Solar Orbiter reveals persistent magnetic reconnection in medium-scale filament eruptions

¹ Leibniz-Institut für Astrophysik Potsdam (AIP), An der Sternwarte 16, 14482 Potsdam, Germany
² Institut für Physik und Astronomie, Universität Potsdam, Karl-Liebknecht-Straße 24/25, 14476 Potsdam, Germany
³ State Key Laboratory of Solar Activity and Space Weather, School of Aerospace, Harbin Institute of Technology, Shenzhen 518055, China
⁴ Shenzhen Key Laboratory of Numerical Prediction for Space Storm, Harbin Institute of Technology, Shenzhen 518055, China
⁵ University College London, Mullard Space Science Laboratory, Holmbury St Mary, Dorking, Surrey RH5 6NT, UK
⁶ Max-Planck-Institut für Sonnensystemforschung, Justus-von-Liebig-Weg 3, 37077 Göttingen, Germany

^⋆ Corresponding author: awarmuth@aip.de

Received: 25 April 2025
Accepted: 22 August 2025

Abstract

Solar filament eruptions play a key role in driving space weather, yet their fine-scale evolution remains poorly understood due to observational limitations. Using unprecedented high-resolution observations from Solar Orbiter’s Extreme Ultraviolet Imager (105 km/pixel) and Polarimetric and Helioseismic Imager, we detect persistent magnetic reconnection events in a failed filament eruption. We identify magnetic reconnections between the filament and the surrounding magnetic field structures, with a higher frequency and a greater variety of types than previously observed. These reconnections significantly affect the filament stability and eruption dynamics, leading to sequential coronal jets and failed eruptions. We propose a “persistent magnetic cutting” concept, highlighting how persistent small-scale magnetic reconnections cumulatively affect filament stability during its evolution.