HR: 1340h
AN: SH44A-1729    [Abstracts]
TI: Patchy Reconnection Below Solar Coronal Mass Ejections
AU: * Linton, M G
EM: linton@nrl.navy.mil
AF: Naval Research Laboratory, 4555 Overlook Ave, SW, Washington, DC 20375, United States
AB: Observational evidence indicates that the flare reconnection which occurs behind solar coronal mass ejections (CME's) is often bursty and patchy in nature. This interpretation is supported both by coronal observations of numerous small scale downflows behind CME's, and by in situ observations of patchy magnetic connections to the corona in near-Earth CME's. We will present magnetohydrodynamic simulations of reconnection in Y-type current sheets representative of the current sheets created behind CME's. We will discuss how fast, Petschek-like reconnection can be excited in these simulations, and how this can lead to the generation of numerous patches of reconnection distributed across the sheet. The simulations will be related to the solar observations, and to observations and simulations of multiple island formation in magnetotail reconnection. This research was supported by grants from NASA and ONR.
DE: 7500 SOLAR PHYSICS, ASTROPHYSICS, AND ASTRONOMY
DE: 7513 Coronal mass ejections (2101)
DE: 7526 Magnetic reconnection (2723, 7835)
SC: SPA-Solar and Heliospheric Physics [SH]
MN: 2007 Fall Meeting