The Topology and Evolution of the Bastille Day Flare

On 1998 July 14, a class M3 flare occurred at 12:55 UT in AR 8270 near disk center. Kitt Peak line-of-sight magnetograms show that the flare occurred in a δ spot. Mees vector magnetograms show a strong shear localized near a portion of the closed neutral line around the parasitic polarity of the δ spot. Observations of the flare in 171, 195, and 1600 Å have been obtained by TRACE, with ≃40 s temporal and 05 spatial resolutions. They reveal that small-scale preflare loops above the sheared region expanded and disappeared for more than 1 hr before flare maximum. During the flare, bright loops anchored in bright ribbons form and grow. This occurs while large-scale dimmings, associated with large expanding loops, develop on both sides of the active region. This suggests that the flare was eruptive and was accompanied by a coronal mass ejection (CME). Magnetic field extrapolations reveal the presence of a null point in the corona, with its associated "spine" field line, and its "fan" surface surrounding the parasitic polarity. We show that while the whole event occurs, the intersections of the "fan" and the "spine" with the photosphere brighten and move continuously. The interpretation of the event shows that the magnetic evolution of the eruptive flare is strongly coupled with its surrounding complex topology. We discuss evidence supporting a "magnetic breakout" process for triggering this eruptive flare. We finally conclude that multipolar fields cannot be neglected in the study and modeling of the origin of CMEs in the corona.