbra, with an approximately 30 s delay between HMI/I_cand 8.2μm emissions. Meanwhile, the unidentified source moved at an apparent speed of 130 km s⁻¹from a mixed-polarity area to one flare ribbon with a strong HMI/I_cenhancement. We studied available hard X-ray/microwave imaging spectroscopy and used nonlinear force-free field extrapolation modeling to identify flare structures. The observational evidence strongly favors the chromospheric origin of the unidentified mid-IR source. Comparison with the X1.0 flare SOL2022-10-02T20:25 indicates that the total amount of high-energy electron (>60 keV) flux density is a key factor in determining the total brightening area and the maximum intensity enhancement in HMI/I_cemissions. 

Abstract We analyze high-resolution observations of an X-1.0 white-light flare, triggered by a filament eruption, on 2022 October 2. The full process of filament formation and subsequent eruption was captured in the Hαpassband by the Visible Imaging Spectrograph (VIS) on board the Goode Solar Telescope (GST) within its center field of view. White-light emissions appear in flare ribbons following the filament eruption and Hαribbon brightening. GST Broadband Filter Imager data show that the continuum intensity, as compared to the nearby quiet-Sun area, has increased by up to 20% in the photospheric TiO band around 7057 Å. The Helioseismic and Magnetic Imager on board the Solar Dynamics Observatory reported 10% contrast enhancement in the continuum near Fei6173 Å line. The separation motion of two white-light kernels is recorded by the high-cadence GST/TiO images and is well accompanied by the motion of the VIS Hαflare ribbon leading edge. One kernel, located in a 150 Gauss field within a granulation area, exhibited an average apparent motion speed of 55 km s⁻¹, which is the highest average speed ever reported. The other kernel drifted at 9 km s⁻¹in an 800 Gauss magnetic field area. Hard X-ray (HXR) emissions reaching up to 300 keV have been observed for this flare. The simultaneous occurrence of high-cadence HXR, microwave, and white-light emissions strongly suggests that the energetic particles from the flare directly contribute to the heating. The inverted HXR energy flux density corresponding to 10% TiO brightening is 2.07 ± 0.23 × 10¹¹erg cm⁻²s⁻¹during the flare peak. 

Abstract Minifilament eruptions producing small jets and microflares have mostly been studied based on coronal observations at extreme-ultraviolet and X-ray wavelengths. This study presents chromospheric plasma diagnostics of a quiet-Sun minifilament of size ∼ 2″ × 5″ with a sigmoidal shape and an associated microflare observed on 2021 August 7 17:00 UT using high temporal and spatial resolution spectroscopy from the Fast Imaging Solar Spectrograph (FISS) and high-resolution magnetograms from the Near InfraRed Imaging Spectropolarimeter (NIRIS) installed on the 1.6 m Goode Solar Telescope at Big Bear Solar Observatory. Using FISS Hαand Caii8542 Å line spectra at the time of the minifilament activation we determined a temperature of 8600 K and a nonthermal speed of 7.9 km s⁻¹. During the eruption, the minifilament was no longer visible in the Caii8542 Å line, and only the Hαline spectra were used to find the temperature of the minifilament, which reached 1.2 × 10⁴K and decreased afterward. We estimated thermal energy of 3.6 × 10²⁴erg from the maximum temperature and kinetic energy of 2.6 × 10²⁴erg from the rising speed (18 km s⁻¹) of the minifilament. From the NIRIS magnetograms we found small-scale flux emergence and cancellation coincident with the minifilament eruption, and the magnetic energy change across the conjugate footpoints reaches 7.2 × 10²⁵erg. Such spectroscopic diagnostics of the chromospheric minifilament complement earlier studies of minifilament eruptions made using coronal images.