Simple-loop flares - Magnetic instabilities

Abstract

The era of rocket and spacecraft observations of the sun has provided an entirely new view of the structure and evolution of the solar atmosphere. It is now clear, particularly since the extended series of Skylab flights, that the lower corona is quite nonuniform. In active regions, the strong ambient magnetic fields collimate and confine the emissive plasma into a myriad of loops and arcades. These features are observed to evolve slowly, with a time-scale much longer than the relevant hydromagnetic of Alfven period and, therefore, must be considered generally to be stable. A conspicuous exception is the sporadic flare activity of these loops, which is believed to be due to localized departures from infinite-conductivity behavior.