Sympathetic eruptions of two filaments with an identifiable causal link observed by the Solar Dynamics Observatory

Filament eruptions occurring at different places within a relatively short time internal, but with a certain physical causal connection are usually known as sympathetic eruption. Studies on sympathetic eruptions are not uncommon. However, in the existed reports, the causal links between sympathetic eruptions remain rather speculative. In this work, we present detailed observations of a sympathetic filament eruption event, where an identifiable causal link between two eruptive filaments is observed. On 2015 November 15, two filaments (F1 in the north and F2 in the south) were located at the southwestern quadrant of solar disk. The main axes of them were almost parallel to each other. Around 22:20 UT, F1 began to erupt, forming two flare ribbons. The southwestern ribbon apparently moved to southwest and intruded southeast part of F2. This continuous intrusion caused F2's eventual eruption. Accompanying the eruption of F2, flare ribbons and post-flare loops appeared in northwest region of F2. Meanwhile, neither flare ribbons nor post-flare loops could be observed in southeastern area of F2. In addition, the nonlinear force-free field (NLFFF) extrapolations show that the magnetic fields above F2 in the southeast region are much weaker than that in the northwest region. These results imply that the overlying magnetic fields of F2 were not uniform. So we propose that the southwest ribbon formed by eruptive F1 invaded F2 from its southeast region with relatively weaker overlying magnetic fields in comparison with its northwest region, disturbing F2 and leading F2 to erupt eventually.

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