Abstract
Abstract
Utilizing multiwavelength data from the Solar Dynamics Observatory, we report the first imaging detection of reconnection jets driven by the footpoint drift of an erupting hot-channel flux rope (HFR) during an X1.6-class solar flare. Our results demonstrate that these jets are inherent byproducts of the HFR eruption, exhibiting strong spatiotemporal coupling with the HFR footpoint drift and the morphological evolution of the associated flare ribbon hooks. Unlike standard coronal jets, these ejections lack an inverted-Y morphology and show no association with underlying photospheric flux cancellation or emergence. They manifest as clusters of small-scale collimated ejecta (180–200 km s
−1
) featuring co-existing cool and hot emission components visible in both cool (304 and 171 Å) and hot (94 Å) EUV channels. The imaging observations reveal that these jets are triggered by successive 3D arcade–flux rope (
ar–rf
) reconnection as the expanding HFR interacts with the ambient coronal side arcades. The morphological and dynamic complexity of these observed jets implies that the ongoing
ar–rf
reconnection in solar eruptions is episodic and bursty in nature. Our estimates show that a decrease of ∼9 G in localized magnetic field strength is required to power these individual jets. As direct signatures of 3D magnetic reconnection, these observed jets pinpoint the exact site and characterize the nature of the process, providing new observational insight into 3D numerical simulation extensions of the standard flare model. Further observational case studies of these jets are required to fully understand their prevalence across solar eruptions.