On 2017 April 1 and 3, two large eruptions on the western solar limb, which were associated with M4.4- and M5.8-class flares, respectively, were observed with the Sun Watcher with Active Pixels and Image Processing (SWAP) Extreme Ultraviolet (EUV) solar telescope on board the Project for On Board Autonomy 2 (PROBA2) spacecraft. The large field-of-view (FOV) of SWAP, combined with an advantageous off-point, allows us to study the eruptions up to approximately 2 solar radii (Rs), where space-based coronagraph observations begin. These measurements provide us with some of the highest EUV observations of an eruption, giving crucial additional data points to track the early evolution of Coronal Mass Ejections. In SWAP observations, we track the evolution of off-limb erupting features as well as associated on-disk EUV waves, and the kinematics of both are calculated. The first eruption shows a clear deceleration throughout the lower corona into coronagraph observations, whereas the second eruption, which had a lower initial velocity, shows no obvious acceleration or deceleration profile. This paper presents a unique set of observations, allowing features observed in EUV to be traced to greater heights in the solar atmosphere, helping to bridge the gap to the FOV of white-light coronagraphs. Even with these favorable data sets, it remains a challenging task to associate features observed in EUV with those observed in white light, highlighting our urgent need for single-instrument observations of the combined lower and middle corona.

Context. The complex magnetic field on the solar surface has been shown to contain a range of sizes and distributions of magnetic flux structures. The dynamic evolution of this magnetic carpet by photospheric flows provides a continual source of free magnetic energy into the solar atmosphere, which can subsequently be released by magnetic reconnection. Aims. We investigate how the distribution and number of magnetic flux sources impact the energy release and locations of heating through magnetic reconnection driven by slow footpoint motions. Methods. 3D magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) simulations using Lare3D are carried out, where flux tubes are formed between positive and negative sources placed symmetrically on the lower and upper boundaries of the domain, respectively. The flux tubes are subjected to rotational driving velocities on the boundaries and are forced to interact and reconnect. Results. Initially, simple flux distributions with two and four sources are compared. In both cases, central current concentrations are formed between the flux tubes and Ohmic heating occurs. The reconnection and subsequent energy release is delayed in the foursource case and is shown to produce more locations of heating, but with smaller magnitudes. Increasing the values of the background field between the flux tubes is shown to delay the onset of reconnection and increases the efficiency of heating in both the two-and four-source cases. The cases with two flux tubes are always more energetic than the corresponding four flux tube cases, however the addition of the background field makes this disparity less significant. A final experiment with a larger number of smaller flux sources is considered and the field evolution and energetics are shown to be remarkably similar to the two-source case, indicating the importance of the size and separation of the flux sources relative to the spatial scales of the velocity driver.

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