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The field and plasma configuration of a filament overlying a solar bipolar magnetic regionThis paper presents an analytic model for a finite-size straight filament suspended horizontally in a steady state over a bipolar magnetic region. The equations of magnetostatic equilibrium are integrated exactly. The solution obtained illustrates the roles played by the electric current, magnetic field, pressure, and plasma weight in the balance of force everywhere in space. A specific example of a filament of diameter 50,000 km, with a density two orders of magnitude over the corona and supported by a magnetic field of about 4 gauss is included. The filament temperature can take values ranging from a small fraction to a few times the coronal temperature, depending on the internal electric current of the filament. To produce a cool filament, such as the quiescent prominence, the solution is required to have an internal field with a strong component along the filament, giving rise to helical structures. A hot filament such as the X-ray coronal loop can be produced as a twisted magnetic flux tube embedded in a strong background field aligned parallel to the filament and having lower density and temperature. The basic steps of construction can be used to develop models more realistic than the ones presented for their analytic simplicity.
Document ID
19810053469
Acquisition Source
Legacy CDMS
Document Type
Reprint (Version printed in journal)
External Source(s)
Authors
Low, B. C.
(NASA Marshall Space Flight Center Huntsville, AL, United States)
Date Acquired
August 11, 2013
Publication Date
June 1, 1981
Publication Information
Publication: Astrophysical Journal
Subject Category
Solar Physics
Accession Number
81A37873
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Other

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