Statistical Analysis of Small Ellerman Bomb Events

Nelson, C. J. and Doyle, J. G. and Erdélyi, Róbert and Huang, Z. and Madjarska, M. S. and Mathioudakis, M. and Mumford, S. J. and Reardon, K. (2013) Statistical Analysis of Small Ellerman Bomb Events. SOLAR PHYSICS, 283. pp. 307-323. ISSN 0038-0938

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Abstract

The properties of Ellerman bombs (EBs), small-scale brightenings in the Hα line wings, have proved difficult to establish due to their size being close to the spatial resolution of even the most advanced telescopes. Here, we aim to infer the size and lifetime of EBs using high-resolution data of an emerging active region collected using the Interferometric BIdimensional Spectrometer (IBIS) and Rapid Oscillations of the Solar Atmosphere (ROSA) instruments as well as the Helioseismic and Magnetic Imager (HMI) onboard the Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO). We develop an algorithm to track EBs through their evolution, finding that EBs can often be much smaller (around 0.3′′) and shorter lived (less than 1 minute) than previous estimates. A correlation between G-band magnetic bright points and EBs is also found. Combining SDO/HMI and G-band data gives a good proxy of the polarity for the vertical magnetic field. It is found that EBs often occur both over regions of opposite polarity flux and strong unipolar fields, possibly hinting at magnetic reconnection as a driver of these events.The energetics of EB events is found to follow a power-law distribution in the range of “nano-flare” (1022−25 ergs).

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