Yohkoh-SXT Observations of reconnection Original Research Article

In this paper I review the different strong indications for the occurrence of reconnection in the solar corona observed of with Yohkoh-SXT. I make a distinction between the unique indicator of reconnection, i.e. the change in connectivity in the magnetic field, and non-unique signatures of reconnection, that also can originate from other processes. I review five different types of Yohkoh-SXT observations that indicate reconnection in the solar corona: erupting plasmoids, X-ray jets, formation of sigmoids through “linkage”, the existence of interconnecting loops, and the rigid rotation of coronal holes. I conclude that the presence of reconnection in the solar corona has been established with near certainty, but that higher resolution soft X-ray and EUV observations are needed to firmly establish the full physical picture for each of The phenomena described.