Solar active region (AR) 12673 produced 4 X-class, 27 M-class, and numerous lower class flares during its passage across the visible solar disk in September 2017. Our study is to answer the questions why this AR was so flare-productive and how the X9.3 flare, the largest one of the last decade, took place. We find that there was a sunspot in the initial several days, and then two bipolar regions emerged nearby it successively. Due to the standing of the pre-existing sunspot, the movement of the bipoles was blocked, while the pre-existing sunspot maintained its quasi-circular shaped umbra only with the disappearance of a part of penumbra. Thus, the bipolar patches were significantly distorted, and the opposite polarities formed two semi-circular shaped structures. After that, two sequences of new bipolar regions emerged within the narrow semi-circular zone, and the bipolar patches separated along the curved channel. The new bipoles sheared and interacted with the previous ones, forming a complex topological system, during which numerous flares occurred. At the highly sheared region, a great deal of free energy was accumulated. On September 6, one negative patch near the polarity inversion line began to rapidly rotate and shear with the surrounding positive fields, and consequently the X9.3 flare erupted. Our results reveal that the block-induced complex structures built the flareproductive AR and the X9.3 flare was triggered by an erupting filament due to the kink instability. To better illustrate this process, a block-induced eruption model is proposed for the first time.
We present SDO/AIA observations of the interaction of a global EUV wave on 2011 June 7 with active regions (ARs), coronal holes (CHs) and coronal bright structures. The primary global wave has a three-dimensional dome shape, with propagation speeds ranging from 430-780 km s −1 in different directions. The primary coronal wave runs in front of the expanding loops involved in the CME and its propagation speeds are approximately constant within 10-20 minutes. Upon arrival at an AR on its path, the primary EUV wave apparently disappears and a secondary wave rapidly reemerges 75 Mm within the AR boundary at a similar speed. When the EUV wave encounters a coronal bright structure, an additional wave front appears there and propagates in front of it at a velocity nearly a factor of 2 faster. Reflected waves from a polar CH and a coronal bright structure are observed and propagate fractionally slower than the primary waves. Some of these phenomena can be equally explained by either a wave or non-wave model alone. However, taken together, these observations provide new evidence for the multitudes of global EUV waves, in which a true MHD fast-mode wave or shock propagates in front of an expanding CME bubble.
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