Mini-filaments – small-scale analogues of solar eruptive events?

Abstract

Mini-filaments are a small-scale phenomenon of the solar chromosphere, which frequently occur across the entire disk (see e.g. Wang, Li, Denker, et al. 2000). They share a variety of characteristics with their larger-scale cousins and may serve as a proxy for more complex systems. They play an important role in the energy and mass supply to the corona. In the case of small-scale eruptive filaments, only a single, small-scale loop system is involved. Furthermore, they are supported by simple magnetic field configurations (see Livi, Wang & Martin 1985), either magnetic bipoles or well-defined multipoles, easing their theoretical description. Since mini-filaments are small (just a few tens of seconds of arc) but highly dynamic (eruptions can occur within just a few minutes), they are an ideal target for high-resolution two-dimensional spectroscopy. We present a preliminary analysis of two-dimensional Hα spectroscopic data accompanied by broad-band speckle-restored images to demonstrate that chromospheric small-scale phenomena can serve as building blocks for our understanding of solar eruptive events such as filament/prominence eruptions and even coronal mass ejections (CMEs).