HR: 0830h
AN: SP21B-02    [Abstracts]
TI: The Origin of High-Speed Motions and Threads in Solar Prominences
AU: * Karpen, J
EM: judy.karpen@nrl.navy.mil
AF: Naval Research Laboratory, 4555 Overlook Ave. SW, Code 7675K, Washington, DC 20375-5352 United States
AU: Antiochos, S
EM: antiochos@nrl.navy.mil
AF: Naval Research Laboratory, 4555 Overlook Ave. SW, Code 7675K, Washington, DC 20375-5352 United States
AU: Klimchuk, J
EM: klimchuk@nrl.navy.mil
AF: Naval Research Laboratory, 4555 Overlook Ave. SW, Code 7675K, Washington, DC 20375-5352 United States
AB: Prominences are among the most spectacular manifestations of both quiescent and eruptive solar activity, yet the origins of their magnetic-field and plasma structures remain poorly understood. We have made steady progress toward a comprehensive model of prominence formation and evolution with our sheared 3D arcade model for the magnetic field and our thermal nonequilibrium model for the cool, dense material suspended in the corona. According to the thermal nonequilibrium model, condensations form readily along long, low-lying magnetic field lines if the heating is localized near the chromosphere. In most cases this process yields a dynamic cycle in which condensations repetitively form, stream along the field line, and ultimately disappear by falling onto the nearest footpoint. Two key observed features were not adequately explained by our earlier simulations of thermal nonequilibrium, however: the thread-like (i.e., elongated) horizontal structure and high-speed motions of many condensations. Here we discuss how simple modifications to our model largely eliminate these discrepancies, strengthening the case for thermal nonequilibrium as the origin of prominence condensations and for low-twist models of prominence magnetic structure. This work was supported by NASA and ONR.
DE: 7507 Chromosphere
DE: 7509 Corona
DE: 7531 Prominence eruptions
SC: Solar Physics Division - AAS [SP]
MN: 2005 Joint Assembly