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(Music)

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On August 17,

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2011. the sun emitted a solar flare. Two of

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NASA's spavecraft, SDO and RHESSI witnessed the event. They saw

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more than jut the flare; they captured magnetic reconnection.

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Magnetic reconnection is when magnetic fields connect and disconnect,

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explosively transferring energy. Scientists believe magnetic

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reconnection drives almost every dynamic event on the sun, including

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solar flares. While we cannot see

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magnetic field lines, NASA's SDO can observe solar

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particles that move along them, tracing out giant arcades of magnetic loops

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on the sun's surface. Watch the magnetic structure in the background.

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The cusp flattens out on top. We see reconnection occur as an

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X shape begins to form and then splits - with half the solar material

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falling down and the other half escaping into space. A flare

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bursts from the arcade of loops, and reconnection propagates further down

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the arcade. The observation is verified by RHESSI data.

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RHESSI saw pockets of high temperatures above and below the loop.

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This signature arrangement indicates reconnection.

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The two data sets provide visual evidence of reconnection producing a solar

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flare and will help scientists understand the role magnetic reconnection

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plays in these amazing eruptions.

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(beep)

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(beep

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