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J. Chae (Chungnam National University), H. S. Yun (Seoul National University), Y.-J. Moon, H. Wang, P. Goode (BBSO/NJIT)
Solar prominences are cloud-like cool and dense plasma supported by highly non-potential, and very likely twisted magnetic fields in the corona against the gravity. Therefore, the supply of mass, magnetic flux, and magnetic helicity is the necessary condition for the formation of solar prominences. We have been doing a series of case studies on the formation of a prominence in active region NOAA 8668. As a result, we have found a series of jets in H\alpha and EUV at the region where significant amounts of magnetic fluxes of opposite polarity canceled each other.
We also found the existence of non-differential-rotation photospheric shearing motion that prevailed during the period of prominence formation. Both the magnetic flux associated with flux cancellation, and magnetic helicity injected by the shearing motion were more than enough for the formation of the prominence. Our results support that chromospheric magnetic reconnection is in charge of supplying mass and magnetic flux, and photospheric shearing motion is in charge of supplying magnetic helicity.
This work was supported by the US-Korea Cooperative Science Program (KOSEF 995-0200-002-2, NSF INT-98-16267), the NASA grant NAG 5-10894 and the the National Research Laboratory project M10104000059-01J000002500 and the BK21 project of the Korean Government.
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Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society, 34
© 2002. The American Astronomical Soceity.