Emerging Flux and the Heating of Coronal Loops

We use data collected by a multiwavelength campaign of observations to describe how the fragmented, asymmetric emergence of magnetic flux in NOAA active region 8844 triggers the dynamics in the active-region atmosphere. Observations of various instruments on board Yohkoh, SOHO, and TRACE complement high-resolution observations of the balloon-borne Flare Genesis Experiment obtained on 2000 January 25. We find that coronal loops appeared and evolved rapidly ~6 ± 2 hr after the first detection of emerging magnetic flux. In the low chromosphere, flux emergence resulted in intense Ellerman bomb activity. Besides the chromosphere, we find that Ellerman bombs may also heat the transition region, which showed "moss" ~100% brighter in areas with Ellerman bombs as compared to areas without Ellerman bombs. In the corona, we find a spatiotemporal anticorrelation between the soft X-ray (SXT) and the extreme ultraviolet (TRACE) loops. First, SXT loops preceded the appearance of the TRACE loops by 30-40 minutes. Second, the TRACE and SXT loops had different shapes and different footpoints. Third, the SXT loops were longer and higher than the TRACE loops. We conclude that the TRACE and the SXT loops were formed independently. TRACE loops were mainly heated at their footpoints, while SXT loops brightened in response to coronal magnetic reconnection. In summary, we observed a variety of coupled activity, from the photosphere to the active-region corona. Links between different aspects of this activity lead to a unified picture of the evolution and the energy release in the active region.